So lovely. That is really the best way to wrap up this, well…lovely, affair by Sea Studio Photography. The gorgeous waterside Washington backdrop and the traditional, yet personal, vibe make for absolutely stunning images that make my heart flutter a bit. And we all know there is nothing better than a little heart fluttering, so be sure to check out the lovely full gallery of images for even more.
click here for the full wedding gallery!
The last thing I expected during a September trip to Victoria B.C. for Brandon’s birthday was for him to pop the big question! The true romantic and planner that he is couldn’t have made it any more perfect – on a bridge at sunset, on his birthday. His proposal set the tone for our wedding the following August. We wanted an outdoor waterside venue where we could fill the space with personalized touches and where our guests could have a fantastic time. Brandon found a venue before he proposed that he thought we both might like. On our first visit to The Inn at Port Ludlow we fell in love with it. Located about an hour outside of Seattle by ferry, the Inn sits on the water and has views of both mountain ranges. In addition, the staff was fantastic and was more than happy to help us achieve our dream wedding.
Our wedding weekend began with golf for the guys and an outdoor catered BBQ under a tent for our guests who had come from all over the globe (Alaska, Washington, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Canada, and Spain). The night was filled with lots of laughter, stories, smores, banana boats (secret family recipe), food, and drinks.The next day we were treated to clear skies – a pleasant surprise since it had rained the day before. After a full day of getting ready and lots of photos on the golf course it was time to head back for the ceremony. I remember taking a moment before walking down the isle with my dad to look around at the reception tent and setting. It was beyond gorgeous. Every detail was perfect from the chandelier and table numbers to the lavender hydrangea centerpieces surrounded by candlelight and candy buffet. To me it screamed romantic. It was everything Brandon and I wanted.
The setting was beautiful but we decided to add special personalized touches to make it more us. Personalized water bottled and wine were placed in guest’s rooms. Wood signs from Etsy with Mr. and Mrs. on one side and thank and you on the other were used for our thank you cards and placed on our seats at our table for two. Our wonderful photographers created a guest book for us with our engagement photos and I added ‘B’ and ‘K’ mugs with flowers and silver letters from Anthropologie to the guest book table. Inspired by our photographers we added more initial mugs with flowers to our candy buffet that spelled out SWEETS. Our candy buffet had every purple candy I could find and was put together by our wedding planner. My mom also created kits for kids to keep them entertained with silly bands, slinkys and coloring supplies. I added my Boppa’s Bronze Star to my bouquet to make sure he was there with us that day and carried a handkerchief with my initials during the ceremony. My maids gifts were initial necklaces with a lavender bead from Etsy. I also added a lavender sash to my dress to match Brandon’s tie. It was very important to us to include family and friends in our ceremony and therefore we asked a close friend to marry us and my cousin to recite I Carry Your Heart With Me by E.E. Cummings. The ceremony was very memorable – we laughed, we cried and passing boats honked in celebration.
After the ceremony the string trio continued to play throughout the cocktail hour where drinks and appetizers were served. Guests were then escorted into the tent for dinner and dancing. The evening ended with an exit through sparklers and an after hours indoor dance party, featuring my husband’s famous dancing! Our wedding was far better than either of us could have imagined. We can’t thank our amazing guests and vendors enough for helping to make our special day an experience we’ll never forget.