Our wedding day was hands down the most magical day of our entire lives and we are so lucky to have spent it with so many of our favorite people in the world, who traveled from near and far to celebrate with us on Nantucket. None of it would have come together so beautifully without our month of planner, Caroline of Milly & Grace Weddings, who is one of the loveliest human beings I’ve ever met and was truly put on this earth to make wedding dreams come true. I’m so excited to share our wedding photos captured by Cameron Clark Photography with you all today!
From Mackenzie of Design Darling… Will and I got married over Labor Day weekend on Nantucket. We started our wedding day getting ready with our bridesmaids and groomsmen. My bridesmaids and I had our hair and makeup done at RJ Miller, where we set up a little breakfast on the outdoor patio, including my lifelong favorite blueberry muffins from the ‘Sconset Market. I had done a hair and makeup trial at the salon a few weeks before our wedding day and decided to do a French twist on my hair — an updo that would keep my hair out of my face but that was undone enough for an island wedding. I had given my bridesmaids monogrammed pajama sets from J.Crew as gifts at my bridal luncheon the day before, so we all wore those while getting dolled up!
The boys got ready at a house in Tom Nevers. Will and I decided he would wear a classic navy sportcoat, a blue shirt, a striped bowtie, and white pants. We got suede loafers for the groomsmen but Will wore Tecovas cowboy boots as a nod to his Dallas roots. I didn’t learn until the day after our wedding that they had some time to kill before meeting up with us so they wound up playing a game of spikeball on the front lawn — in their white pants! Boys will be boys.
After hair and makeup, my bridesmaids and I got dressed at my parents’ house. My bridesmaids wore the most beautiful seersucker Coren Moore gowns with navy silk faille sashes that we’d found at A Little Something White in my hometown. I wore Sarah Seven’s Sullivan gown, a silk crepe t-shirt style dress that I’d fallen in love with long before I ever tried it on. I paired it with Christian Louboutin satin heels with a big silk bow at the ankle and I love that you could see a peek of my shoes when I walked thanks to the center slit on the gown. I accessorized with a pair of earrings on loan from Manfredi Jewelers and my mother’s wedding and 10-year anniversary bands on my right hand. I found my fingertip length veil on Etsy and love the way the horsehair trim floated out in the pictures we took on the beach just before the start of our reception. My mom helped button me into my dress before I did a little first look with my dad in my parents’ living room. Seeing him tear up was the first thing that made me cry that day (though it definitely was not the last!).
Will and his parents drove to my parents’ house to do our first look and I was so anxious to see him! Our photographers Cameron and Jamelle set us up in the backyard and I love the way they captured Will walking towards me. But my favorite candid moment from the entire day was looking up and seeing my bridesmaids quietly looking down on our first look from an upstairs bedroom. There were tears and a big round of applause after I turned around and faced Will!
After our first look, we took a party bus to pick up the groomsmen and head to Sankaty Lighthouse to take the majority of our group photos. Will initially thought I was joking when I said I’d found a neon pink party bus as it’s so not Nantucket, but cranking music on the bus to the lighthouse with all our bridesmaids and groomsmen wound up being one of my favorite parts of our wedding day. I was so relieved to have seen Will and to get to spend the day with literally all of our favorite people that it was so fun to get to let loose a little a couple hours before our ceremony.
My parents had taken their wedding photos at the lighthouse 31 years ago and Will and I had actually taken some of our favorite engagement photos there the summer before. It’s just a magical spot positioned between a golf course and the endless expanse of the Atlantic. My bridesmaids carried bouquets of fluffy white hydrangeas and I carried a mix of blue and white hydrangeas, my favorite flower and one that grows all over Nantucket.
Our ceremony took place at the Siasconset Union Chapel on Nantucket. My parents had gotten married there 31 years ago and I knew from the time I was a little girl that it was where I would one day walk down the aisle! Our cockapoo Rory was the ringbearer in a needlepoint collar and leash made by my Grandy. After our ceremony, we led our guests on a short scenic stroll through ‘Sconset to our reception at the Summer House, a beachside restaurant and inn that also has a piano bar where we had our after party.
I had ordered krazy straws for our cocktail hour on the lawn at the Summer House with our initials and ACK, the airport code for Nantucket. They were a fun prop but definitely not the fastest way to consume a cocktail! Will and I had some time to hang with our friends before sneaking away to take pictures on the beach for ten minutes at the end of our cocktail hour. These wound up being some of my favorite photos from the day — we both look so happy to actually be married!
Our reception took place under a Sperry tent set up by Nantucket Tents, who were a dream to work with from beginning to end and consistently went above and beyond to answer questions we had about hosting an event in that space. We rented tables, chairs, and place settings from Nantucket Party Rentals and our photographer Cameron actually helped me track down navy and white striped tablecloths via Instagram, which we finally found at RI Rentals. I love that they made a bold statement but felt totally true to Nantucket and my own classic, nautical aesthetic. We topped them off with alternating bouquets of blue and white hydrangeas put together by Sheila Daume, a family friend who also does the floral arrangements at the chapel every Sunday.
We had one long head table for bridesmaids and groomsmen and round tables for the rest of our guests placed around the dance floor. Delighted Calligraphy wrote everyone’s names in a classic white script on navy cardstock that matched the navy blue envelopes from our wedding invitations, which were designed by Albertine Press featuring watercolors by Kearsley Lloyd. My mom and I placed the escort cards in white trays filled with sand for a simple display that would stand up to the ocean breeze. We used acrylic frames for the table numbers, which combined the outline of Kearsley’s crest from our invitations with numbers drawn by Megan of Delighted Calligraphy.
My mom ordered affordable plain white napkins from World Market and had them monogrammed with our married initials at the aptly-named Nantucket Monograms in Milford, Connecticut. They were the perfect personal touch at each place setting and now Will and I have 130 monogrammed dinner napkins to get us through the rest of our lives!
The Sultans of Swing kept our guests on the dance floor all night (including between toasts, which we hadn’t even planned on!). My dad, the two best men David and Paul, and my sister Reilly all brought me to tears with their speeches — we are so lucky to have so much love in our lives! The band played right up until the outdoor music curfew (sadly 10 p.m. on Nantucket) when it was time for our sparkler exit (just up the stairs to continue the fun at the Summer House piano bar!).
She is the most organized, kind-hearted, thoughtful individual we met in our twenty months of wedding planning, and I’m certain our big day would not have been the same without her tireless efforts and generous spirit. If you are planning a wedding on Nantucket (or elsewhere!), she should be your first phone call. And if you have any questions about our wedding day, I’d be happy to answer in the comments! You can also take a peek back at our entire wedding journey right here. Thank you all for following along! xoxo
Photography: Cameron Clark Photography | Event Planning: Milly & Grace Weddings | Wedding Dress: Sarah Seven | Invitations: Albertine Press | Bridesmaids' Dresses: A Little Something White | Hair & Makeup: RJ Miller | Calligraphy: Delighted Calligraphy | Band: Sultans Of Swing | Tent: Nantucket Tents | Chapel: Siasconset Union Chapel | Rentals: Rhode Island Rentals | Rentals: Nantucket Party Rentals | Restaurant: The Summer House | Watercolors: Kearsley Lloyd Designs