How Did You Meet Your Spouse: On a blind date. We were set up by a mutual friend.

Your Engagement Story:
Armed with a special bottle of champagne (purchased on a trip to Napa the year before), a custom LL Bean tote with my new initials (I dropped several not so sublte hints that I needed a new weekend back, but not till I had a new name!), and a beautiful ring that Jason designed himself, Jason proposed at my father’s house in Guilford, CT. We celebrated at our favorite restaurant in town, The Place (an outdoor restaurant where they roast everything over a large fire pit), for lobster, steamers, and their clam special!

What was the inspiration for your wedding concept? We didn’t have a decorating “theme”, but I guess food ended up being the running theme for the weekend (and our lives). Other than wanting the wedding to be simple, beautiful, and fun, we wanted it to be delicious and for everyone to experience some of our favorite foods!

How did you incorporate your love for food into your wedding?

Friday night rehearsal dinner: A BBQ! We served our favorite cocktail to start, Dark n’ Stormy’s and then served burgers and mini pulled pork sliders. For dessert – homemade ice cream sandwiches with rainbow sprinkles!
When everyone checked in at their hotel we gave them a bag of our favorite donuts – Apple Cider donuts from Bishops Orchard in Guilford, CT (where my dad has a house). We transferred the donuts to a plain white bag and had a custom sticker designed on Etsy to welcome everyone and let them know these are our favorite donuts, etc.

Wedding dinner: Even though this was a sit down dinner at the New York Yacht Club, we didn’t want the meal to feel stuffy. The chef at the club was wonderful and helped us create a family style menu that reflected some of our most favorite dishes – fried chicken and macaroni n’ cheese! It was the first time they had served these dishes and they were a huge success! For dessert we had simple sheet cakes – red velvet and chocolate.

Favors: As a favor at the end of the evening we handed out bottles of Cholula hot sauce. Cholula is our favorite hotsauce, so much so that we named our little Chihuahua after it (we call her Lula for short). We had another poster made on Etsy to stand on the table, it read: “Hot Sauce So Good We Named Our Dog After It. Please Take One at Your Own Risk!”.

Place cards: On all of our vacations, Jason likes to take photos of EVERY meal and dish we eat at memorable restaurants. This resulted in hundreds of food images taking up space on our computers. We decided to use these as place cards at the wedding. We had tables named after various places we’ve visited (Tokyo, Kyoto, Patagonia, Napa Valley, Atlanta, etc) and at each person’s place setting they had an image of a meal we’d eaten affixed to a beautiful card with their name on it. We then wrote the name of the meal and restaurant on the back of each card. So for Tokyo there were 10 beautiful pictures of sushi, tempura, etc waiting for people when they sat down! Everyone knows that Jason is very passionate about food so it was a great conversation starter!

Items In Your Purse on Your Wedding Day: My grandmother’s lace handkerchief and lipstick!

Your Favorite Wedding Day Memory: After all the stressful big moments were over (like the first dance, speeches, etc) and everything had gone off without a hitch (and truly exceeded my expectations), Jason and I took a moment to just step back, take a deep breath, and appreciate how truly amazing the night was. People were having a fantastic time dancing – my uncle even danced on a chair! To see everyone having so much fun was the cherry on top of this wonderful day and such a relief after months and months of planning. It was an amazing party and that is just what we wanted.

Your Honeymoon Destination: We took our honeymoon BEFORE the wedding and spend a month travelling around Argentina and Chile! We went as far north as the Atacama desert (the driest place on earth!) and as far south as Patagonia and stayed in the Torres del Paine National Park.

Best Advice for Brides-To-Be: I know everyone says it, but really try to slow down, look around, and appreciate every second of the weekend. It truly goes by so fast.

Tell us about your “Bridal Look”…

Wedding Gown Designer: Anna Maeir Ulla-Maija via Gabriella New York Bridal Salon // Veil: Sara Gabriel via Gabriella New York Bridal Salon // Jewelry: Fresh water pearl (dangly) earrings from my great grandmother on my father’s side. Worn by my grandmother, mother, and stepmother at their weddings. // Shoes: J. Crew silk, peep toe pumps in Mauve. // Bridesmaids’ Dress: J. Crew Bridesmaids dresses in “Fawn” Silk Taffetta. Each bridesmaid (3) wore a J.Crew cashmere sweater over the dress in different colors – pale pink, bright pink, and coral. Their flowers were a fantastic complement to these sweater colors.

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Vendors that helped make this wedding gorgeous!

Wedding Photography: Charlotte Jenks Lewis Photography. She is a very dear friend that I have known since high school! // Cinematography: Our amazing friends the Needlegardens (Matt Bloomgarden and Jenn Needleman have a company – Needlegarden Projects) shot all of our wedding weekend footage on several flip cams….they even created a “Chuppah Cam” to get footage of us from the Chuppah. We are hiring a friend of theirs to create a short video. // Lodging: Family and wedding party stayed at the New York Yacht Club with us. We also had room blocks at the Newport Marriott, The Viking Hotel, and The Mill Street Inn. // Wedding Ceremony and Reception Location: New York Yacht Club – Harbour Court. Newport, RI // Floral Design: Sayles Livingston Flowers // Cake Design: It’s My Party Bakeshoppe // Wedding Stationary: Spark! Purchased at the Urbanic Boutique in Abbott Kinney, CA. // Hair and Makeup: The Apothecary, Newport // Band or DJ: The Sultans of Swing from Martha’s Vineyard – they rocked!!!