If I could, I would hop on the next boat to Nantucket and never leave. Because I completely agree with this couple when they say that a bad day on Nantucket still beats the best day off the island. It’s beyond true, and hosting their best day ever there was complete genius. One look at the pictures from Bruce Plotkin Photography and you’ll see exactly what I mean. I can almost smell that gorgeous sea air as the sun sets over the Grey Lady after looking through the gallery, and I must admit I’m just a tad bit jealous of all the people on this gorgeous couple’s guest list. See the gorgeous day they enjoyed here.
When Brian proposed we both immediately knew we would get married on Nantucket. I had spent my summers growing up there and Brian and I had been coming down on weekends during the summer months since the beginning of our relationship. We both love everything about the island and agree that a bad day on Nantucket still beats the best day off the island. It’s such a magical place that holds our favorite memories and we wanted to share it with our family and friends at our wedding. We love the casual feel of a typical Nantucket late summer afternoon at my family’s house and we wanted to replicate this for our guests (with the cooperation of Mother Nature). When we started planning our wedding, we focused on keeping it casual, fun and classy to help create for our guests the Nantucket vibe that we have grown to know and love.
We selected the historic and beautiful Sconset Union Chapel for the ceremony. The chapel is quintessential Nantucket, it is light and airy, replete with white wooden benches for pews and kneelers made out of needle point blocks depicting Nantucket scenes. As a shower present, my mother painted an oil painting of the chapel’s front entrance, which became the wedding day program’s front cover. We decided to create a ceremony that was both personal and inclusive: the celebrant was the Chaplain from Georgetown Law, who Brian got to know well as a student, and he opened the ceremony with a Hebrew prayer; my Godmother was the soloist and our mutual friend who introduced us to each other gave a reading. Finally, no family event would be complete without my family’s yellow lab, Casey, who sat at the back of the chapel. Following the ceremony, Brian and I departed in an antique car with our wedding party following us. Before heading to the reception in Cisco, we stopped for photos at the iconic Sankaty Lighthouse. The ride from Sconset to my parents’ house was along a winding road along the coast, which gave us some time to reflect upon the ceremony and get ready for a fun night of non-stop dancing.
Guests were escorted into the Sperry tent that had been set up on the side lawn. I opted for a blue and teal color scheme, which reminded me of the ocean and also gave the wedding a Nantucket-preppy feel. We outfitted the tent with blue and teal Chinese lanterns which were tied in with the color scheme in the linens and menus. Since the house is surrounded by hydrangeas, we carried this through to the centerpieces which were decorated with greenery and roses. Instead of assigning table numbers, we named the tables after Nantucket beaches and The Parchment store on Nantucket designed beautiful table signs and escort cards in the style of the beach signs seen around the island. As a guest book, we had friends and family sign a nautical map of Nantucket that is now framed in our home. The desert table was fun and whimsical, depicting a beachy scene displaying our cake top and delicious cupcakes from our caterer Kendra Lockley from “Simply with Style”.
We kicked-off a night of dinner and dancing with a choreographed first dance to Ray LaMontagne’s “You Are the Best Thing”. From that point on until the party ended, the dance floor was never once empty thanks to the talented band, “Downtown Fever”. We had the time of our lives on the dance floor with all of our guests. At one point we were both down on the floor doing push-ups! At the end of the night we left to a sparkler send off from our guests and departed in the antique car. It turned out to be more perfect than we could have ever imagined and our guests really got to know the Nantucket that we love.
Wedding Photography: Bruce Plotkin Photography / Ceremony Location: Sconset Union Chapel in Siasconset, Massachusetts / Reception Location: Bride’s Parents’ Home in Cisco Beach, Massachusetts / Floral Design: Joyce Jaskula/ Caterer: Kendra Lockley of Simply with Style / Band: Downtown Fever / Antique Car: Highland Drivers / Tent Rentals: Nantucket Tents / Wedding Invitations: Parchment Nantucket / Wedding Dress: Liancarol from L’elite Boston / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Lula Kate via Bella Bridesmaid / Hair + Makeup: Darya Salon