Elegant Seaside Belle Mer Wedding

Elizabeth Greene
August 13, 2015
Categories: Real Weddings, The Blog, Traditional Elegance
Tags: Seaside

Thursdays are my favorite and today is more fabulous than ever. Not only does she work wonders here at SMP but our editor Melissa also recently said “I do” to her handsome man at breathtaking Belle Mer and we get to relish in all of Rebecca Yale’s wondrous photos for the foreseeable future. And by gosh, our girl is gorgeous – and a planning pro, from the beautiful blooms by Anchor & Grace to Casa De Perrin’s romantic rentals. Congrats Melissa, and without further ado, let’s leap into this abundance of beauty!

From Rebecca Yale Photography… One of my favorite parts of working in the wedding industry is getting to meet and collaborate with other talented, creative and kind people. Melissa exemplifies all of those qualities to a T so I was so incredibly honored to photograph her and Shawn’s intimate Newport, RI wedding. There’s something magical about photographing intimate weddings where I get to know all the guests and can feel the love and happiness radiating off of them towards the bride and groom. The bride and groom’s portraits are always one of my favorite moments of the day and Melissa and Shawn certainly did not disappoint. They exchanged cards in a sweet emotional moment during their first look, followed by a walk on Belle Mer’s grounds to take portraits with their elegant wedding party. It was a perfect day and an absolute pleasure to capture for such a sweet couple.

From the Bride… A wedding is a thousand things all at once—a culmination of hard work in both love and planning, a beginning to the journey of marriage, a cheerful kind of chaos sprinkled with family, friends, laughter, tears, never-want-to-let-go hugs, and of course, pretty, pretty details. It’s why I love waking up each day and logging on to Style Me Pretty, an experience that I’m so blessed to be a part of and call my job. And with that ‘wedding blogger’ title I’m so thankful to have, I’ve had the chance of meeting some of the most talented vendors in the wedding industry that made every inch of our day possible—one of our happiest days yet.

We met our incredibly talented photographer, Rebecca Yale, right around the time Shawn and I were engaged. She’s one of the kindest people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, and now call my friend. She’s poised, knows how to make you laugh, understands the moments that are important to you and oh, she’ll make you cry with her gorgeous captures, she will. My heart was filled with the biggest joy when our wedding photos arrived.

Our intimate wedding celebration was overflowing with so much love and beauty—it’s impossible to choose just one favorite moment. It began with sweet getting ready moments at our seaside venue, Belle Mer, with my girls in their floral robes from Plum Pretty Sugar. My mother buttoned up my romantic, flowing Jenny Yoo dress and placed my pearl necklace around my neck, a wedding gift from my Groom. After curling my last curl and eagerly grabbing my gorgeous bouquet designed by Leigh Anne of Anchor & Grace, I headed off for my first look with Shawn. We both loved our first look. It was a moment just to ourselves that we’ll never forget.

Our guests were greeted with music from Beat Train as I fastened my veil and headed down stairs for our ceremony. As I walked out of the door, I saw our parents, grandparents and my girls lined up, dressed to the nines and wearing ear to ear grins. It was a truly special moment to have such a parade of love ahead of me as I walked down the shell path to meet my Groom. Our ceremony, officiated by Mike Egan included a blessing of the sea and our sweet and simple vows. After nearly a decade since meeting one another, that moment was more meaningful than we could have ever imagined.

The ceremony was followed by a fun cocktail hour, bocce ball and mingling. Sarah Dennen, our coordinator at Belle Mer made each transition flow seamlessly. The bridal party entrance was by far the most entertaining moment of the night. As a joke that started during my bachelorette party, my sister (also MOH) wanted to enter like Beyonce. With two groomsmen paired to each bridesmaid, each of the trios followed suit and were introduced in (seriously funny) style. We entered the most striking room, filled with blooms by Anchor & Grace, charming tabletop rentals by Casa de Perrin, menus (and lovely invites) by Minted, quote signage by Julie Song Ink and calligraphy signage and goodies by Laura Hooper Calligraphy. After dinner, we were surprised by a mini fireworks show from our generous and thoughtful friends, which was the perfect way to end the evening. It was breathtaking beyond words and we soaked in the entire day with thankful hearts!