Venue: Belle Mer
Photographer: Sweet Monday Photography
Florals: Sayles Livingston Design
From The Bride… Matt and I met skiing in Killington, Vermont just a few weeks after Matt made the move back to the East Coast from California. We were friends at first, but it took Matt sending me to the emergency room for the real sparks to fly. It was a snowy night in Boston, where Matt and I both live, and Matt happened to slip, taking me down with him and the rest is history. A few weeks later, we went on our first date, and a couple of years later, Matt proposed. The proposal was on a perfectly magical fall weekend in Killington.
When we started planning for the wedding, we knew that we would have many friends and family traveling from near and far, so we wanted to pick a place where we knew our guests would not only enjoy our wedding day but also enjoy our wedding location. We started looking all over New England, and it wasn’t until I remembered all of my memories in Newport, Rhode Island that we considered Belle Mer. Newport, RI is one of those most beautiful cities that we have both come to love – the town is surrounded by water, and offers so much for guests to see and explore. Newport has so much to offer. From the cliff walk, where you can view the beautiful mansions of the Gilded Age, to Thames Street that is filled with shops and restaurants. When we visited Belle Mer, we both knew immediately that we could not imagine getting married any place else. The views are absolutely breathtaking. The Island House seemed to match our personalities and the overall feel we wanted for our wedding – modern and sophisticated, but also timeless and intimate.
After we both choose the location and the date, I then took over and started the journey to find the vendors I wanted to work with to make our day perfect. I have always been passionate about event planning, and while I was not the type of girl that always dreamt of her wedding day, I did always dream about the man I wanted to marry. I put Matt in charge of the band and the honeymoon. I started the rest of the planning by looking at wedding blogs, like Style Me Pretty, to get inspired. I focused on finding vendors that impressed me by what they do, but also had a true sense of kindness and a passion for their craft to make our day unforgettable. This led me to find Beth and her team at The White Dress by the Shore, Callie and her team at Modern Trousseau, Maureen & Emily thru Jennie Fresa, Sandy from Roseville Designs, Sayles from Sayles Livingston floral design, Amanda ‘The Scribblist’ on Etsy, Kiera from Sweet Kiera cookies, and last but certainly not least, April & Lindsay from Sweet Monday Photography. And of course, we were beyond lucky to have Samantha to help with all of the wedding coordination at Belle Mer. I also felt so incredibly lucky to have my Mom, bridesmaids, as well as all these fantastic vendors all by my side .
While I was not inspired by a theme, I found myself inspired by looking back at old wedding photos from my family. I wanted to have a traditional and classic ceremony, but I wanted the overall décor to be more fresh & modern. For the décor, I ended up feeling very inspired by the sea, and created my vision around sea glass. After landing on this look and feel for our wedding, I started by finding a wedding dress and then moved on to the details. For my dress, the ladies at TWD helped me find the perfect look! I ended up with a more modern silk gown from Modern Trousseau. I customized the gown by adding a full tulle overlay skirt that opened in the front and sheer tulle wrap that I wore during the ceremony. I felt like the most beautiful bride. I accessorized my gown with my Mom’s lace veil, wore my Grandmother’s vintage watch, and carried my other Grandmother’s bible with me as I walked down the aisle.
Beyond finding and working on making the perfect dress, I spent endless hours working on small customized details. I really wanted to make sure that our guests felt welcome and a part of our day. April and Lindsay did an amazing job capturing shots of all of these lovely details, and I could not be happier with how pretty everything looked! Our wedding day was a dream come true and one we will never forget. We had beautiful weather, a beautiful location and celebrated with our loved ones! My only wish is that we could do it all over again and that I could do this for a living!