No Scotland, No Party: A Boston City Hall Elopement with Liam and Karen

A good old “well, what are you doing Monday?” is how I met Liam and Karen.

They approached me while I was photographing another elopement at City Hall, where I soon learned they were both from Scotland and had originally planned to come to Boston for the World Cup. Then Karen fell ill with pneumonia, and the trip had to be postponed. They were understandably “gutted”, especially while watching videos from home of the Dubliner, the march to Fenway, and, of course, the many, many traffic cones.

But after being engaged for 22 years (yes, engaged, yes, 22), they decided they weren't going to let a little FOMO get in the way. If they couldn't come to Boston for the World Cup, they would come to Boston for something even more important.

They'd get married here.

We met for the second time that Monday morning, this time with Liam in full Scottish regalia, kilt and all, and Karen carrying her Mrs. Brindle clutch, 22 years in the making. As a Boston couples photographer, I was immediately in my element. We explored Boston City Hall with the Dubliner in tow, playing with the bright morning light and taking in the excitement of the day.

And there was a lot of excitement.

Their joy was palpable, and so was their love for Boston, even as first-time visitors. They wanted their photos to feel like them: joyful, energetic, a little cheeky, and unmistakably Boston. They also wanted to make all their friends back home jealous, even if they had missed the World Cup themselves.

So we leaned into a mix of classic portraits and candid, in-between moments. A little direction here, a lot of letting things unfold there. The kind of Boston elopement photography that documents not just what the day looked like, but how it felt.

And then we stepped into the ceremony room.

After 22 years of being engaged, all of that history seemed to arrive at once. The emotions were right there at the surface, and the ceremony was every bit as meaningful as you'd expect. Beautiful, emotional, and, according to Karen, long overdue.

Once they were officially married, we wanted to keep telling the story of Boston itself. We headed toward the Old State House for some more urban portraits, using the architecture, streets, and unmistakable texture of downtown Boston as part of the backdrop.

And the city seemed to welcome them right back.

The kilt may have had something to do with it.

From there, we bounced around the city, moving from their hotel to quiet corners and unexpected little pockets of Boston before eventually making our way toward Beacon Hill. I wanted the photographs to feel distinctly Boston while still giving space to the Scottish details that made their elopement so uniquely theirs.

The kilt, the regalia, Karen's clutch, the little details that carried 22 years of history. They deserved just as much attention as the big moments.

Apparently, someone else agreed.

While we were photographing in Beacon Hill, a woman called down from a window above us, shouting that she hoped this meant the Scots were coming back. Honestly, so did we all.

There was something incredibly serendipitous about Liam and Karen's Boston elopement. What started as a missed trip and a bit of World Cup FOMO turned into a completely different reason to fall in love with the city.

As a Boston elopement photographer, I get to meet people from all over and occasionally watch them experience this city for the very first time. But Liam and Karen reminded me how special that can be. Their excitement made me look at familiar streets a little differently. Their enthusiasm for Boston made me feel closer to my own city.

And after welcoming them into it, I left feeling like they had welcomed me into their story, too.