We are using these vendors for our wedding.  We highly recommend all of them!

Location

This was the first reception site we visited, and after visiting MANY more, this one fit us, and our size party the best.  The price to rent the place is a bit steep considering that you also have to get a seperate caterer, but we found it worth it.  It is run by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, you can get to their page on the Lyman Estate below.

http://www.spnea.org/functions/index.htm

Caterer

Different Tastes

Don't let them fool you, they're not actually in Boston!  They're in Chelsea.  They are the official caterer for the Wang Center, so Jack (the owner) does work out of there fairly often.  Every time we met with him, it was there.  We had a bit of a hard time picking a caterer, but the thing that won us over was Jack's relaxed attitude (Ok, so this scared Melissa for a while!) and his Mickey Mouse watch.  It was mostly the watch.

http://differenttastes.com/

Photographer

Jim Canole Photography

Jim was a lucky find.  Melissa gets the credit here too.  We talked to a lot of photographers.  The variety is scary.  Again, I think Jim was the first one we talked to, and we ended up coming back to him.  Let me tell you, if I'm asked to pay $4,000 but don't get the negatives because it infringes on the photographers artistic sense to have them be sent to a Walgreens for developing, I'm fairly sure we're going to go somewhere else.  Jim has a great plan.  He takes the pictures, gives you the negatives whenever you want them, but will help you get them printed at the rate that the lab charges.  How can you argue with that?  All of our interaction with Jim has been great, from our meetings, to our "engagement" photo shoot downtown, to being invited over to a gathering he was having to meet Ulrike Welsch (one of his photographic inspirations - thanks again Jim!).  After we booked him, his prices kept going up and up.  If you like him, book him early, he's getting really popular! 

http://www.jimcanole.com/

Florist

Stocking Florist

This was the one major decision that Melissa made without much input from me.  This was due to a large amount of traffic that prevented me from getting to Beverly Farms on time, but that's beside the point.  I have since met Mary Beth (owner) and have only positive things to say.  Mary Beth is another of the relaxed attitude vendors which I think is great!  She has gone out of her way for us, and has been really flexible.  Two great things in a wedding vendor!

http://www.stockingflorist.com/

Ceremony Music 

Gilded Harps

We both wanted to have harp music during the ceremony, and after a brief search we landed on Gilded Harps.  The one scary thing here is that they have a few harpists so you don't necessarily know who you're getting.  On the other hand, all of our dealings with them have been great.  They are yet another of the relaxed "don't worry about it, we'll take care of it" vendors.  The hardest part was picking the music.  Who's ever heard of most of those pieces!?

http://www.gildedharps.com/

Reception Music 

Modern Manners

Not knowing of any bands we were interested in (but having decided early that a DJ was out), we didn't really know where to begin.  So we decided to go to some wedding band events.  Yes, they have these.  We sat in The Canal in Boston for about 5 hours during NFL playoffs watching the Patriots win on their way to the Superbowl, and, of course, listening to bands.  There were some good bands, some bad bands, and some "you're kidding me, people would have them at their weddding?" bands.  Modern Manners fit us the best.  Conveniently they were open the day of our wedding, and the rest is history.  They can be contacted through the Hank Agency, whose contact information is listed above (and web site is below).

http://www.hankagency.com/modernmanners.html