I want to become a society lady Rockin' a new rock?!

If purple is your hue, then Kelly and Devin’s East Coast wedding at Marianmade Farm is just the inspiration for you. The couple resides in California, but having both grown up in New England, the bride and groom knew that Maine was “the only place that felt right to be married in.” They enlisted the planning help of Daisies and Pearls and the floral expertise of Michelle Peele to transform their event space and incorporate as much color and local growing wild lupine as possible. You guys are going to love how it all turned out and thankfully Henry + Mac were behind the lens capturing all the details.

from the bride: We both grew up in New England and had been living in California for years by the time we were planning our wedding. Maine was the only place that felt right to be married in (it was where we met and fell in love), but we also wanted to incorporate some of our laid-back California lifestyle that we loved so much. We had been dating for 7 years and already felt like we were part of each other’s families. So we wanted the wedding to be not only a celebration of our relationship but also our community, as a thank you for so much support over the years. Our photographers asked us what we imagined the wedding day would feel like. We said we wanted it to feel like there was one big giant hug surrounding us. All of our people smiling, laughing, crying, loving together. It felt like that and so much more.

Wedding Vibes: We are both huge fans of color so we wanted to use as much as possible to make the celebration feel vibrant and fun, but also timeless. Something that we could look back on and love for years to come.

I spent a lot of my childhood on the Maine coast and my favorite book is Miss Rumphuis, written and illustrated by Barbara Cooney. It’s a story about a woman who spread Lupine seeds all over the coast to make the world more beautiful. As it turns out, our mid-June date is prime blooming season for wild Lupine. We used the book cover as inspiration for a bright color palate and decided that we would spread Lupine all over the wedding. We were married on a working flower farm so it only seemed right that farm’s flowers would provide all the florals for the wedding. I wanted bright, wild looking florals to keep a laid back vibe running through the décor.

One way we tied California into the wedding was through our incredible invitations and paper goods wizard, Taryn Sutherland of Twinkle and Toast. Her modern calligraphy with fun nontraditional lettering let us continue our use of bright colors with a watercolor/Lupine palate to tie all the details together.

Having all of the people you love in one place doesn’t happen all that often, so we made it a priority to provide the best guest experience we could. For us, that meant spending the money needed on transportation from hotels to the venue and back, an amazing caterer that specialized in family style celebrations, and great music. We feel that all of this helped create a relaxed and welcoming vibe to the whole weekend.

We also loved the idea of getting everyone together the night before so we had a large traditional lobster bake and then invited all of our guests to join us for dessert and drinks. We still got family time and additional party time with our guests. It also took some of the pressure off in having to make it to every table at dinner during the reception- which we definitely didn’t accomplish.

Advice for Planning Couples.

Surround yourself with vendors that you trust and let them do what they do best. Devin and I had a lot going on around the time of our wedding. We moved from California to New England, closed on a house, completed graduate school, and changed jobs in the three weeks leading up the wedding. Our amazing team, led by Sarah Goodwin of Daisies and Pearls, took care of everything and we got to sit back and take in every last drop of the day.

Also, no matter how hard you try to not let the process stress you out, it will. When that happens, step back and try to remember that you have a fabulous party coming your way with all of your favorite people. Lastly, happiness and laughter are contagious. If you are having a fabulous time, your guests will too. So let yourself feel all the feels on your wedding day and if you do that, it will feel like you.

Favorite part of the day: Every moment of the day felt like pure magic. Getting ready with the female loves of my life, seeing everyone sending so much love back at us. The day felt like it was pouring with joy.

A few moments in particular surprised me with how much they ended up meaning:

First Look- When we first started planning the wedding, I was totally against the idea of a doing a first look. I grew up dreaming of seeing the look on my groom’s face when he saw me for the first time walking down the aisle. But then we did an engagement session with our photographers and they allowed it to feel so peaceful, standing close to Devin and just being in the moment. So non-invasive and natural feeling that we decided it was really important to have some alone time like that on the wedding day. The only thing we told our photographers about the first look was that we didn’t want it to feel forced, and they delivered big time. After seeing each other at the venue (where I was getting ready), we hopped in their car and stopped for a walk through a field of blooming wild Lupine a few miles down the road. A beautiful, secret hideout away from the hustle and bustle of the day.

It was also the field that provided flowers for my bouquet. With Lupine being my favorite flower, getting to walk with Devin through that field was not only relaxing and quiet, but also a dream come true. The next day, we were both so grateful that we got that time together because once the day gets rolling, you won’t be alone at all.

Ceremony: We put a lot of thought and time into our ceremony. It’s the reason we were all together that day and we wanted it to represent what we felt was important in a marriage relationship. Having a completely secular ceremony was a big part of our beliefs and Devin’s father got ordained to marry us. He is a great, thoughtful public speaker and built his messages from the book “How to Love” – Thich Nhat Hanh. My godparents also serenaded the crowd with an interactive, acoustic rendition of “Give Yourself to Love”- Kate Wolf. From the first time we talked about the ceremony, Devin insisted that we write our own vows. He felt strongly that our whole community should hear from us why we loved each other and why we were getting married. I was completely terrified, not one to pour my heart out in front of crowds. During the ceremony, I completely forgot about my anxiety because I was having so much fun watching Devin’s father charm the crowd. When it was time, I just focused on Devin’s face and went for it. And when he read his vows back, it was incredible. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more special and loved than in that moment and will never forget it. Having someone we knew well and trusted standing up there with us also helped a lot in terms of making us comfortable.

Photography: Henry + Mac // Planner: Daisies and Pearls // Flowers: Michelle Peele // Invites: Twinkle + Toast // Venue: Marianmade Farm // Catering & Cake: Trillium Caterers // Bride Dress: Romona Keveza // Dress Shop: Musette Bridal // Bridesmaid Dress: Joanna August // Groom Suit: Hugo Boss // HMU: Ariel Johnson // Rentals: One Stop Event A Family Affair of Maine // DJ: DJ Jon