This wedding looks like soooo much fun. A sort of nautical meets rustic meets garden party style affair with lawn games, fabulous DIY details and some of the loveliest bouquets from McQuade’s Market that you will ever have the privilege to see. Add in an entire gallery of gorgeous images from CLY CREATION and you can bet you’ll be spending hours upon hours in the full gallery. Guaranteed.
From the Bride… Daniel and I first met at work, and from the moment we laid eyes on each other there was an instant connection. At first this connection was nothing more than glancing looks from nearby cubicles, however eventually Daniel worked up the courage to stop by my desk for some passing conversation. These conversations were small at first, but eventually transitioned into poignant debates on a variety of important topics like what makes up the perfect sandwich, chip and drink combination for lunch.
While funny and light-hearted, these conversations represented a deeper connection than even we were not fully aware of. What has made our bond so strong over the past four and a half years is our mutual appreciation for, and adventurous spirit to find good food and good drink.
Eventually Daniel mustered up the courage to ask me to attend a happy hour with him, to which I agreed. Since then the rest has been history, and we have been enjoying good drink and good food ever since.
About our wedding planning:
Simple. Rustic. Good food. Good drink. This was the wedding we set out to create – everything else would work itself out.
From the very beginning we wanted our guests to have a great time in a setting that truly represented our personalities and our relationship. Light hearted, fun, and always on the look out for a great party, our vision came to life in Mystic, CT through an amazing waterside ceremony, tented cocktail hour, lawn games, great food and flowing drinks.
We started our wedding planning journey back in October of 2012, passing through the small New England beach town of Mystic, CT. After touring many venues in NYC (too expensive) and southwestern CT (also too expensive) we finally found Latitude 41 in Mystic which had everything we wanted: a great outdoor space, a romantic and rustic party room, and a chef who we met with and who personally guaranteed an amazing meal – a key deciding factor. After locking down the venue we knocked off a few of the necessary and essential to dos: great photographer – check, florist – check and DJ – check. We also planned to incorporate a bit of our differing cultures by holding a Jewish wedding ceremony, and a Chinese family style dinner for our rehearsal.
Once the essentials were taken care of that’s when the real planning began – given our conservative budget we embarked on a DIY journey that neither of us could have anticipated, but one that was worth every ounce of effort in the end – it really gave our wedding the personalized, natural and rustic touch we were aiming to create.
Everything from handwritten chalkboards, to hand-stained corn-hole boards were built and designed down to the smallest detail. Our table centerpieces were created from of store bought and recycled mason jars. Cocktail menus, signature drinks, and even lawn signs were all in a days work for us during our final stretch before the big day. The two biggest endeavors were the place cards and party favors, which we designed to reflect both our personalities. As avid tea drinkers, we used individual tea pyramids with heart-shaped name tags to both let our guests know what table they were sitting at, as well as give them a little piece of us to take home and enjoy. Finally our party favors took 12 straight hours to design, hand print, stuff with our favorite potato chips (salt and vinegar), as well as candy – dark chocolate, peanut butter and spicy combinations and tie with ribbon. Every detail was meticulously thought through in order to express something about us as a couple, as well as add a bit of personality to every experience our guests partook in throughout the night.
All in all the wedding was an amazing experience that both of us will never forget. We were able to reflect our personalities and cultures to our family and friends while having a great time in the process.
Photography: CLY Creation | Floral Design: Trish Of McQuade's Market | Wedding Dress: Vera Wang | Wedding Cake: Mystic Market | Invitations: Wedding Paper Divas | Bride's Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Make Up: Naomi's Studio & Salon | Groom's Suit: J.Crew | Wedding Venue: Coastal Gourmet | Bride's Accessories: J.Crew | Rob From Aria Melod: Aria Melody DJ