Modern Tented Wedding at Willowdale Estate in Massachusetts

Melissa Baran
December 7, 2018
Categories: Modern, Real Weddings, The Blog

When we meet Brides that tell us that Style Me Pretty was a huge part of their planning process and they spent hours right here on this site, we’re honored. And when we get to see the beautiful result that came from all that inspiration and hard work? We’re proud. Proud of the vendors involved and the way that each one of you find your own slice of style and infuse that into your Big Day. Today’s fete set at Willowdale Estate is no exception. Molly Anne‘s images are the beautiful proof.

From the Bride… As a Pediatric Transplant Nurse, my patients and the lessons they have taught me are a huge part of my life. After my husband, family, friends and these incredible children I get to work with every day, my next love has, and will always be weddings. I found weddings to be the positive outlet I needed to balance with my often times emotional job. I even worked at a bridal salon for a while to help share in other brides happiest days while I was helping guide families through their absolute worst. I have been subscribed to bridal magazines for years, have browsed Style Me Pretty for hours, and have watched more episodes of “Say Yes To the Dress” then any normal person should.

My engagement to my husband Alec came as a complete shock on the night of my graduation for my Master’s Degree in Nursing. After so many years of adoring weddings, to say I was excited to plan my own was an understatement. Two weeks after our engagement, we took the trip of a lifetime to Spain. We were awestruck and fell in love with the beauty, cobblestone alleyways, stone architecture and greenery of a small town called Valldemosa in Mallorca. When we returned, Willowdale was one of the first venues we visited while wedding planning and as soon as we drove up to the estate, we knew this was where we wanted to get married. It was like our own piece of Spain, here in Massachusetts. The history of the country manor, in the depths of a state park, mixed with the greenery of the courtyard was the perfect location for our ideal outdoor wedding. Willowdale gave us the feeling of warmth, love and happiness. We felt at home.

While planning, we really wanted to incorporate our mutual love of traveling into our day. We were inspired by the places we have been, places dear to our heart, and places we have yet to go. From touches of french inspired florals and shades of blues to Boston themed table numbers, we mixed inspiration from my countless hours of browsing real weddings with our experiences together and made our wedding uniquely ours.

Some of the most special and beautiful parts of our wedding day were flower girl dresses handmade by Alec’s mom out of material from his grandmother’s wedding dress, the grooms travel scrapbook gift, a cherry blossom card given to me by Alec (symbolizing where our relationship began), bookshelves filled with loved ones wedding photos, a bouquet charm of my grandmothers given to me by my mother, a special Irish blessing, family members we haven’t seen for years that traveled long distances to be with us, a custom veil made for me by Michelle Roth herself, a signature drink named for our cat Lily, emotional toasts by my father, maids of honor and best men, and 4 birthday celebrations. We even had the breathtaking privilege of having a previous patient of mine, now thriving, at our wedding. Words cannot explain that feeling. These are just a few of the moments of our day that we will cherish forever and that made us feel so loved and so happy. We have never smiled as much as we did on our wedding day.

Surrounded by friends and family, we said I do on the most perfect August Day. It was 72 degrees, partly cloudy and absolutely beautiful (unheard of in New England in August!) Our incredible team of vendors helped us create our dream day, and our photographer Molly captured every last minute. The love, support, happiness and energy of our guests was palpable throughout the entire day and into the night on the packed dance floor. We are so grateful and so blessed to have had such a perfect day and cant wait to share our photos with everyone!

To those who are currently planning a wedding, my recommendation to you would be this; breathe, enjoy the process, and don’t settle. If you have a feeling something isn’t right, trust your gut and go with what makes you happy. I changed my mind so many times during this process because I wouldn’t settle for anything less then what I had dreamed about my entire life. Admittedly, it was stressful at times with having perfectionist tendencies because of my job (I cant tell you how long I debated the perfect blue goblet), but it was all SO worth it. Wishing you all so much happiness and many adventures in your wedding and marriage. Good luck, you got this!