Preppy Boston Engagement Session by Henry + Mac

Yay for including dogchildren in engagement sessions! Sarah and Joe decided to include their sweet pup, Pisco, in their darling Boston shoot, and the love is palpable. It doesn't hurt that Sarah and Joe are a pair of well-dressed cuties themselves! / Photos by Henry + Mac.

Now I really want to go for a ride in one of those swan boats! ;) Thanks so much to the talented team of Henry + Mac for sharing these beautiful photos with us and congrats to Sarah and Joe! xx.

Nautical New England Wedding in Newburyport, Mass.

Happy to share this fun + cheery New England wedding with you today! As Newburyport, Mass., residents, Mike and Erin absolutely adore their seaside town, and after looking all over the state for the right wedding venue, they realized that the perfect option was right under their noses at the local maritime museum. I'm loving Erin's Sperry boat 'dancing' shoes! / Photos by Sarah Jayne Photography.

Says Erin, "I really wanted to get married in our little seaside town, because it's a delightful destination for all of our out-of-state guests (which included all of my family). We wanted to keep things casual with a hint of understated nautical since our location was a Maritime Museum. And it was important for me to be outside so we could enjoy the beautiful weather!

[Finding my dress] wasn't a huge 'aha!' moment for me (I have a very hard time making decisions and I loved so many different styles - how could I pick just one?), but I knew I'd found a great dress when I realized I didn't want to take it off. I could have stood in front of that mirror all day! It didn't hurt that it was off-the-rack on clearance and fit me perfectly with no alterations.

We did have some wonderful antiques, though I'm embarrassed to say I didn't source them myself! We rented [some antiques] from a local designer who did both our decor and our flowers (and did amazing things with my limited budget). She refinished an old mirrored fireplace mantel and built a custom frame to keep it upright - it served as our backdrop for the ceremony. We also built up a wonderful inventory of antique silver vases and pitchers for all of our flower arrangements.

Mike + Erin's Love Story

Mike and I met when we both worked for a minor league baseball team. I used to go flirt with him in the press box before games, and then we'd sit on the hoods of our cars and chat for hours before driving home at night. After one particular playoff game that lasted for about 8 hours of on-and-off-again-rain delays, we were inseparable. Two other marriages came out of that team and front office, too, I guess it was a romantic place!

One thing I loved was our placemats - we wrote a thank you note to all our attendees and then placed the note against four different vintage-look backgrounds, then printed them in grey on ivory cardstock. We custom-cut them to size and used them as a placemat on every setting, and they looked wonderful. We also created a logo and used that for stickers that went on our plastic drink cups (for water and lemonade), and on the re-usable tote bags we made for favors. 

For the toasts, we drank out of the silver goblets my parents had used at their wedding.

By far, my favorite memory of the day was the saxophone concert put on by my husband and his brother and sister. All three had played in high school, but had never actually played together before. The wedding program simply said 'surprise musical guest,' and they all stood up and played 'You've Got a Friend In Me.' You could have powered a whole city on the smiles of everyone as we watched - it was amazing."

Thank you so much to Mike and Erin for sharing their special day and to Sarah Jayne Photography for sharing her lovely photos with us! xx.

Erin leaves us with some parting advice, "Just make a decision and move on! Chances are it won't matter nearly as much as you think it will."

Mike and Erin honeymooned in The Dominican Republic for a week of uninterrupted beach rest. ;)

Credits: Getting Ready Location : Essex Street Inn / Groomsmen Attire: Men’s Warehouse / Groom’s Attire: Men's Warehouse / Bartending Service : North Shore Bartending Service / Florist Altar Design: Brenda Bradley Of B. Lucci Bradley Design / Tent: Sperry Tent Seacoast / Dress: David’s Bridal, Oleg Cassini / Photography: Sarah Jayne Photography

Classically Charming Yacht Club Wedding on Nantucket

You all know I go weak in the knees for a beautiful New England wedding and Jessica and Steven's classic Nantucket wedding at the Great Harbor Yacht Club has my heart fluttering. I'm dying over the charming First Congregational Church, the fantastic vintage car, the sparkly sequined linens at the reception and, duh, Nantucket. Enjoy! / Photos by Brea McDonald Photography.

Says Jessica, "I have been going to Nantucket with my family since I was 8 years old and we have a home there, so when Steven & I began dating, I naturally wanted to share my favorite place with him – he loved it as much as I do. We toyed with the idea of an NYC wedding and even searched for venues for a little while but nothing seemed as great as getting married on Nantucket and having all of our friends & family travel there for a weekend of festivities.

We were really happy that so many of our guests took a long weekend and took advantage of being on Nantucket – renting bikes, mopeds – going to different beaches & restaurants. My sister made up a guide of things to do/places to eat/shop that we welcomed guests with (& a bag of chocolate covered cranberries!) so they had an idea of how to get started exploring. We had a Thursday night get-together at Cisco Brewery, then a welcome cocktail party at the Boarding House on Friday night so by the time the wedding came around the guests knew each other and we had a lot of time to visit with everyone who made the trip for us.

The dress – I had spent 2 weekends searching for a dress with my mom & sisters – swearing up and down that I wanted a lace dress, but I wasn’t in love with anything I was seeing – something about the Vera Wang bridal shop really pulled me in & I ended up going back to it for a second time. That same day they had just received 2013 gowns and this one dress had just been pulled out of the box – not lace, my mom begged me to just try it – I did and I was in love. The fact my mom & sister cried when I came out sealed the deal! I couldn’t stop looking at photos of it from then until the wedding day.

I wore my Yiayia’s (grandmother) diamond necklace & earrings, which were very special to me since she & all of our grandparents couldn’t be at our wedding.

We had a pretty big wedding party – 7 friends for me & 8 for Steven. I have 2 sisters, both were my Maids of Honor & Steven had his brother for his Best Man. Then we really chose our closest friends from all different walks of life. I had childhood best friends, college best friends and NYC best friends, as did Steven plus my brother. Steven really wanted his groomsmen to wear tuxes so that was pretty easy and we had them all get their own black tuxes, so they could wear one they had if need be. For the bridesmaids, I wanted them to have something simple but classic, and if possible, something they wouldn’t hate me for – so I found TwoBirds bridesmaids, which was very easy – one size fits all and they wrap a bunch of different ways so it was nice to see a little difference between each girl.

Jessica + Steven's Love Story

Steven and I met out at a bar in NYC with mutual friends & they introduced us mainly because they figured out we used to live in the same building in the city but had never met! We hit it off right away & talked the whole time. I was surprised at the end of the night when he didn’t get my number but then he later asked one of our friends for it and we have been together since!

My favorite memory of the day & part we had been looking forward to the most was our first kiss as husband & wife. Also seeing Steven tearing up as I came down the aisle was a very close second favorite. I truly loved everything about our day & how much everyone that was there made us feel so special and loved.

We chose Great Harbor Yacht Club for its beautiful venue and scenery – so exciting to have cocktail hour on the lawn outside and we had a beautiful day for it. 

Shortly after getting engaged, Steven & I took a trip to Paris and stayed at the George V – I was in love with all of the flower arrangements there & worked closely with Dawn to mimic them.

One of my favorite touches at our wedding was the escort table, which we had mirrors for and my sister hand-wrote all of the names/tables on the mirror (tricky! But she’s that good!) and then had beautiful pink/white flowers surrounding the mirrors, perched on a table at the club. So many of our guests commented how much they loved the display. I also was in love with our flowers, when I saw the room that day I couldn’t believe how amazing it came together. 

Even though our wedding was on Nantucket (and at a yacht club) we wanted it to be more of a crisp, clean, energetic vibe than preppy or nautical.

That day and the whole weekend was truly the best of our lives!"
Thanks so much to Jessica and Steven for sharing their incredibly beautiful day with us and to Brea McDonald Photography for sharing such gorgeous photos with us. xx.
Jessica leaves us with some parting advice, "One piece of advice that I heard a lot as a bride-to-be was to step back & soak in the moments & just take the time to look around at the wedding, the guests, the décor to really remember it. I really tried to do that & I think that helped my memories of the day be so clear – so I would pass that advice along."

Jessica and Steven headed to Bora Bora for their honeymoon for 10 days of beach, sun & relaxation! :)

Credits: Church: First Congregational Church / Reception: Great Harbor Yacht Club / Floral Design: Soirée Floral / Event Design: Dawn Kelly Designs / Photography: Brea McDonald Photography / Paper Products (3 companies): Parchment, Village Invites, Dauphine Press / Day of Coordination: Jimmy Jaksic / Gown: Vera Wang / Shoes: Valentino / Groom's Attire: Lord Willy's NYC / Bridesmaids: Two Birds