Love – what a trip. Such a simple little phrase with so much meaning for this lovely couple and their Southampton soirée by The Melideos. The couple used that sweet little line of text to drive the inspiration for their seaside chic celebration and to help tell their love story. And what story it is! This, my friends, is a wedding I could literally live in, and today I am going to do just that in the full gallery of images.
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From the Bride…The inspiration for my wedding came from a phrase that I jotted down on paper during a brainstorming session and it stuck — “Love. What a Trip.” It summed up the adventurous travels that led us to each other, and the crazy circumstances under which we met. And so our European Seaside/Travel-Themed Wedding took shape. With the theme set, it was 100x easier to let the creativity flow and then the D.I.Y. list started to grow … and grow. I began with the wedding trailer — one of my favorite D.I.Y. experiences. I really wanted to tell the story of our fateful meeting, so I collected all the Flip videos I had shot of the two of us over the past year and edited it together in iMovie. Then came invitations — I used the air mail postcard theme from Minted.com and customized the colors and copy to make it unique. Next the decor — we hand-painted all of the signage for the event on driftwood and old boards that the winter storms had blown onto our family beach. Painting a menu board rather then printing menus saved a ton of money and gave guests that “Mom & Pop Restaurant” feel. We also rummaged through my family homes to find heirlooms including the lace tablecloths, vintage wood table, baskets, vases, candelabras and one spectacular cameo that was pinned onto my bouquet. And for the music there was only one choice for us — the music of the Gypsy Kings! For cocktails and after dinner I D.I.Y’d an IPOD playlist of our favorite house and lounge tracks. For our wedding favors I convinced my family to spend countless winter months combing the beach for heart-shaped rocks, 100 of which we turned into precious little magnets for each guess (a $40 project including magnets and glue).
Bringing in my husband’s Serbian culture and my love for the European lifestyle was also a big priority. I was adamant about having long Tuscan-style seating instead of classic round tables. Instead of using table numbers we used the Cyrillic lettering in the Serbian Alphabet to call out each table, decorated the gift table with Serbian books from my husband’s collection and made sure the playlist for cocktail hour included some of our favorite Serbian and Balkan music (especially Zvonko Bogdan). We also infused Serbian dishes into our Mediterranean menu which included Paella, Porchetta, Serbian Cevapi, Gibanica and Rakija for an after dinner drink. Driving off in a Vespa or vintage Fiat 500 was also big on my list. While renting a Fiat 500 was completely out of my budget, borrowing my friend’s Vespa was just right — and it even matched our colors palate! We closed out the night with a bonfire dance party, sparklers and some serious bongo playing!
And in the end it all paid off. We were both overcome — by emotion, beauty, love, friendship, and nature. We were completely overcome that the D.I.Y. vision that had kept us up at night was playing out right before our eyes. Many times throughout the evening, as the sun was setting, sparklers were twinkling, the swan was swimming by, my new European family was finally on U.S. soil, the breeze was blowing across our alfresco tables, gypsies were strumming, I cried tears of absolute joy and accomplishment. For anyone who thinks weddings aren’t for them — I was the same. But when you put all of your creativity into a day and truly make it your own there’s no feeling like it. I can’t wait to do it all over again in Serbia!
Wedding Photography: The Melideos / Wedding Cinematography: Vintage Cinema / Florals: Flowers by Rori / Ceremony + Reception Location: Grandparent’s Home & Beach / Ceremony & Reception Music: Los Hermanos Cintron / Wedding Invitations: Minted / Bride’s Shoes: Luiza Barcelos / Wedding Dress: San Patrick / Veil: Sara Gabriel via Gabriella / Alterations: Sew Elegant / Bride’s Hair: Rebekah Corley of The Bridal Team / Groom’s Attire: Hugo Boss / Bride’s Make-up: LJ Makeup Artistry / Catering: Fresh Flavors Catering