Fri 25th Mar, 2011
Rebecca and Chris' Great Gatsby, vintage-style beach wedding
Rebecca & Christopher were married on a gorgeous beach, in a big white tent, behind a private residence in Cape Cod.
Shot beautifully by Geneve Rege - "We found Geneve through looking at wedding blogs and websites and loving the quality of her work. We knew we wanted a photo journalistic style and a photographer who would really appreciate and capture all the little details. When we met Geneve and saw her work we knew she was the perfect person for the job. She was just incredible as our photographer."
It was a beautiful September wedding that they shared with 120 of their friends and family.
"Chris and I met doing an outdoor Shakespeare festival (Shakespeare in Delaware Park) in Buffalo, New York. We met when I was 15 and Chris 22 and we were both in a production of Romeo and Juliet. We got along well as friends but when the show ended we went our separate ways. We re-met 6 years later doing the same Shakespeare festival and fell in love.
Since I was little, my family spent a week in Cape Cod every summer. To me Cape Cod is place where I always feel so happy and at peace. Chris and I were vacationing in Cape Cod with my family. August 5th was Chris' birthday and he told me that he wanted to camp out in the tent on the beach the night before so that he could wake up on the beach on the morning of his birthday. Very, very early on Wednesday morning as the sun was just beginning to rise over the ocean; Chris asked me if I wanted to go put my feet in the water. Groggily, I said I did and crawled out of the tent. Chris said "you want to help an old man out of a tent?" I turned to give him a hand out, but he stayed on one knee and proposed. I was shocked because I had planned a whole day of things for Chris' birthday and never dreamed he would propose on his special day. When I said that very thing to him he replied "This is the greatest gift I could EVER ask for". The sun was rising and making the water sparkle and we were the only ones as far as the eye could see on the beach. When I said "YES!!!", cheering was heard from the house my family was renting up above the beach and my family was clapping and yelling happily and taking pictures from the balcony of the house. The whole family had 6am mimosas on the deck and watched the rest of the beautiful sunrise. It was a fantastically magical morning. We got married in that very spot on the beach where he proposed."
The Ebury Collection wedding blog. Photography copyright 2011 Geneve Rege
Our wedding was littered with DIY projects!! We collected vintage keys and glass bottles all year from various flea markets and antique shops and they served as our place cards and centerpieces. Chris and I tied little tags onto each individual key and wrote all our guests’ names and table numbers on them.
A friend lent us a gorgeous antique barn board door which we nailed 120 pegs into to hang the keys. Above the door we placed a hand-painted sign that read “You hold the keys to our heart”.
For my flowers, I had my heart set on white peonies…until I found out that peonies are not in season in September. Nichole from “Wedding Flowers by Nichole” helped me to choose flowers that had the same feel that I was going for and I was incredibly happy with my bouquet. It had all white freesia, lysianthus, ranunculus, Queen Anne ’s lace, and hydrangea.
From the beginning of our planning, Chris and I used the term “Bohemian Black-tie” to describe our wedding. We envisioned something that was fancy and whimsical but in a comfortable way. We told our guests that the dress code was anything that made them feel the most fancy and in their skin. Due to the special significance of Cape Cod we knew we wanted to be married on the beach, but we also knew we didn’t want a beach-themed wedding. We just wanted the peaceful, powerful, magical quality of the sky, sand, and sea to come through in the style of our wedding. We both have a special love of the ocean and feel truly alive when we are near it. We knew that’s how we wanted to feel on our wedding day and we wanted to share that feeling with our guests as well. Chris’ favorite book is the Great Gatsby and he has always been drawn to that era and I am a vintage-lover myself so we also knew that our wedding would have a certain vintage, one-of-a-kind feel that we hoped to accomplish with tons of little details that were uniquely ‘us’. Mostly we just wanted our day to be very personal and filled with love.
My family is a big Beatles family. My Uncle Mark (who has always reminded me of a cross between John Lennon and Paul McCartney) played “Love” as my bridal party walked down the aisle and “Real Love” as I processed down with my parents by my side. As soon as he started to play I got goose bumps. I still tear up thinking about it. It was so wonderful to have his music be part of that special moment.
Other DIY projects included the chuppah we were married under! For months before our wedding we had 8 food birch poles in the living room of our apartment which ultimately became our chuppah. Chris and his father built it together the day before the wedding and decorated it with a simple length of toile.
Our DIY spirit even extended to our ceremony! We pretty much made up our own format, cutting and pasting different traditions that rang true to us, and even made up a ritual to involve our siblings in the ceremony. Each of them tied a lavender or gray ribbon onto the chuppah to symbolise that they are an integral part of the fabric of our symbolic home (which is represented by the chuppah itself). Before they tied the ribbon on they spoke a wish for us.
I loved the moment where Chris & I were announced as man & wife at the end of our ceremony! Chris broke the glass, we kissed, and then “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” blasted through the speakers and we danced up the aisle.
I never dreamed I would end up buying a dress the first time I went to try gowns on, but that is what ended up happening. When I walked into the Wedding Atelier with my mom and sister all three of us noticed a gown that was being hung up. We all gasped at how beautiful it was and then sort of forgot about it as our appointment began and the stylist pulled a bunch of dresses for me to try on. I tried a handful of dresses and they were all very beautiful. Then we remembered that dress we had seen first and asked to try it on. As I stepped out in the dress I could picture my whole wedding filling in around me. I felt just exactly how I had hoped I would feel on my wedding day - airy, vintage, and gorgeous. The gown is a beautiful ivory and has intricate lace detail - it feels like a little treasure. I can’t imagine ever loving a gown more than I love that dress.
Adjectives that I feel best describe the look and feel of our wedding are airy, whimsical, vintage, bohemian, and playful. I wanted the natural color palate of the beach to really shine so the only colors we added were touches of a vintage-y gray-lavender and shades of white.
We (along with my mom) collected HUNDREDS of unique vintage glass receptacles and each table had different shapes and sizes of glass. They were all filled with combinations of sand, shells & stones (that I and my bridal party collected the day before), water, lavender, freesia, and candles.
Chris and I also printed out our own menus which I decorated a single heart hole punches behind which I placed a touch of lavender ribbon. Each menu then went in a pewter colored frame. Chris cut and painted all our arrow signs that read “C <3 B” (that lead people to the ceremony) as well as signs for the “Shoe Check”, parking, and Guest Book.
The guest book station had a Polaroid camera and tons of scrapbooking materials so people could stick their picture in and create a uniquely designed message.
My mom and sister made all the favors which were purple and silver Hershey kisses with our faces on them in little white boxes with lavender ribbon.
For our reception we had a DJ who I drove insane by giving him lists and lists of the kind of music we wanted at our reception. When it came down to it, the DJ was great, the music was fantastic, and everyone danced like fools all night long.
I also loved when the DJ introduced the bridal party, then Chris and myself and we ran into the tent while Jay-Z’s Young Forever played (my married name is Young).
Right after we cut the cake we heard explosions coming from down the beach and the sky lit up. We all ran out of the tent to find a huge fireworks display!! It turns out the people down the beach had seen us getting ready for the wedding and one of them happened to work for a fireworks company. As a special surprise they set off an amazing display out of the goodness of their hearts. It was so exciting and magical and so touching that they did that for us.
Supplier info (US)
Dress: Melissa Sweet, the “Fern” gown
Flowers: Wedding Flowers by Nichole
Photographer: Geneve Rege
Caterers: The Cuisine of Mark Connolly
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Dessy
Groom’s suit: Hugo Boss
Cake: Casual Gourmet (topper made by Zilly Cakes)
Hair and Make-up: Hair: Tre Soleil Day Spa/makeup: done by bride
Music: Cape Tunes, DJ Keith (ceremony guitar & vocals provided by my Uncle Mark)
Stationery: invites handmade by bride & groom
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