A classic Newport Rhode Island wedding never goes out of style, particularly when styled by Raina Dawn Events with the gorgeous floral design of Sayles Livingston Flowers. This fabulous summer affair contained everything endearing about the timeless beach town including a sunset sail for all the guests around the harbor. If that doesn’t scream Newport, I don’t know what does! So for a moment put away your winter boots and put on your boat shoes because each image in the gallery by Carrie Rodman Photography will have you dreaming of sweet salt air and warm summer days.
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Sarah & Jeremy were married August 7, 2010 in Newport, Rhode Island. Sarah and Jeremy live in NYC and hired Raina Dawn Events to coordinate their destination wedding weekend. The weekend kicked off with a rehearsal dinner at The White Horse Tavern on Friday night after guests checked into the Hotel Viking. Newport was buzzing that weekend with the Jazz Festival in town and everyone was lucky because come Saturday there was the most perfect summer Newport weather!
Working closely with the bride and groom, the wedding day started early with all 75 guests arriving at 11:00 a.m. ceremony at The Kay Chapel. Sayles Livingston, a fellow Little Black Book Member, designed all of the beautiful florals on the wedding day, while Carrie Rodman Wedding Photography captured every detail and moment with such beauty. Sarah and I worked closely on both the wedding day events, as well as all of the fabulous details that were incorporated into the weekend.
Starting with a welcome galvanized tin of goodies representing Newport and Michigan, the bride’s hometown, the basket was full with everything from vintage postcards with history of all of the wedding weekend venues, custom designed maps of Newport, and much more. They included muslin bags that Sarah hand stamped and filled with vintage style candies (i.e. “Eat at your own Risk” FireBalls, Lemondrops, Fun Dip), along with vintage looking candles and matches. In addition to the fabulous gift baskets in every guests hotel room, Sarah also had a number of other DIY projects she took on, like her vintage picture framed Menu Card Board and Escort card board. Sarah also collects vintage McCoy vases so each table at the reception at OceanCliff had a large white McCoy vase along with a miniature animal McCoy vase that held the table number letterpress cards. Sarah also loves paper, so when it came to her invitations she had Mika 78 produce gorgeous letterpress invitations with a “Welcome to Newport- Wedding Weekend Events Guide” and Tara Jones provided the beautiful calligraphy.
Once the guests witnessed Sarah and Jeremy tie the knot at The Kay Chapel, the bride and groom got in The Hotel Viking London Cab and all the guests headed to OceanCliff for their afternoon wedding reception on the breathtaking coast of Newport. As the sailboats went by, guests had cocktails out on the lawn and then were ushered into the ballroom for the wedding reception. For something sweet the Sarah and Jeremy didn’t want the traditional wedding cake, so they opted for the fabulous whoopee pies from Cranberry Island Kitchen. They were flown into Newport from Maine and Sarah had another DIY project, she color coated with adorable little flags so guests knew which flavor of whoopee pie they were choosing on the whoopee pie buffet.
The wedding day festivities didn’t end there. All the guests were then whisked away for a sunset sail on the Schooner Aurora. Sarah and Jeremy met on Match.com, so when Sarah told me she saw this cute card by Snow & Graham that said “Perfect Match- Caution This Is One HOT ITEM” I went right to work to have custom made napkins done up with this logo for their sail.
It was such a joy working with Sarah and Jeremy on their destination Newport, RI wedding. Thanks to all the vendors, Sarah’s DIY vintage projects, and months of planning and coordinating with Sarah and Jeremy, the outcome was a beautiful, fun, intimate, personalized wedding with their own style and flair that truly shined through!
Event Planning and Design: Raina Dawn Events / Photography: Carrie Rodman / Flowers: Sayles Livingston Flowers / Ceremony Location: Kay Chapel Newport, Rhode Island / Reception Location: OceanCliff Newport, Rhode Island / Reception Sunset Sail: Schooner Aurora Newport, Rhode Island / Invitations: Mika 78 / Invitation Calligraphy: Tara Jones Calligraphy / Shoes: Jimmy Choo / Dress: Carolina Herrera, Kleinfeld Bridal / Entertainment: Melissa Woolverton and Rick Costa Band / Hair: LaLaLuxe Salon / Makeup: Makeup by Maggie Leonard / Whoopie Pies: Cranberry Island Kitchen / Perfect Match Napkins: Snow and Graham; ForYourParty.com / Accommodations: Hotel Viking Newport, Rhode Island