Local News

Boston couple’s wedding disrupted by blizzard — they got married anyway

Their planned ceremony at the Boston Public Library fell through, but the couple married in a hotel suite as snow blanketed the city.

Maddie McNamara and Drew Baker, both 27 and of Boston, were married at the Newbury Hotel on Feb. 23, 2026. (Photo courtesy of The Grahams Photography)

By Annie Jonas

February 25, 2026

2 minutes to read

Amidst a fierce blizzard that shut down much of Boston on Monday — shuttering businesses and blanketing the city in snow — Maddie McNamara and Drew Baker didn’t postpone their wedding.

Instead the 27-year-old Boston couple pivoted: They married in their suite at the Newbury Hotel, then ventured out in full wedding attire for portraits in the middle of a snow-covered Newbury Street.

Maddie McNamara (left) and Drew Baker. *(Photo courtesy of The Grahams Photography)*

What was originally planned as a small ceremony at the Boston Public Library followed by a cozy dinner in Beacon Hill quickly unraveled as the storm intensified. Vendors canceled. Travel became dangerous. Backup plans fell through.

But canceling the wedding was never on the table.

“We were always having a small celebration … but there was never a point in which we weren’t going to get married as planned,” the couple said in an e-mail to Boston.com. “We proposed some backup plans, but eventually everything started falling through anyway, and we decided to lean in and make the most of the day.”

*(Photo courtesy of The Grahams Photography)*

The couple chose to proceed in their hotel room at The Newbury Hotel, a luxury spot across from the Boston Public Garden. With only their officiant, his fiancée, and photographer Chris Graham present, they exchanged vows in an intimate ceremony inside their suite.

“Massive shout out to [the Newbury Hotel] – they were so unbelievably kind and accommodating and went above and beyond to make the day special,” McNamara and Baker said. “It was such a fun, intimate ceremony in our suite … We FaceTimed our family during the ceremony, and it was surreal.”

Then came the moment that transformed a disrupted wedding day into a quintessentially Boston memory.

After saying “I do,” the newlyweds stepped into the blizzard for photos on a deserted Newbury Street. At one point, the newlyweds laid down in the fresh snow, still dressed in their wedding attire.

“It felt like the only way to cap off a crazy, unexpected experience,” they shared. “I think we didn’t even feel the cold due to adrenaline (and a shot!)”

Photographer Chris Graham, who documented the entire day, described the couple’s spirits as nothing short of ecstatic.

“Their attitude was just pure joy the whole time,” he said in an e-mail to Boston.com.

While the blizzard dramatically shifted their plans, their focus never changed — they were going to get married. Snowstorm or not.

“We always had a pretty good outlook on the day even with the storm incoming,” the couple said. “But it’s a good reminder that as long as we had each other, nothing else mattered.”