Bohemian Black Tie Wedding At Oceanbleu for These High School Sweethearts

eddye
October 29, 2018
Categories: Real Weddings, Romantic, Traditional Elegance
Tags: Beachside

Take a look at this first photo from Kelsey Combe Photography …. see that shadow in the distance? What an awesome “before the first look” shot…….

Molly & Harry were sweethearts who made it official a mere 13 years after they met in high school! Their names, alone, are enough to make you know they were destined to share a lifetime together, right?

Harry and Molly grew up together near the ocean and knew that’s where they would someday be married. With the help of Kate & Co Events ~ Molly took her iconic “first look walk” toward her soon-to-be-betrothed wearing her dream gown by Karen Willis Holmes that, quite literally, billowed in the ocean breeze. The demure full skirt turned into a few brief moments of incredible fun as Molly and Harry exchanged “first looks” soon followed by a frolic on the beach with their besties.

More of their story from wedding planner, Kate & Co Events…

As the saying goes, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, right? Sometimes planning and designing a wedding without the right help can be pretty ‘lemony’ … so when Molly reached out with just 4 months left until her big day, we clicked immediately and together, we made some really sweet, delicious (albeit, proverbial) lemonade. Molly and Harry’s SoCal-inspired, bohemian, romantic day perfectly reflected their fun, original personalities and was infused with so many personalized touches!

It was incredible to see everything come together so quickly and then have the immense joy of watching the hilarious yet tear-jerker ceremony culminating in endless dancing under magical lights and disco balls with a custom neon sign of lyrics from the first dance song glowing in the background.

From the Bride… Harry and I are high school sweethearts. You could say it was love at first sight: on my first day of Science Research (an embarrassingly unpopular program we were both enrolled in), I saw a picture of Harry and thought he was the cutest boy I’d ever seen. Fast forward 13 years and I still feel the same way! Since we’re from Long Beach, a small beach town on the South Shore of Long Island, we always knew we wanted to be married near the beach. We chose our venue (the Oceanbleu) because it felt like an incredibly beautiful “blank canvas” for us to infuse our own style and personalities. We opted to have our ceremony inside the venue’s attached tent and brought the outside in by incorporating tons of greenery and gorgeous, loose florals throughout the tent and ballroom.

We were so lucky to have my eloquent cousin officiate our ceremony – having him up there with us was so comforting and completely eased all of our nerves. Two weeks later, the roles were reversed when I spoke during his wedding ceremony! My favorite part of our ceremony was my grandma’s reading of the “Blessing of the Hands,” which was equal parts beautiful, emotional and humbling. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

One of my favorite details is our escort card display because it’s the perfect example of our blended styles: a gorgeous greenery wall with a custom “let all the children boogie” neon sign, lyrics from one of our favorite David Bowie songs, Starman. Discerning guests may have noticed Starman was our cake cutting song as well!

Both Harry and I work in creative industries (I’m an interior designer and Harry owns and runs a record label called Greenway Records) so it was super important to us that our personalities and passions to shine through on our wedding day. We also wanted our fairly large wedding to feel as intimate and personal as possible. In true Molly/Harry fashion, we walked down the aisle to Radiohead, created a disco ball dreamland and gave out quirky enamel pins of our faces and personalized vinyl records (hand-poured by Harry with love) as gifts.

The color palette for our wedding day was inspired by our custom wedding suite and paper goods from Smitten On Paper, with lots of greenery, blush and soft gray. I wanted the space to feel light, bright, happy and warm, so we incorporated pops of mauve, peach and mustard in the flowers, cake and lounge areas. We decided to keep our bridal party small and I let my bridesmaids choose their own dresses; the mix of different textures and muted metallics worked perfectly against the groomsmen’s black tuxes and Harry’s navy tux.

All of my wedding gown inspiration (gathered in the early days of our engagement) featured varying versions of a boho-style dress with beaded tops and full, tulle skirts. I thought – I was convinced – that was my dream dress until (dot dot dot…) a friend told me about a tiny, unassuming designer boutique in Soho called Karen Willis Holmes. I went by myself and immediately fell in love with the clean lines, style, shape and fabric of Karen’s Shelly top and Camille skirt.

Though we were very hands-on with planning, we were also super trusting of our wildly talented dream team of vendors who created the most stunning, magical day for us!

Karen Willis Holmes’ DYG Series of wedding gowns is nothing short of brilliant! Here’s a couple of links to show you what we’re talking about:

Karen Willis Holmes DYG

KWH ~ Camille

Real Brides Wearing KWH Designs

Our thanks to Kate & Co Events, Kelsey Combe Photography and Karen Willis Holmes ~ and of course Harry & Molly ~ for sharing their whimsical journey down memory lane the day Harry Married Molly!