Our Wedding 9.20.14

Exactly two months after our big day, I am so excited to finally be sharing some wedding photos with you!

When we got engaged last November, we decided almost immediately that we wanted to get married back in Boston near my family and so many of our mutual friends. Come to think of it, I was probably pushing that conversation before Nate even proposed! Anyway, choosing a venue from afar proved to be difficult. Luckily we had my mom, who was willing to drive all over Massachusetts, whether I was in town or not, scouting out venues. We finally settled on The Estate at Moraine Farm in Beverly, MA, less than 30 minutes from my parents’ house.

While I am absolutely one of those girls that’s dreamed about her wedding day since she was little, when it came to planning the details, I wasn’t super into it. I’m not a DIYer, and (especially planning the wedding remotely) I wanted a venue that would take care of most of the hard stuff. Moraine Farm was perfect because they’re owned by a catering group and have a coordinator to ensure everything runs seamlessly. It was the best.

   

Also, who am I kidding? My mom did all the hard stuff… like making the escort cards and tying them onto these mini jars of homemade jam (from the venue) that we used as favors.

All of these photos are courtesy of our wonderful photographer, Mikhail Glabets, a.k.a. Macklemore. If you visit Mikhail’s about page, you’ll understand why I say that. Mikhail was the best – so high energy, low maintenance, and fun to work with. And as you can see, his pictures are gorgeous! I highly recommend him.

Mikhail hung out with the guys back at the hotel for a bit while the girls were at the hair salon. There was a lot of ironing, and there may have been some Fireball shots… shhh, am I supposed to know about that? :)

Believe it or not, the hair salon was actually the most stressful part of the day for me. Despite doing a trial a few months before, my hair dresser was quite the diva, and really stressed me out! Between him fussing and me worrying that Nate wouldn’t like my hair so big and curly, I almost cried. Really it was just nerves. Anyway, everyone loved the way their hair turned out – myself included – so it was no big deal in the end. We headed straight from the hair salon to the venue to get ready without the guys seeing us.

   

My dress was one of my favorite parts of our wedding. I knew I wanted lace, but when I found the dress I’d been picturing, it was almost identical to the one my sister Caitlin wore for her wedding two years ago. So instead I went with something completely different. Still lace, yes, but with tons of beading and this very flattering sash. The color was technically “gold,” and it had three layers: a gold satin layer underneath, then a layer of sequins, then the top lacy beaded layer. I bought it in Utah so I could do the fittings easily, and I carried it onto the plane with me when we flew home to get married. Nate had our rings in his carry-on, and we made nervous jokes that they were the most expensive carry-ons we’d ever brought! But seriously.

My mom zipped me up, and we had a good laugh after it went smoothly. At Caitlin’s wedding, her zipper broke right off her dress! I was prepared with a sewing kit just in case, but luckily it wasn’t necessary.

Once I had the dress on and saw myself in the mirror, I got emotional. There it is, the “holy crap, this is my wedding day” moment!

It passed quickly :)

Then it was time for first look photos!

Our ceremony began at 5:30 PM because the venue is in use during the day, and in September, that’s not much before sunset. I knew I wanted to do a first look to take advantage of the daylight, and also to ensure that Nate and I could make it to our cocktail hour! When you’re throwing the biggest party of your life, you want to be able to attend all of it.

We did the first look on the back patio of the venue. I don’t know if nervous is the right way to describe how I felt, but definitely emotional.

I cry very easily, and I wanted to get as much of it in possible out of the way in private. As predicted, I cried for most of our first look… so I guess it served its purpose! Mikhail was nice enough not to include any of those photos, hah.

We did family and bridal party portraits before the ceremony, too. I am SO happy we did it this way, because I love the light in these photos! It was a slightly overcast day, just perfect for photography. The bridesmaids’ photos especially are some of my favorite of the whole day.

You can kind of see our jewelry in the above photos. I bought the girls these J Crew crystal drop earrings for the wedding. They were simple, and they looked great with the dresses.

I wore my mother’s diamond pendant. It’s actually my grandmother’s engagement ring that she made into a necklace for my mom after my grandfather’s death. So it was my something old and something borrowed ;) The something blue? The sparkles on my shoes!

My bridesmaids were (from left to right above) Nate’s sister Rachel, my cousin Katie, my sisters Alban and Caitlin, and my friend Martha. I love all of these girls so much! As much as my wedding day was about Nate and me, it was also about hanging out with my best friends. They are a pretty amazing bunch.

    

My two sisters were my matron and maid of honor. I love them more than anything! We always threatened to make each other wear green lampshades for bridesmaid dresses so as not to upstage the bride, and maybe that’s what I should have done. Instead I made them wear bright coral, and they pulled it off. They are gorgeous :)

Nate had seven groomsmen, all friends from various stages of his life. They were in Tahoe together the weekend before for his bachelor party, so they were all pretty much best friends by our wedding! They’re a good-looking bunch.

And of course the people who made this whole day possible – our parents! We are so lucky to have them in our lives!

The first look definitely took the edge off – and I’m sure the glass of champagne I had helped, too! Then it was time to go get MARRIED. Stay tuned!