There is so much to love about Merinda and Ben’s wedding…the flowers, the relaxed Martha’s Vineyard setting, the bride’s big poofy veil (I LOVE short poofy veils…I mean…let me prove it to you!). But what’s absolutely the most amazing thing is that the bride’s dress–that total stunner of a gown–was made by her mother! You can read all about the story below! Very special thanks to Fat Orange Cat Studio for sending over this East Coast knock out.
We were so happy that we chose to have our wedding on Martha’s Vineyard. Ben and I spent a lot of time in Martha’s Vineyard since we met and we kept throwing the idea in the mix, but it would get tossed aside because of logistics. One day we decided that we were just going to take weekend trip there, meet with vendors and see where it brought us. As with every other trip there, as soon as we stepped off the ferry, we just felt so relaxed and knew that is how we wanted to feel on our wedding day. Most of our family came down the week before the wedding so it was just really great to get to spend extra time with all the people closest to us before the actual wedding day. None of it would have been possible without their help and we can’t thank everyone enough for being there with us! We really wanted something different and non-traditional. We couldn’t have been happier that we chose to get married in Edgartown!
My favorite moment of the day was our “first look”. My dad and I went out on his boat for a spin around the harbor and Ben met us at the dock. My dad and I got to have a nice talk and the boat ride totally relaxed me. Then, seeing Ben standing at the end of the dock just made my day!
A lot of our elements were DIY, I hand letter pressed our save the dates, my brother and grandmother made our cake toppers, and we enlisted our friends to help with our favors, but the biggest and most memorable was my dress. My mom made my dress! When we started dress shopping, I was looking at pretty simple dresses and my mom would joke “I could make that”. So one day as I was looking through blogs I saw a dress that I loved and sent it to my mom (completely as a joke, because it looked way too hard to make) and said “think you could make this?” and she said, “sure, why not?” I laughed, but she wasn’t kidding! She had to make a few mock ups with different fabrics until I found one I liked, but throughout the whole process my mom remained relaxed and calm (even when I decided to move 3000 miles away from her before the dress was complete) and that’s how I ended up with the best dress ever!!
Vendors:
Photography: Fat Orange Cat Studio // Flowers: Dandeneau Flowers // Dress: by the Bride’s mom // Bridesmaids Dresses: Carol Hannah // Venue/Catering: Atria // Hair: Shear Inspirations // Makeup: Ashley Verbicky // Groom and Groomsmen Suits: J.Crew
Officiant: Brides Uncle, Brian Pattullo // Ceremony and Cocktail Hour Music: Good Night Louise // Reception Music: DJ Diana
We felt the need to start our week off with something calming and lovely. Looking at these images feels a bit like take a big sip of chamomile tea. Ahhhhhh.
Oh…and we just discovered a new tumblr blog that is our newest obsession. Pretty Plum Sugar (where we found the image on the left and the one above). LOVE. Center image by Jose Villa via 100 Layer Cake. The right image is a gilded cake by Yummy Cupcakes & Cakes via Brides.
Can you imagine being the owner of a bridal salon…and then getting engaged? Um, how fun would it be to shop for your wedding dress? Or impossible? Either way, we’re excited to be featuring the engagement session of Chelsea and Timmy. Chealsea owns Everthine Bridal Boutique in Connecticut (which if you are a New England bride, you MUST check out…it’s so cute!). Their engagement photos on the New England shore (shot by our new Grey Collective member, Michelle Gardella) are just as fun and lovely!
We were quite taken aback upon discovering Launderette…a most dashing mini haberdashery run by a group of, we can only assume, well dress ladies and lads. Besides offering a sampling of bow ties for purchase, their blog has also produced a twofold tutorial for any handsome man in want of bow tying skills. First, a graphic tutorial by Jared Purrington, which is both helpful and well-designed (a unique combination of attributes that is ever increasingly difficult to discover).
Second, to ensure every gentleman is readily prepared, our new found friends at Launderette have also provided a video tutorial. This video involves French and humor–so don’t let the word tutorial fool you into fearing boredom and resisting the urge to press play. We promise, you’ll love it…even if you are a lady without need for tying bows like a man. But we’ve already said too much. We thought we’d let Launderette make the proper (and more apt) introductions below.
The pièce de résistance to our lessons and guides, Launderette is proud to introduce its very own instructional bow tying tutorial. With so many, quite serviceable, bow tie videos out there, we knew ours had to be something unique. So in homage to our favorite new wave auteurs, we put together a how-to film with a french twist. It figures Cahiers would have wanted you to know how to get these things around your necks as much as we do.
We hope this inspires a few of you to maybe try an alternative to your bolo. Rest assured, with a little practice it’s as easy as tying your shoes.
When it comes to honeymoons, there are so many places to choose from. Outside of beachy locales, couples that are looking for a little more fun and excitement have the option of being city bound for an urban honeymoon! One of the best cities in the world — New York — is a perfect place where honeymooners can have the best of both worlds: excitement in the city, and total relaxation in your hotel. One of the recent gems we’ve spied that’s perfect for the city chic couple is the The Setai Fifth Avenue Hotel.
We love The Setai Fifth Avenue because they offer a honeymooner package for your time spent relaxing indoors: breakfast in bed, a bottle of champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, couples massage, and even a personal assistant–all enjoyed in an enormous one bedroom suite overlooking Manhattan. Setai is currently offering a special three night deal just for honeymooners that want to experience the finest of New York, which means it might be the perfect stop to pamper up before you head on to your next destination, or you can extend your stay in the city and take in all that Manhattan has to offer.
Oh and if you book now for a stay in 2012 they are offering a complimentary upgrade to an 1,100 square foot one bedroom Avenue Apartment Suite when you mention Grey Likes Weddings. Soooo…it pretty much seems like something you might want to do even if it isn’t your honeymoon! Grey loves NY!
The Setai Fifth Avenue is a sponsor of Grey Likes Weddings.