Get ready, lovelies, because this seaside wedding is going to brighten this gray winter day. Then again, I may be a little bit biased—this affair was designed by SMP’s very own, Abby Capalbo. And with a dreamy dress from Everthine Bridal Boutique, yummy bites from Gourmet Galley and gorgeous photos from Ashley Caroline, this day is truly perfect. See it all in THE VAULT!
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From The Bride…Steve and I met through a group of friends who played trivia each week at a local brew pub, and after a ski weekend in Vermont and a few helpful nudges from our friends, we began dating. We quickly realized that this relationship of ours wasn’t just about romance but that more importantly we were, quite simply, each other’s best friend. When Steve asked me to marry him in the same spot where we first talked about spending our lives together, I happily said yes.
Steve and I both agreed that we wanted a laid back, relaxed reception with an emphasis on great food and lots of fun things to do! We thought of so many different ideas to incorporate (I am a Style Me Pretty devotee and have been long before Steven and I met!) but when it came time to make major decisions our guiding idea was “did it feel like us?”
As an admitted over-Pinner and detail oriented gal, one of the most helpful things we did was invest in a design board with Abby Capalbo. I had a sense of how I wanted the design to go, but needed help editing all of the ideas. We shared as much of “us” with Abby as we could and she created a document that so perfectly captured what we were hoping to see on our big day. It made communicating our story and ideas a breeze when working with our talented vendors!
I have a long standing love affair with summer in New England, so we chose a venue that really reflected that; when Gourmet Galley sent us our menu proposal, we felt like they read our minds! Steve is the most wonderful, goofy guy and has a serious penchant for puns, so Jen of Jennifer’s Paper really allowed us to infuse plenty of fun into the paper goods throughout the day. Paper ended up being such a huge vehicle for highlighting our personalities (hello, 478,482 nautical puns!) and Jen was so patient and talented at working in every little detail for us. We’d also spent most of our relationship living in Middletown, CT, so it was a no-brainer for us to ask the Middletown cupcake queen, NoRa’s Cupcakes, to drive their truck down for the reception.
In keeping with the personalized theme, we elected to take on a few DIY projects for our big day. For our escort cards, we choose to create a mixed CD as a nod to our first date: he brought me flowers, I made him a mix that he still listens to! We built cornhole boards, repainted additional games to keep a cohesive look on the lawn, and made monkey fist knots for the tables. The monkey fists come with a funny story: I was getting overwhelmed with details and was stressed about the knots; Steve, being the amazing guy he is readily offered to make these for me. I was skeptical but he insisted he give it a try. Upon successful completion of his trial knot, he sent a photo of it to me, along with a rewritten, wedding-centric parody of the “Men of the Night’s Watch” vow from Game of Thrones. He was the self-proclaimed “Watcher of the Wedding.”
We will never forget our beautiful wedding day. Ashley Drago’s gorgeous floral garlands popped on the tables and when Marissa of Gourmet Galley led us into the room we couldn’t stop smiling at how perfectly everything came together! The day was such a happy blur and I’ll never forget dancing and catching glimpses of Steve dancing with my cousins, high school pals and family members running to the photo booth or cupcake truck, or our college friends twirling our grandmothers around the dance floor! Easily our favorite memory, aside from our vows, was sneaking off during dinner to spend some time alone at the edge of the lawn overlooking the water. We felt so blessed to be surrounded by our favorite people and all of the love they shared with us.
Even with a team of wonderful vendors and lots of wedding prettiness, everything pales in comparison to the marriage we are beginning. Steve is truly the kindest, funniest, most wonderful guy and while things are not always picture perfect, I feel so incredibly blessed to have found my best friend and teammate for life.
Photography: Ashley Caroline Photography | Cinematography: Brian J Productions | Event Design: Abby Capalbo | Floral Design: Ashley Drago | Wedding Dress: Rebecca Schoneveld | Cupcakes: NoRa Cupcake Company | Stationery: Jennifer's Paper | Bridesmaids' Dresses: J.Crew | Catering: Gourmet Galley Catering | Makeup: Larissa Lake | Hair: Naomi's Studio & Salon | Venue: Guilford Yacht Club | Bridal Boutique: Everthine Bridal Boutique | DJ + Entertainment: Local Motion | Signage + Cocktail Stirrers: Laura Hooper Calligraphy