Hurricane Willa was the surprise character in this gorgeous fall wedding planned by Glass Planning, but not even extreme weather could spoil this stunning soiree. The bride and groom knew there were weather-related risks to planning a New-England wedding in the fall, but a tropical storm raged trough the day moving the entire event inside. Luckily, the historic Glen Manor House, is a vision of beauty inside-and-out, and the couple celebrated with their closest friends and family in the cozy, intimate candle-lit setting while thunder and lightning lit up the sky outdoors. Floral, tabletop design and chuppah by Greenlion Design with invitations by Underwood Letterpress and it’s all captured beautifully in these photographs by the amazing Emily Delamater.
What made the wedding special and unique?
I should probably say Hurricane Willa! Planning an outdoor wedding in late October in New England necessarily involves certain weather-related risks, but we didn’t expect the weather to be quite so bad. A tropical storm-turned hurricane hurtled up the coast in the days before our wedding, which left us with a 100% chance of rain on our wedding day. And rain it did — in addition to having to move our outdoor ceremony inside, we also had to rearrange where at least 50 guests sat for dinner due to an unexpected leak in a roof at the venue. Despite the chaos, all of our guests told us that the hurricane made the wedding incredibly intimate and unique. And I have to agree — exchanging vows and dancing the night away while a hurricane raged on outside was super fun. It was amazing to hear the thunder and see the lightning while we were cozy inside our own candlelit wonderland.
Tell us about the gown and where/how you found it!
My gown was designed by an emerging Israeli designer, Lihi Hod, and I found it at a boutique in San Francisco during the designer’s trunk show. Although I had originally gone to try on another one of her dresses, I knew the minute I tried this one on that it would be special. I also had the incredible fortune of trying the dress on in front of Lihi herself, who was there for the trunk show. She loved the dress on me almost more than I loved it on myself! Watching her reaction to the dress on me was so fun, and gave me the conviction I needed to choose it.
What were some touches added to make the wedding personal?
Since we are both very much into music, we had a lot of fun deciding what music we would walk down the aisle to, and what music we would leave the ceremony to. Rather than choosing a traditional wedding march, we walked down the aisle to songs by Odesza and Rhye, and we left the ceremony to a song by Duke Dumont. I had several guests tell me that they loved how the non-traditional music added a unique and personal touch to the ceremony.
What was the most memorable part of the day?
Since we got married on my birthday, we decided to host an entirely separate birthday-themed afterparty at the hotel we had rented out for the weekend in downtown Newport. The staff of the hotel was wonderful, and so accommodating. They didn’t even blink when I told them I wanted to hire a DJ to play 90s hiphop music from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., and have a vendor bring in 1200 balloons to create a balloon ceiling. The DJ and the balloons turned out even better than I imagined, and the afterparty was easily my favorite part of the day. After a day of weather-related chaos, it was the first moment we were finally able to relax and celebrate being married.
Tell us how you met and became engaged.
We had actually known one another for close to 10 years before we started dating. M went to high school with a friend of mine, so we had gotten to know each other casually over the years. About three years ago, we reconnected at our mutual friend’s wedding and began dating immediately. Although we had known each other for close to a decade, we were surprised to learn that we lived just a few blocks away from one another in San Francisco, and that we shared many of the same hobbies (music; backcountry skiing). We were pretty much inseparable from the start, and got engaged after about two years of dating.
Photographer: Emily Delamater // Planner: Elizabeth Lutz, Glass Planning // Floral / Tabletop Design / Chuppah: Greenlion Design // Invitations: Underwood Letterpress // Venue: Glen Manor House // Video: Stop Go Love // Bride’s Dress: Lihi Hod // Bride’s Shoes: Alexandre Birman // Makeup: Jennie Kay // Decor (outdoor porch draping): Ormonde Productions // Bridesmaids’ dresses: BHLDN // Groom’s tuxedo: Ralph Lauren // Groom’s shoes: Brooks Brothers // Catering: Blackstone Catering // Band and Uplighting: Wilson Stevens Eye 2 Eye // Dress / Tuxedo steaming: Bridal Finery