Before you even get into this fashion forward farm fête captured by Julie Sterling, do yourself a favor and take some time to sit with this Bride’s description. Because you will not only get a little peek into the prettiness sitting in this post, but you’ll also get an oh-so-sweet look into this couple’s love story…and it is darling. So it’s no surprise really that this gallery is bursting at the seems with sweetness, and you can see it all right here.
From the Bride… As with all love stories, there is usually an interesting tale as to how it all started, and I’d say ours is almost too crazy to be true, but it is!! Thank the Lord for a divine encounter that happened on a crisp night in Boston’s South End…
I’d moved to Boston from Italy 8 months earlier and Phil had been living in Boston for about 10 years when I chose to walk in and change things up a bit. I had just attended a neighborhood block party with my wonderful roommate, who had moved to Boston only two months earlier from the UK. On the way home, she happened to point out a sign in the local firehouse window, advertising Fire Shirts For Sale! Well, it didn’t take us much to hop on that opportunity and we rang the bell! (It was only 9:30pm….what’s the problem?)
So long story short, Phil didn’t answer our bell ringing, but another firefighter did and since it was my roommate’s first proper glimpse at an American fire truck (or so her excuse went) we took some pictures, had some laughs and…down the fire pole comes Phil…literally SLIDING into my life! His timing couldn’t have been more perfect. It did take two more ‘coincidental’ meetings while I passed by the firehouse to go to/from the gym before Phil bit the bullet and asked me for a date, but to his credit, he explained that he simply “didn’t want to be a creep.” And thank goodness he finally did ask me, because I was starting to go nuts trying to plan creative ways for me to somehow get my phone number into his hands! We went on our first date a few days later, and for me, that’s all it took. I was immediately HOOKED on this guy and would’ve said yes to a marriage proposal within our first month of dating!
Our entire wedding event was rustic and vintage-inspired by our collective very deep love for vintage, historic, rustic things and whatever makes us nostalgic for the past, even the past we’re too young to have lived. It was a natural choice to have a vintage/rustic wedding theme and we had so much fun planning our day together. I wore my grandmother’s pink wedding hat from 1947 instead of a veil and a traditional, old-fashioned fresh-flower corsage (my grandmother wore one, too!). My dress was a high-low lace design reminiscent of the first half of the 20th century. It looked great and was easy to walk in on the farm. Top that off with a vintage mink stole for the evening and I really felt like I was living in another era for my wedding day…mission accomplished! Phil wore a vintage tweed suit and the boys wore suspenders and bow ties.
Our cake was modeled to look like stacked vintage hat boxes and we used mismatched coffee cups, saucers, and flatware for our tables. We had mason jars for our cocktail hour (and two specialty cocktails) and a “Stache Shack” for our DIY photo booth with temporary finger mustache tattoos (Phil has a real mustache tattoo on his finger and we thought it would be fun to work this into our day). We spent less than $200 on all of the flowers including my bouquet and corsage!
One of my very best friends married us and during our ceremony, we put a nice bottle of wine and letters to each other in a box, sealed it — to be opened on our 10th anniversary. For our first dance we waltzed to a song that my close friend Jessie sang (her husband was on the guitar) and they also sang/played throughout the ceremony. We had a four-person musical group (guitar, accordion, mandolin, violin, piano, clarinet all switching in and out depending on the song) and enjoyed contra dancing (New England square/folk dancing). Everyone learned the moves from a caller slowly and then all danced together. We had a fire pit, bean bags, horseshoes, hay bales covered in Phil’s Mother’s home-stitched quilts, and more! We exited in a 1939 burgundy Cadillac limo.
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Photography: Julie Sterling Photography | Wedding Venue: Smolak Farms, North Andover, MA | Wedding Stylist and Florist: Jillian at New England Vintage Rentals | Wedding Dress: Sabella Couture | Shoes, Hat, Jewelry: Vintage | Hair: Tricia Simon (the bride!) | Makeup: Sephora | Videographers: Well Spun Weddings | Caterer: Little Neck Clambake Company | Cake: Donna’s Cakes | Musician: Owen Morrison