Sharing the Beauty of a Martha’s Vineyard Wedding at Allen Farm

Lauren Megerdichian
November 14, 2024
Categories: Nautical, Real Weddings, The Blog

[section title=”The Planning”]

[field title=”Wedding Colors”]Blue, white[/field]

[field title=”Design / Vibe / Vision”]Our vision for our wedding celebration was a fun-filled weekend sharing the beauty of one of our favorite places, Martha’s Vineyard, with our closest family and friends. We wanted the weekend to feel very “us”, meaning it would be family-oriented, fun-filled, and elevated elegance, but not too stuffy. The desired vibe was timelessly coastal, hoping that our guests would feel both the history and beauty of Martha’s Vineyard.

Although we used mostly local vendors we decided to fly in Liz Banfield, who photographed our entire wedding weekend, from our private family church ceremony on Thursday through to our exit on Saturday night. We wanted the images to feel un-posed and commemorate each moment as we remembered it instead of a series of staged “photo shoots.” We could not be happier with Liz’s results – she captured every memory perfectly. And the quiet moments she captured of us alone as newly married husband and wife are some of my favorite photos from the weekend. She also beautifully documented all the details from our talented vendor team. [/field]

[field title=”Proposal Story”]Pat and I originally met in 2016 when I graduated from college and we started working together. We were friendly but did not interact much for two years until I moved seats and we ended up sitting next to each other for six months. We became fast friends during that time – when I ended up leaving the company at the end of 2018 for a new job, we kept finding excuses to talk to each other for over a year before we reconnected in the summer of 2020. On a beautiful morning walk to brunch in October 2022, Pat proposed on Commonwealth Avenue – an historic avenue in the middle of Boston’s Back Bay. We celebrated first alone together before joining family at brunch and friends as the day went along. It was perfect and I could not have planned it better myself.[/field]

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[board_carousel title=”Getting Ready”]

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[board_carousel title=”Bridal Portraits”]

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[board_carousel title=”Flat Lays”]

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[section title=”The Fashion”]

[field title=”Wedding Gown”]I had so much fun putting together my looks, but it took a long time given I wanted each to match the vibe of every event. For our Thursday church ceremony, I wanted a classic and elegant white dress that would be appropriate for church, yet simple enough that it did not take away from my big “gown” moment at Allen Farm on Saturday. I ended up opting for the classic Emilia Wickstead off-the-shoulder square neckline dress and I could not have been more in love with it. I felt so beautiful and bridal in it. I decided to have my something blue moment that day too by adding in a pair of blue Amina Muaddi heels, which matched a few pops of blue in my otherwise white bouquet.

The theme of our Friday welcome reception was garden cocktail party after both the location, Atria’s beautiful lawn and tented patio, as well as my middle name “Rose”. Inspired by both the theme and the fact that I didn’t want a second all-white dress, I ended up wearing another Emilia Wickstead dress with roses scattered throughout the fabric. I loved the dress’s nod to my name, and it was so fun giggling with old friends and family who call me “Meggie Rose” over my selection. I paired the dress with classic Valentino slingbacks that somehow matched the imperfectly off-white color of the dress.

For my wedding gown, I worked with L’Elite Bridal Boutique in Boston. Going into the shopping process, I was not entirely sure what I wanted, which was very unlike me – in general, I’m a planner and usually very opinionated. I kept coming back to the idea that I wanted a dress that was a timeless, simple cut while very unique at the same time. I started the process with a few specific designers in mind, and ended up deciding between two Oscar de la Renta gowns. I was shocked to find myself leaning towards a dress with lace, which I would not have guessed beforehand, but loved how it was a soft and subtle lace with gorgeous floral appliques scattered throughout – a perfect mix of beautiful textures while not being too distracting. The gown was a statement, but not too over-the-top, which was important to me to match the venue’s casual vibe and my future husband’s laid back nature. I paired my dress with a block heel sandal from Jimmy Choo and was so thankful I did because they were the most comfortable shoe ever. I’ve worn them several times since and it’s so special to reminisce on our wedding day while wearing them.

I found my second party dress nearly a year before our wedding. I fell in love with Clio Peppiatt’s Lucina dress and knew I had to wear it – not only because it was so fun and sparkly with the Swarovski beads and pearls, but also because my family always says the common saying “I love you to the moon and back” so it had a sentimental meaning to me. I ended up pairing the dress with Gucci platform sandals as well as Jennifer Behr celestial-themed Swarovski hair pins with crystal stars, moons, and planets.

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[field title=”Bridesmaid Dresses”]After being in many weddings myself, I was against the idea of my bridesmaids all buying new dresses they may not wear again. Instead, we opted to do a mix-and-match vibe with different shades and patterns of blue and white to match our timelessly coastal blue theme. I ended up loving how it all turned out together and am excited they all were able to find dresses that made them feel beautiful and like themselves.

The guest dress code was purposefully vague: “island farm chic” with the instruction to have fun with it by wearing fun colors and patterns somewhere between formal and cocktail attire. I absolutely loved seeing how guests interpreted my crazy theme and laughing with them about it the day of.

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[field title=”Groomsman Attire”]Pat wore a blue suit from Suit Supply and the groomsmen all wore suits from Black Tux. Pat accessorized with a pair of Gucci loafers and a watch I gave him as a wedding gift.

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[board_carousel title=”Wedding Party”]

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[board_carousel title=”Ceremony”]

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[board_carousel title=”Cocktail Hour”]

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[section title=”The Details”]

[field title=”Food & Drink”]Given our New England roots and the beautiful water-front setting, we wanted to really lean into the coastal vibes for our food. We had a raw bar with local oysters being shucked, mini lobster rolls; a salad with local greens, asparagus, and tomatoes; and grilled swordfish and roasted tenderloin. For dessert, we had wedding cake, assorted mini desserts, and espresso martinis to keep the party going all night long. Our signature drinks were a “Watermelon Meg-arita” and “Pat’s Old Fashioned” – in honor of two of our favorite cocktails.[/field]

[field title=”Florals & Decor”]For the florals, I loved the idea of having lots of texture within soft color palettes. We kept to mostly shades of white, sprinkled with pops of blue, and the smallest dusting of soft pink in just a few spots in the reception tent.

My favorite floral moment had to be the pièce de résistance above the circle bar in our cocktail tent. We told our amazing florist Aubrey Maria Designs to create something big, bold, and blue for above the bar – and she absolutely nailed it! We will forever be in awe of the jaw dropping piece.

For the décor, we didn’t want anything over the top as we did not want to take away from the raw beauty of Allen Farm or Chilmark. We opted to stick with coastal farm vibes, with soft blue linens in the reception tent and blue and green in the cocktail tent while having a handful of statement décor pieces in each tent. For the cocktail tent, this was of course the circle bar with the gorgeous blue floral arrangement. For the reception tent, we had a massive line of beaded chandeliers down the middle of the tent – I became obsessed with these rentals from Big Sky from our first meeting and knew I wanted not just one, but the entire tent lined with them. Throughout the wedding, I kept looking up to stare at the chandeliers and would look at my husband pinching myself that it was our wedding.

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[field title=”Wedding Cake”]For the cake design, we opted for a simple three-tier cake with small white floral applique details and a pop of a few blue petals to tie in with the blue throughout our tent. The floral appliques were a fun nod to the similar designs on my wedding gown!

Our cake flavors were chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream and coconut cake with vanilla buttercream – they were both absolutely delicious! We worked with the local baker Val Cakes and cannot recommend them enough.

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[field title=”Readings, Ceremony Music, Reception Songs”]My eldest brother performed our ceremony at Allen Farm and blew us all away with the amazing ceremony he prepared, which was the perfect combination of sentimental and serious while also uplifting and inspiring. We had just one reading by our close friend Kevin who read the beautiful James Dillet Freeman’s “Blessing for a Marriage”. While emotions were running high, we delivered personal vows to each other that included both belly laughs as well as tears and carried the weight of our commitment to one another.

We had a string quartet from Vineyard Violin perform our ceremony music. At Allen Farm, the walk down “the aisle” is a long, dramatic trek that takes several minutes to actually get to the guests from the top of the farm. Pat walked down the aisle with his mom and brother followed by my mom and my two older brothers. The moms and sons walked down the aisle to “Over the Rainbow” which was a special song to Pat’s mom and his late father who passed away in 2021. It was a very emotional, but special moment for all six of them. My bridesmaids walked down the aisle to Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams” – an obvious choice as many of the girls and I are big Swifties. Finally, music has always been a big part of my life because my dad played piano at home and encouraged all of his children to play instruments. My dad and I walked down the aisle to one of his favorite songs to play – Debussy’s “Clair de Lune”. In addition to being a sentimental nod to my dad, I love how romantic, whimsical, and timeless the song is and it felt perfect for the farm’s setting.

For our first dance, Pat and I danced to “Joy of My Life” by Chris Stapleton. Since early on in our relationship, it became our song and is really special to us so when it came down to picking our first dance song, we knew there was no other choice.

The most memorable songs of the night for us were Shout, a family favorite of the bride’s, which Liz somehow managed to perfectly capture a family photo of before Pat and I were both hoisted on friends’ shoulders and tossed in the air, as well as the closing finale song, Mr. Brightside. We always love dancing at weddings, and the dance floor at our own wedding was no exception.

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[field title=”Special Detail #1″]I am known to love a karaoke moment and while my husband does not, he encouraged me to surprise our guests by grabbing the mic towards the end of our reception and singing along with the band. I ended up singing Taylor Swift’s “You Belong with Me” and Pat stole the show with a tambourine accompaniment. It was so fun to perform with my new husband in front of all our guests and felt very on brand – the weekend would not have been complete without karaoke.[/field]

[field title=”Special Detail #2″]On the morning of our ceremony and reception, my bridal party and I got ready at my parents’ home. It was so special waking up in my own bed and making new memories in a house that means so much to me and my family. When I visit my parents today, I still feel the warmth and love of our wedding weekend every time I walk in the house.[/field]

[field title=”Special Detail #3″]We worked with Julie King Studio for all of our print items and absolutely loved the creativity of the process. We had so much fun finding ways to preview the weekend with guests in our stationery with Julie King’s hand painted designs: from Atria’s beautiful tree twinkling with lanterns, to the farm with the massive white tent, to my parents’ home for brunch, to a whimsical map of the island featuring a shark fin underneath the infamous Jaws bridge, to a four-leaf clover memorializing Pat’s father – the stationery really both set the tone for the weekend with our guests and reflected our families. We loved the lyrics of our first dance song to “Joy of My Life” so much that we tied in the line “As long as I have you, I’ll treasure each and every day” into our escort card display. We figured it would be a cute foreshadowing detail that guests might pick up during our dance and also felt like the lyrics applied both to the love shared between the two of us as well as the love and gratitude we felt towards all of our friends and family who were joining us to celebrate the weekend. We loved using the design to leave little Easter eggs throughout the weekend that observant guests could tie together.

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[board_carousel title=”Couple Portraits”]

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[board_carousel title=”Reception”]

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[board_carousel title=”Wedding Weekend Events”]

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