Thursday, March 31, 2011

Maine Squeeze: The girls get ready

When we last left off, the gents were getting dressed and having their portraits taken on one side of the Island. Meanwhile, on the other side, the girls were making their own preparations!


Like the sign? You can purchase your own in my Etsy shop!

The original plan was for Kim, my younger sister, to do both my hair and her own. Turns out we definitely didn't have enough time for that, but luckily, Lauren, a very, very good (and talented!) friend of our family stepped in to take care of my 'do. Thank you, Lauren!! I decided on a low, curly side ponytail. Kate had had her massive amounts of hair professionally styled in the Harbor earlier that morning.











Everyone was very relaxed and happy, and interestingly, there wasn't as much emotion going on as I thought there might be. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised -- Kate is a very rational, sensible person, and though she was very excited to be getting married, she's not the type to run around flapping her hands screaming "I'm getting married!!"

Anyway, while we were getting prettified, Meredith was a busy bee capturing all of the details. I love how she set up the stationery suite! She does such a nice job photographing details in realistic environments.







For more details on the invites, click here, and the save the dates, here.

The shoes! Kate asked each of her 'maids to choose their own pair of yellow shoes (the navy flip flops are my Mom's).



Kate herself had two pairs -- one, I think, for the ceremony, and one for the reception. Both pairs were flats, since we were walking on grass the whole day!





The rings!



And the ring branch! Kate's ring bearer carried this fine evergreen bough down the aisle, but I modeled it for the detail shot. Our bridesmaid dressed were from J. Crew.



The vows! (Written out by yours truly, though of course, Kate and Cormac chose the words themselves.)



The heirloom necklace! If I've got the story right, Kate, my Mom, my grandma, and her mother have all worn this necklace on their wedding days.



Kate's bouquet! (I call this the Millie Holloman shot... anyone with me?!)



The bridesmaid bouquets! I'm not usually a huge fan of greenery in bouquets, but I loved the big green leaves at the base of our blooms.



The only real hiccup of the day occurred around this time. My Mom happened to be sitting out on the deck, and noticed that the ferry appeared to be stopped in the middle of the river. Turns out it had run out of gas on one of its many trips back and forth from the mainland! There were several surprised guests headed to the ceremony on board, but they handled the situation with good cheer. The problem was quickly solved, anyway -- a Whaler towed it back to the wharf, there was (thank goodness) an extra gas can, and the ferry was refueled in no time.

With that, it was time for Kate to get dressed! Jenna was on hand to capture the moment.













Dad approves!



And Kate looks just gorgeous, don't you think? She wore the "Zuri" by Maggie Sottero, purchased from The Wedding Shoppe in Minnesota.

With everyone dressed, it was time for a few portraits. But first, the veil:



I love this one of Kate with our grandma:



My favorite from our family session:



Hilariously, this was the scene just outside the above frame:



We had a few wayward branches to deal with :)







Didn't Jenna do a wonderful job with the group portraits? I think she was a bit worried about them (possibly because of my posts (here, here) about how picky I am about family shots!), but we LOVE the photos she took. Thank you, Jenna!!

By this time it was about ten of eleven, which meant it was time to get in place for the ceremony. The real action was about to begin!

All photos by the super talented and lovely Jenna Cole and Meredith of & Unlimited.

Previously:
We arrive
We prepare
We raise the tent
We rehearse and play wiffle ball
We jump off the wharf
We eat lobster
We wake up very early, and the gents get dressed

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Swell towels



No, really, that's what they're called -- swell towels! 4 for $20 -- pick them up here. Also take a look at these bags while you're there. Too cute.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Cherry blossom wedding ideas

As promised yesterday, a few more lovely ideas for a cherry blossom-inspired soiree...


Invitation from Bella Figura


Invitation from Mika78


Flower girls from Martha Stewart Weddings


Guest book from Martha Stewart Weddings


Tables from Martha Stewart Weddings


Centerpiece from Martha Stewart Weddings


Cherry blossom macarons from Cannelle et Vanille


Cherry blossom doughnuts from Cannelle et Vanille

Seeing as "host an outdoor party when fruit trees are in bloom" is one of my 101 in 1001 goals (albeit one of my more whimsical ones!), I might have to hold on to some of this inspiration for myself.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Board No. 88: Soft cherry blossoms


(Click to enlarge!)

J and I are headed to DC this weekend to visit family, and I'm so excited to see the cherry blossoms! I went with the lightest, most delicate version of the blossoms for this board, and added in lots of delightful ruffly details. I think a White by Vera Wang dress would be perfect for this wedding!

The Details

First row, left to right: ceremony photo by Lisa Lefkowitz via Style Me Pretty, cake by Maggie Austin, flowering branches photo by Aran Goyoaga

Second row: cherry blossoms photo by Jennifer McMenamin via United With Love, ruffly shoe photo by Melissa Schollaert

Third row: portrait by Elizabeth Messina, cherry blossom portrait by Shelly Kroeger, teeny heart necklace photo by Beaux Arts Photographie via Style Me Pretty

I'll be back with a few more cherry blossom wedding ideas tomorrow!

Friday, March 25, 2011

H&M pillows

Am I the last one to find out that H&M has a home department?! I stumbled upon it yesterday, and was instantly intrigued by their collection of extremely inexpensive pillow covers. Behold:











Pillows can be so expensive, and though the H&M collection isn't huge, it could be perfect if its options happen to coincide with your decor. These are all between $7 and $15! I know I'm eyeing that floral number, even though I have no idea where I'd put it...

See them all here!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Maine Squeeze: We wake up very early

We've arrived at the wedding morning!! And oh, what an early morning it was. With an 11am ceremony, and no professionals in site (except caterers), the bulk of last-minute prep was on my family and our relatives and friends. The up-shot? A 5am wakeup call for me, my Dad, my younger sister, and John. Lucky Kate and my mom -- they slept in the Harbor, and got to sleep in until Kate's hair and makeup appointment at 6:30!

So that 5am wakeup call. I set my alarm for 5, with the intention of rolling out of bed, throwing on some clothes, shaking Kim and John repeatedly, and then being out the door by 5:15. Well, 5:15 rolled around. And it was still dark. And I was really tired. And no one else was moving. Then 5:30 rolled around. More of the same. Somewhere between 5:30 and 5:45 the black outside the window lightened to a medium gray, and I decided it was finally time to shake a leg. I believe we made it down to West Shore by 6am, and, as it turns out, the 45 minutes we "lost" weren't a big deal. Whew!

That part of the morning is pretty much a blur, but I know we made multiple wagon trips across the Island, set out the linens and runners on the guest tables, set out the blankets on the lawn, set up croquet and lawn games, arranged centerpieces on all the tables, strung bunting on the buffets, and set up the sound system, among many other things. I do know that at one point Meredith, the second shooter for the day, arrived, and I'm pretty sure I looked and sounded like a crazy person -- basically still in my pajamas, unwashed face, etc. She was as sweet as usual and probably told me it looked like we had everything under control. Thank you, Meredith!!

Speaking of sweet people, my wonderful, wonderful cousins took care of setting up the ceremony site, so we only had one "venue" to worry about. And by 8:30 or 9, we were done! We ran back to the cottage where Kate and my Mom had just arrived, and took turns hopping in the shower. But before we get to that, I want to share a peek at the gents!

Jenna headed straight to the groom's cottage when she arrived on Island.











She would probably want me to mention that she handed her camera to a groomsman to get this next shot!



That's right, Cormac showered outside on the morning of his wedding.









Kate tied those rope boutonnieres, and the flowers were from Boothbay Region Greenhouses! The ties were purchased at Macy's, I believe. Once everyone was dressed, it was time for a few portraits.











Yeah, that last photo pretty much sums up these dudes.

I would also like to give a shout out to one Mr. Josh, groomsman extraordinaire, who I know reads this blog and who I can only imagine was eagerly anticipating his Peach & Pearl debut. Hi, Josh!

Up next: the girls!

All photos by the talented Jenna Cole!

Previously:
We arrive
We prepare
We raise the tent
We rehearse and play wiffle ball
We jump off the wharf
We eat lobster