We get a lot of requests for East Coast style weddings. You know, those perfect seaside affairs that are a little bit preppy, a little timeless. All rolled up into one picture perfect affair. Well, we’re pretty sure that this one, photographed by the forever talented Jeff Greenough, will fit the bill. Click here to see lots more pics!
{click here to see the full wedding}
We chose the Outer Banks of North Carolina, specifically Duck, NC, because it was a location that has a special meaning for the Bride’s family, having been a favorite family vacation spot for many generations. Our goal for this wedding was to make it small (75 guests or less), personal, with lots of special touches/ traditions and as elegant and natural as possible. The Sanderling Spa and Resort was our venue because it has the crisp, clean look we like with the emphasis on nature, specifically local birds and ducks. Their Main Deck which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean, was the setting for the ceremony and the reception was held across the street in a tent overlooking the Currituck Sound.
Our goal in decorating was to keep it as green and elegant as possible with natural colors; white, green, brown, touch of blue, and lots of candles and lanterns. One of the best decorating touches we chose was to use live river birch trees to decorate the tent, vice using the fabric bunting; the look was much more natural and the cost was much lower. We also asked our florists, Kim, Leesa and Wes of Holiday House, to double use some of our decor; moving the wreath we used at the ceremony to the reception and the flowers lining the ceremony aisle to the walkway leading to the tent. Shirley Cook of Sugar Snap Events made sure all of this unfolded to perfection.
For our menu, we highlighted local food especially blue -fin crabcakes. Initially we decided to have beer and wine only, no open bar to save on the costs, but then our number of guests changed and we had to meet a minimum food and beverage amount, so we added more appetizers and opened the bar. We also added a signature drink which turned out to be a huge hit; St. Germain liqueur, lemon juice and champagne….simple but tastes so good!
Kelsey’s dress was from the Platinum Collection, PL 210, of Priscilla of Boston. Her shoes are Jimmy Choo’s (on sale), beaded bracelet was from Anthropologie, and her hairpiece was from Lo Boheme. All of our Bridesmaid dresses came from Priscilla of Boston; Vineyard Collection Style 1505 Marine (color). By the way, Priscillia gives you 15% off BM dresses if you buy both Bride and BM dresses from them; another way to save. Their headbands were from Anthropologie, (on sale) and their cuffs were from Nordstrom’s.
For the groomsmen we found J.Crew suits on sale, Aldridge, and a fantastic wedding specialist at J.Crew, Shelby Tyree, who couldn’t help us enough! So we bought suits for all the Groomsmen (split the cost with them), and received free shipping and alterations. Groomsmen ties were Armani (on sale), and the Groom and FOB ties were Nordstrom’s.
Laura Hooper created our fantastic Save-the-Date Maps and our wedding invitations, and Judy Jones provided the beautiful calligraphy for our Save-the-Date maps, invites and placecards. Judy did such a good job we even had guests thinking the hand calligraphy was printed! As for the cake, we come from the school of thought that the wedding cake is THE dessert for a wedding…nothing else. Our cake was baked by Melinda Gregory of Just Desserts, and it was our star. Made of three layers; chocolate, lemon and local key lime, it was DE-licious!
Jeff Greenough was our photographer who captured all the events of the day. We highly recommend potential Brides and Grooms hire the best photographer they can afford, because when all is said and done, the vows are said, the food and drinks are consumed, and everyone has gone home, the only things left are the pictures.