Above photo by Eye Sugar Photography

Wedding Wisdom

by Laura Pope

Jim and Roberta’s wedding reflected having fallen in love with Hawaii—her attendants were in Hawaiian sundresses and their ring bearer and flower girl in Hawaiian attire. The customs of Michael and Christina’s Greek and Lebanese heritage were central to their wedding day, from the Ceremonial Walk where the bride and groom take their first steps together as a married couple to Christina performing a belly dance—an expression of joy and celebration in Arabic culture. Both music teachers, Laura and Tiger’s table cards were Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, and Ti after the musical scale.

Thoughtful, creative planning can ensure
that the details of your wedding will let the
story of you as a couple come alive.

All of these personal touches—from Real Seacoast Weddings in our past issues (see them and more on seacoastweddings.com)—reflect thoughtful, creative planning that can ensure that the details of your wedding will let the story of you as a couple come alive.

DETAILS THAT TELL YOUR STORY
“The details are so valuable,” confides Jessika Brooks Brewer, event planner and CEO of The Retreat at French’s Point in Stockton Springs, Maine. Jessika has helped plan dozens of weddings at the private estate nestled along Penobscot Bay.

One memorable wedding at The Retreat brimming with thoughtful, personal touches and surprises comes to mind. “Martha and Elliott were in the Navy, he was out of the country and she was stationed in Virginia and so the planning was done mostly from afar. Home – Maine – was so important to them; they took their design from Maine lodge camps, included their favorite Maine micro brews, the bride hand-crocheted more than 100 dish cloths for guests. Every moment was thought through.”

Another Maine-themed wedding showcased in our 2011 issue reflected the bride’s desire to give her husband’s Pittsburgh, PA, relatives a taste of her home state with table decorations of spray-painted pinecones and favors that were small Douglas fir trees in moss-filled pots that guests could take home and plant.

Remembering and including loved ones, for many, greatly influences wedding details large and small. Kristen wrapped her father’s wedding ring into the blue ribbon of her bouquet (2008); Kyleigh took inspiration from her beloved grandfather who lived in Polynesia and so planned a themed wedding in his honor, complete with wedding favors sporting a small elephant charm, to commemorate the donation they made in his name (he had always wanted an elephant) toward adopting an orphaned elephant in Kenya (2007); Pamela made sure her Aunt Donna’s savored salad was served to her 175 wedding guests (2010); Kara paid tribute to her husband’s culture and her departed mother-in-law at a traditional Henna Ceremony where she wore some of her jewelry and her sari (2006).

WORDS, WORDING & TYPEFACE
Samantha Finigan, co-owner of Gus & Ruby Letterpress in Portsmouth, NH, along with Whitney Swaffield, a third generation printer, use Whitney’s grandfathers’ press to make individual, creative paper items. These include some of or the entire wedding stationery suite, from savethe-date announcements, invites (with reply card and reception card), programs and menus to favor tags, escort cards and thank-you notes.

Many personal touches are easily incorporated into these items, insists Samantha who describes much of their custom work as “really reflective of the couple. One time, we made these fact cards that were all about the couple and their families to place at each table setting at their rehearsal dinner. The couple wanted to do this as it turns out they lived so close to one another their whole lives and had so many near misses in meeting each other. It was really odd that their families hadn’t met, they were in such close proximity. The cards were a way to thread the couple and their families together with fun tidbits of information. We also did a similar thing for another couple’s gift bag.”

Another one-of-a-kind design she recalls included the save-the-date announcement that emphasized the word “June”—the couple met in June, married in June, and had a dog named June.

“Words plus wording plus typeface, color and stock all add up. If you’re silly and goofy, use that aspect in the wording.” A few fun wording choices impart clever, personal touches. Samantha remembers a couple who married on Great Diamond Island in Maine, accessible only by ferry boat. “They chose the following wording for their reply card: ‘Will you make the boat? Let us know by July 27th, M______________ will be: __Aboard or __Overboard.’ That same couple, to flavor their celebration even more with New England lingo, chose as their wording for their reception card: ‘Celebration & Wicked Good Dinner to Follow.’”

Another couple created a custom design featuring hand-illustrated scrabble game tiles that spelled out their names as a metaphor for their union. The wording that followed read: “Please join us and our families in celebrating our double-word score. Big food, raucous dancing and giant fun and games to follow.”

MAKE THE FOOD YOUR OWN
Justin Walker, executive chef at Arrows – the flagship restaurant of James Beard award-winning chefs Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier and deemed one of America’s 10 Most Romantic Restaurants – recollects a few of the special culinary touches that made wedding meals an extension of personality.

The June wedding of Darin and Gopal, featured in our 2010 edition, illustrates the exceptional outcome of a personalized wedding menu. A fivecourse, all vegetarian dinner using vegetables grown especially for the occasion in the restaurant garden, was called “A Romantic Journey Along the Silk Route,” referencing Gopal’s Indian heritage.

The pair sugared other parts of their festivities with a look based on the circus-themed street art they purchased in Paris, where they became engaged. Special circus characters adorned their wedding invitation and thank-you notes, sparked a pre-wedding day, round of photos as they rode the carousel at York Beach, and surfaced most definitely during a surprise performance by Cirque USA in a tent behind the restaurant.