With a long holiday weekend spent saluting our military men and women and ringing in the unofficial start to summer, we thought it fitting to share this New England summer wedding done so, so right. It’s all picnic tables, lobster and sunshine designed by True Event, plus blooms by Petal Floral Design and photography by Kathy Blanchard. See even more right here and wrap it all up with the perfect film of the day captured by Hello Super Studios.
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From the Bride Faye… Peaks Island is a special place for Adam and I. We discovered it together, by chance, and we’ve gone back each year. It is a small island off of the coast of Portland, Maine. A really cool foodie town we traveled to in a snowstorm for our first Valentines Day. We met a old fisherman with no teeth at an oyster bar that weekend, and he told us we had to come back to Portland in the summer and take the ferry over to Peaks Island. We planned on going for 2 days in August, but we ended up staying for 5! We never wanted to leave! Between the smooth slate rocky beaches, the royal blue ocean, bicycling around all day like we were kids, the lobster steamed to order brought over on a boat with my name on it, the local honey maker who sells small jars of his nectar abandoned with an honesty box for you to pay when he’s not around (and I’ve never seen him!), the old army bunker “Battery Steele” covered in vines and street art where you can bonfire under the stars, the one bar on the island with jukebox karaoke, and the smiling neighbors who actually look up to say hello each day – we were hooked.
When I envisioned the wedding, I knew I wanted to have it by the beach- but not necessarily on the beach. I also knew I loved the look of old barns with chandeliers, and I wished I could find that perfect mix of rustic beach barn chic…
I found just that with the Peaks Island Lions Club! The grounds were right on the bluff with green grass for outdoor dining and views of the ocean. The club itself become my barn! We were able to take such a raw and sort of quirky old space and make it absolutely gorgeous with the help of our wedding planners, True Event, and our AMAZING vendors.
I was inspired by a lot of different things when I started planning, but luckily it all came together quite seamlessly. Firstly, I wanted to incorporate Balinese colors and customs, since Bali was where Adam proposed to me. The people of Bali are absolutely incredible. They are just so trusting and optimistic. For the wedding, I made my own Balinese offering baskets and we used a few exotic flowers to try and flow in a bit of their culture we loved and respected so much.
I also had just re-read the Great Gatsby in time for Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of the film, and could not help but be inspired by the descriptions of Gatsby’s elegant parties. I chose Jenny Packham’s Eden dress partly because it might have been something Daisy would wear. We drank rose champagne and other classic cocktails in antique blue ball jars. I wanted our wedding to be timeless while throwing an unforgettably fun party!
Finally, New England summers needed to play a part in our early September wedding. We didn’t want anything too nautical – but the clambake, picnic tables, and lawn games gave our guests the luxury of having one more weekend of summer. We even charted a huge sail boat the day before our wedding and sailed around the island all day singing songs with guitars and snacking over cocktails. Cocktail hour is a major part of or summer getaways. :)
There were so many incredible moments during our wedding. Our ceremony was so special. We had our first look as I walked down the aisle and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Locking eyes with Adam as my brother sang Tom Petty’s “American Girl” while my dad walked me down to him was so perfect. When we got to each other we were immediately crying and laughing and squeezing each other’s hand so much. It just felt so good! Looking around and seeing 75 of our closest friends and family support us in this place we brought them to was such a wonderful feeling. Our best friend Jason was our officiant and his words were so personal and meaningful. We have his speech and our hand written vows framed in our bedroom right now.
I would also say that having everyone on this island with us all weekend was the most memorable thing we’ve taken from our wedding. Every day someone would host something at their house. My bridesmaids and my mom threw a BBQ for us on the first night we arrived, our rehearsal dinner turned into an all night sob fest where my dad sang us an original song he wrote called “When I Give You Away,” the day after our wedding we all gathered at the Army bunker in the middle of the island at night and lit candles in the darkened passageways, always singing and laughing and having our farewell bonfires under the stars…
And finally, it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t mention the surprise Flash mob by friends choreographed for us during dinner! During speeches, the band started playing “Call Me Maybe”. I thought it was cute but I didn’t really understand what was happening until I heard the singer saying my and Adam’s names and I realized all of the lyrics had been changed to tell our love story. By the time the first chorus came around, half of the room erupted in a full on dance routine with costumes and signs and surprising participants. I love our friends so much. We have such a strong connection and I feel so lucky to have such a great group of creative and inspiring people in my life.
I made our save the dates from oyster shells Adam took from his restaurant. After thoroughly cleaning and bleaching them so they were sanitary, I glued a pearl hued M&M to each shell that had “FADAM 9.7.14” inscribed on it.
For our wedding arbor, I made my own dream catcher out of a hula hoop and ribbons and string from Jo-Ann’s fabrics. It was such a great piece to have next to us during the ceremony and I really loved the process of making it. When we got back from our honeymoon, our friends Jessie and Mark had taken it home for us and hung it on our ceiling with Edison lightbulbs as a chandelier! It was such a thoughtful and amazing gift.
It was important to us that everything was relaxed during our wedding. We were pretty unconventional in a lot of our choices. Our ceremony was non denominational, but we did have Adam stomp on a glass for a nod to Jewish tradition. We had everyone sit in communal style picnic tables on the grass for dinner, (They were warned in the dress code!) which was a buffet style New England clambake. It was fun to see everyone all dressed up with lobster bibs cracking the shells and eating steamers and corn!
I loved doing the research and finding our vendors. They really made the wedding spectacular for us. Our invitations and paper goods came from Mekala Tinnin of “a Tie that Binds” in Oregon, who was such a doll to works with, and who really made my ideas come together beautifully with her expertise and design. Becca from Petal Floral in Massachusetts was integral in the decor. Her centerpieces and our bouquets are still talked about. Our wedding cake was made by Adam’s pastry chef Thiago Silva, who makes incredible cake deigns that actually taste ridiculously good. Our photographer, Kathy Blanchard, with the help of her sister Missy, took such intimate and amazing photos. We felt so comfortable with her. Our videographer, Megan, from Hello Super 8 made our wedding video into a piece of art that we will enjoy watching over and over again. She blended our favorite music over super 8 footage of our wedding throughout the day. It is now our favorite movie. Our DJ, Lord Easy, of Karaoke Killed the Cat in Brooklyn played great music that everyone could dance to. And we danced a lot! The last hour of music was Easy MCing karaoke, and everyone absolutely killed it. Black Tie Catering from Portland Maine (just across the bay from Peaks) brought in a wonderful staff and such delicious and fresh food. Our chandeliers and lighting came from Ryan Designs, who really helped us transform the space. Our band, Miko & the Musket played for us well after they were asked to. We were all having way too much fun! And finally, our wedding planners Sarah and Caitlin were indispensable. as much as I tried to do a lot of the work for the wedding myself, I could not have done it without them. They listened to my ideas and made them come to life. Having them there that day took away all of my worries and I was able to really enjoy what we put together, and live in the moment with my new husband.
Photographer: Kathy Blanchard Photography | Videography: Hello Super Studios | Florist: Petal Floral Design | Caterer: The Black Tie Company | Lighting: Ryan Designs | Band: Miko & The Musket | Coordination And Design: TRUE Event | Music: Karaoke Killed The Cat | Paper: Tie That Binds | Rentals: Rentals Unlimited