I adore this Bride. She is stunning in her custom Donna Miller wedding dress, planned this entire elegant soiree in just a few short months and put her focus on the most important part of her wedding day: Marrying her best friend. Megan W Photography made sure no moment went un-captured and it’s a day so beautiful, it could bring you to tears.
From the beautiful Bride… We only had a few months to plan our wedding, but getting married to my best friend was the ONLY thing that mattered. Everything else, the flowers, the cake, even the dress (gasp!) didn’t matter, as long as he was mine and I was his. In an effort to make me smile like he has every day since I agreed to let him have my heart, he proposed by hiding my ring in a Flip Fold that was gifted from his parents. The inscription read, “Will you fold my clothes for me for the rest of my life?” I mean, how could I say no? Even though we only had a few months to plan our wedding, Chris’ level headed “military bearing” kept my focus on the important thing: we were getting married. The laughter, love, and personal touches were what we wanted to focus on.
The Branford House was the perfect location. I had spent the summers in my childhood flying kites on the lawn that separates the house from Long Island Sound. It embodies the craftsmanship and beauty of yesteryear that is also reflected in my art deco era engagement ring. The long, narrow shape of the main hall made it so that our guests were close to us, surrounding us even, during the ceremony. It felt like they were right up there with us, supporting us as an extended wedding party. That is what we had wanted from day one, an intimate ceremony surrounded by everyone we love. This was reflected in our choice of vendors as well. An old friend created our art deco inspired cake, while another provided the flowers and countless hours positioning an army of candles. My mother and her best friend helped decorate the house and arrange the champagne glasses that doubled as gifts. Both our caterer’s daughter and our Pastor’s son had been married at the Branford House. Together with my father, we designed and constructed a “paper moon booth” for our guests to take pictures on. My best friend created vintage poster inspired invitations. I even designed my dress, and had it custom made just a couple of weeks before the wedding!
We wanted our wedding as personal as it could be with 100 guests. Despite the more formal, vintage feel of our wedding, we decided to buck the traditional sit down dinner in favor of a cocktail reception. The allowed our guests that had gathered from all over the country, from every story of our life to mingle and meet. Chris’ cousins found kinship in some of my oldest friends. My grandmother cut a rug with one of the sailors. My camping friends from Maine and my surrogate family from Florida toasted their champagne glasses. EVERYONE bonded over their love of the mac n’ cheese bar and pulled pork sliders. It didn’t feel like a “wedding”…it felt like our two lives were be permanently stitched together, intersecting at every important joint of our lives, leaving no loved one or memory unturned. My heart swells just thinking about the outpouring of love that we were shown that day. “Happy” is such an ill fitting word, a complete understatement of the sheer joy that I felt that day. We have, with little effort, made laughter the center of our universe. We got to share that laughter and love with our friends and family that day. That was what mattered to us. Whether it was the vows I slipped into the ceremony that made Chris promise to never take a head shot in Nerf gun battles, and to always wash the dishes when I cook, or the throwback of Polaroid and single use cameras guests had access to for picture taking…we wanted to add a few smile lines on everyone’s face.
The best part of all of it? We had the most amazing photographer to capture every moment. Even though we didn’t meet until the wedding weekend, I knew we were kindred spirits. The photographer was the most important part for both Chris and me, because at the end of the day, if your pictures don’t capture the HEART of the day, then those memories fade. I know what I felt that day, but looking through Megan’s photographs from the day reminds me of the emotion all over again. I have never felt more “in the moment” than my wedding day, and I am so thankful that I have Megan’s photos to look back at to slow down the blur of events! Even more than the beautiful photographs, Chris and I gained a new friend. We are so very thankful that Megan didn’t just take pretty pictures, but that she captured true moments. That is a talent not many have.
All I have to say to those who think marriage is “the end”…it’s just the beginning. When you find the time to make your spouse laugh and tell them how much you love them, every day is a treasure. And I mean that in the absolute sappiest, The Notebook kind of love, slow dance in the middle of the grocery store (yes that happens!) kind of way. To me, our wedding was just another day to laugh, dance, and love. Thank you so much for letting us share a little piece of that with everyone else!
Photography: Megan W Photography | Floral Design: Alexis' Flowers | Floral Design: Alexis' Flowers | Cake: Liz Hall | Hair: Tatjana Reynolds | Hair: Tatjana Reynolds | Venue: Branford House | Venue: Branford House | Custom Wedding Dress: Donna Miller | Make Up Artist: Nicole Dawson