A Seaside Watercolor Wedding That’s All About Color

Categorized | Classic New England, Girly wedding, Modern, nautical, Pink Wedding, Real Weddings, The Blog, Watercolor

Posted on 06 August 2016.

I LOVE a bride who’s not afraid of color, so I’m pretty sure Sam and I could be best friends. Along with her love Mike, she designed a classic New England wedding by the water with no shortage of fluffy peonies, watercolor paper goods and pretty shades of pink in the mix. Peruse away in the full gallery by Kelly Dillon.

Board #442725 Board #442731 Board #442737 Board #442740

Colors

Seasons

Spring

Settings

Outdoor Resort

Styles

Whimsical

From The Bride…Mike and I met on Match.com! We both joined as a New Year’s resolution; Mike had just moved back to MA from Louisiana, and I was getting back into the dating scene. Turns out, we were invited to the same New Year’s Eve party that year, but Mike didn’t go! Our first date was at Lolita, a tequila bar in Back Bay. I had never met anyone as enthusiastic as Mike; we were still chatting away when I noticed that all the chairs were up on the tables and they were waiting for us to leave so the restaurant could close! I knew immediately that Mike was special, and it didn’t take me more than a few dates to know that he was the man I was going to marry.

Four years later, my best friend (the same one who threw that infamous New Year’s Eve party) invited me to Lolita for a birthday dinner. I was having the worst day ever at work, and told Mike that I was going to have to cancel my dinner plans. He convinced me to keep them, and when I arrived at the restaurant and walked around the corner, I saw him there waiting for me! At first, I thought it was a birthday surprise, and looked past him to see who else was there. That’s when he walked towards me, got down on one knee, and said that he thought our spot was a perfect place to ask me to be his wife. The whole restaurant started cheering!!! The funny part is, it was so dark in the restaurant and I was so shocked that I didn’t even NOTICE the ring until we sat down at our table! After staring into the sparkle for about an hour and sipping some seriously delicious champagne, Mike announced that he had another surprise for me…across the restaurant, our parents, my sister and bestie/co-conspirator were waiting to celebrate with us! It was magical, romantic, perfect, and so worth the wait.

Mike proposed on Friday night, and on Sunday morning we jetted off to the Dominican Republic for a romantic getaway, which was awesome because it gave us a few days alone to let the excitement sink in, and to talk about what we wanted. We both grew up on the South Shore of Massachusetts, and saw ourselves getting married outside, somewhere overlooking the water. When I stepped onto the lawn at Wequassett, I got tears in my eyes. I could see us getting married there – it was perfect!

Our first priority was securing the Lisa Love Experience as our band. Mike and I love live music, and had seen LLE perform at a wedding shortly after we started dating, and Mike told them that night that they would play at our wedding and put their business card in his wallet. Four years later, Mike still had their business card in his wallet and made good on that promise! We called immediately to make sure they were available for our chosen date. It was super important to us that the dance floor be packed at all times, and we got our wish!

Once that was done, it was all about setting the tone. Encouraging our guests to dress in black-tie turned out to be totally worth it; everyone looked amazing, and it truly gave the setting an even more special feel. Mike and my friends tease me that I “love Love”, which is so true, and I had a vision for the wedding to be super romantic; that to me means lots of beautiful flowers! I found the bridesmaids’ gowns first, and they were exactly what I wanted. I love the palette of pinks (we both mentioned my love of pink in our vows!), and the colors were perfect for a late-spring wedding. My mom and her cousin David, who is an event planner for Harvard University, helped make our dream come alive with many trips to the Boston Flower Exchange to find the perfect shades of peonies, roses and hydrangeas. Meanwhile, my mom and I made very good friends with the ladies at our local Pottery Barn, who tracked down hundreds of mercury glass votives to create a beautiful candlelit glow in the ballroom.

I love a good blog, and got a lot of great inspiration by following my favorite bloggers and local event planners on Instagram. Mike and I have very bold personalities and a lot of energy, and it was important to me that the colors and vibe of the wedding captured that. The table arrangements used bright shades of pink and orange, which looked amazing in the candle light, and were built loosely to spill out of the vases and give an organic, kind of bohemian look.

I really loved the concept of bringing the bright colors and floral theme into our invitation suite, and I wanted a custom look. Working with Cara from Modern Vintage in Sandwich was an awesome experience. We were inspired by having the ceremony on Pleasant Bay, and thought using hand-painted watercolor for the invitation suite was a great way to tie everything together and set the tone for the weekend. I am completely obsessed with how the entire suite came out, from the invitation to the hand-drawn map on the back of the amenities card, to the custom menu!

My favorite thing about our wedding was all the special little personal touches. We purchased the sweetheart table at an antique store in my hometown, so that we can have it in our house, which is really neat, and I love that this was Mike’s idea. My bouquet was tied together with a swatch of lace from my grandmother’s wedding gown, which was a wonderful way for me to have her spirit with me. Inviting friends to read hand selected poems and prayers, and serenade the audience with one of our favorite songs, was extra special and definitely lent a personal touch to the ceremony. Of course, the best part by far was writing our own vows! It was super intimate and romantic; just what we were hoping for.