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