When a planner ties the knot at a wedding inspired by blooms – you know the result is going to be drop.dead.gorgeous. Keri from Always Yours Events and her hubby chose to celebrate their big day at the bride’s family inn on Cape Cod, the ShoreWay Acres Inn – how special is that?! The Wild Dahlia filled this warm late-Summer day with lush fleurs in blush, burgundy, ivory, dusty rose and cappuccino hues (umm, dream color scheme anyone?) Prepare for a major dose of pretty with every detail from beginning to end, starting with the gorgeous floral-inspired stationary by Amanda Day Rose. Every moment was perfectly captured by Elizabeth LaDuca. We’re seriously so in love…
From the Bride… As a professional wedding planner who plans and designs weddings and celebrations for couples everyday, it was such an incredible and joyful experience to be on the other side as a bride planning my very own wedding with my now husband, Sean, and our families. When Sean and I first got engaged, we knew immediately that we wanted to host our celebration at my parents’ charming inn on Cape Cod. This resort style inn sits on a beautiful hydrangea filled residential street that leads to the ocean in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Comprised of refurbished colonial style sea captains’ homes, my grandparents bought this property in the 1960s with a vision to turn it into a little escape for guests visiting the Cape. They named it ShoreWay and then passed down to my parents and our family. Growing up, I lived in the house next door to the property and so hosting at ShoreWay truly felt like hosting in my backyard — the place where I grew up. And my parents had been married at ShoreWay 35 years earlier, which only made it feel even more special.
When it came to planning my own wedding, we wanted to create a private estate wedding that was not only gorgeous, but also filled with meaning and sentimental details that told our story and felt like “us.” With my couples, I strive to create and achieve a design that is so cohesive and ethereal that the guests feel enveloped by the design and if time just stood still, you could live in the celebration forever — and that’s exactly what we wanted for our own wedding as well. Within all of the fine details and formalities, we wanted to make every detail intentional and thoughtful so that everything together was remarkable, but also spoke to our story and who we are together. To ensure we captured all of the magic, we chose my favorite film photographer Elizabeth Laduca, as well as the wonderful Haley Harrington of OTD Collective for cinematography. Our wedding was inspired by flowers. Flowers are a love of mine and within both of our families flowers have always been something we share with one another as an expression of love. For our color palette, we chose shades inspired by blooms and greens including dusty rose, sahara rose blush, koko loko antique rose, cappuccino, ivory cottage rose, white and burgundy ranunculus, chocolate cosmo, quicksand rose taupe, jasmine vine green and bay leaf green. With florals as our primary source of inspiration, I turned to the most talented floral designer I know. I am forever grateful to Shawna of the Wild Dahlia as she and her team went above and beyond to bring our vision to life and to leave our guests in awe.
To further incorporate florals and meaningful details, I worked with an incredible boutique stationer Amanda Day Rose to create a wedding brand for our celebration including a custom crest of hand drawn flowers and interlocking monogram, a watercolor pattern comprised of meaningful icons from Sean’s and my journey together, a custom map of Falmouth, cocktail napkins, and everything in between. On a gorgeous and warm late Summer day in September 2018 we were married in St. Thomas Chapel, a little church with blue doors on the water of Falmouth Harbor. In the morning the bridesmaids and I got ready in my parents’ home with an incredible beauty team of hair and makeup artists including Jennifer Tawa and Amanda McCarthy. My father and I arrived in a classic white Rolls Royce to the chapel. I wore a custom beaded Badgley Mischka gown with an ethereal detachable train and a cathedral veil attached to an heirloom gold diamond comb worn by my mother, grandmother and great grandmother. I carried a romantic and lush bouquet tied with dusty rose ribbons and filled with varieties of garden roses, cottage roses, clematis, cosmos, jasmine vine and a few tiny stems of edelweiss in honor of my sweet grandmother who had just passed away. For our bridal party, we chose navy tuxedos for Sean and the groomsmen, and a mixture of beaded, crepe and chiffon gowns in dusty rose shades for a dreamy, textural effect. And our flower girl wore an ivory gown with a floral crown while the ring bearers wore navy tuxes, with the youngest in sweetest little navy suspenders and knee socks.
My uncle (my grandmother’s brother) performed a heartfelt ceremony, as he has done for all of the couples in our family. Once Sean and I said “I do” and became Mr. And Mrs. Walter, we processed out of the chapel for a ribbon wand recessional surrounded by our loved ones. After the ceremony we headed to Surf Drive with the bridal party for photos while our 190 guests headed back to ShoreWay to freshen up and join us for cocktail hour. During cocktail hour guests mingled al fresco on the grounds while enjoying passed hors d’oeuvres including a custom fried chicken, pimento cheese and bacon and onion jam slider created from the recipe of a dish at one of Sean’s and my favorite restaurants in Charleston, SC called High Cotton. We served his (the Cactus Flower) and hers (The Hummingbird) cocktails, as well as a Salty Dog cocktail in honor of our bulldog named Poogan, who was also attending the wedding in his own navy tux! For the reception guests joined us under our Sperry sailcloth tent filled with crystal empire chandeliers and floral chandeliers. At the entry our guests found their seats at a taupe shiplap wall covered in floral and escort cards beautifully calligraphed in dusty rose ink by the talented Laney of Design by Laney. On the left side of the tent was a statement wooden bar overgrown with blooms and greenery. In the center of the tent was our 30′ head table covered in dozens and dozens of bloom filled compotes and sandstone taper candles for a romantic and dreamy look. Guests dined at tables covered in beaded gold linens and place settings of gold rimmed chargers, fine crystal, dusty rose menu booklets and a plethora of candlelight. And for dinner all enjoyed Russell Morins’ beef shortrib toscana (Sean’s favorite) and Lavender Statler Chicken, which was the very first dish I ever made Sean when we first started dating in college.
For dessert Montilio’s Bakery designed a stunning four tiered blush cake adorned with roses and made of delicious vanilla cake with fresh strawberries, Grand Marnier and white chocolate ricotta cream with buttercream frosting. Towards the end of the evening I surprised Sean with a groom’s cake made to look like his drum set (since Sean is a drummer), which we enjoyed at the afterparty. One of my favorite details from our design were the favors at each place setting. On every bread plate was a favor box tied with an ivory silk ribbon, and inside were “Marry Me Cookies,” which are delicious soft Italian ricotta sugar cookies with buttercream frosting. These cookies are so loved by everyone who has ever tried them. This recipe was passed down to me by my aunt, and to make a long story short I made these cookies for Sean almost 9 years ago after we first met in college as a Christmas treat. Sean loved them so much that after he ate them he sent me text message and asked me to marry him. Little did he know that we actually would get married years later. And so we let everyone in on that part of our story by sharing these as sweet little takeaway from the celebration. For the rest of the evening we listened to our beautiful toasts and danced the night away to the sounds of our eight piece band called the Silver Arrow Band. Sean and I danced to Someone Like You by Van Morrison. Sean and his mother danced to That’s Life, a song they used to sing together driving Sean to school everyday. My father and I danced to The Way You Look Tonight, which he promised me would be the song we would dance to together ever since I was five years old. Our wedding day will forever be the best and happiest day of our lives, and I feel so fortunate that we were able to celebrate with our closest loved ones in a place we love so much. A dream team of vendors and my two amazing event producers Susan and Kate (who I am forever grateful for) truly made our day come to life, and without them our vision could not have been made possible. The day was such a dream, and Sean and I have already grown nostalgic for it with a constant wish to return back and relive the day over and over again.
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Photography: Elizabeth LaDuca | Cinematography: The OTD Collective | Event Planning + Design: Always Yours Events | Floral Design: The Wild Dahlia | Wedding Dress: Badgley Mischka | Cake: Montilio's | Ceremony Venue: St. Thomas Chapel Falmouth MA | Reception Venue: ShoreWay Acres Inn | Bride's Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Bridesmaids Dresses: Jenny Yoo | Catering: Russell Morin Fine Catering | Makeup: Amanda McCarthy Beauty | Calligraphy: Design by Laney | Band: Silver Arrow Band | Groom's Attire: Men's Wearhouse | Groomsmen Attire: Men's Wearhouse | Transportation: Boston Limousine | Tent Rental: Sperry Tents | Bride: Always Yours Events | Chairs and Bar Rental: True North Rentals | Custom Stationery + Illustration: Amanda Day Rose | Escort Card Display: Always Yours Events | Hairstyling: Jennifer Tawa | Lighting + Draping: Ryan Designs | Linen Rental: BBJ La Tavola | Maid of Honor Dresses: Adrianna Papell | Ribbons: Stella Wolfe | Tabletop Rental: Peak Event Services | Wedding Day Management: Susan La Reau Events | Wedding Dress Salon: Alexandra's Boutique
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