Newport, Rhode Island
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It honestly feels so surreal to be blogging my own wedding day! Being on the other side of things for the first time was truly such an incredible experience, especially after having worked with so many couples planning their own weddings. I could go on and on about our own day and how wonderful it was, but I will try to keep this as short as I can!
The Planning Process
Matt and I got engaged in July of 2020 in Newport, RI on a sailboat. Because it was still fairly early on in COVID, we knew we were going to aim for a longer engagement to give our wedding a better chance of happening as planned (at that point, most weddings were still either being cancelled or scaled down tremendously).
As we began to talk more about our wedding and what we wanted, we eventually decided that an intimate wedding was the direction we wanted to go. We had been thinking about buying a house and felt like we wanted to put more of an investment towards that, but still have a beautiful, smaller scale gathering to celebrate our marriage. We went on to purchase our first home together in March of 2021, and that truly wouldn’t have been possible if we had decided to have a large wedding. As much as I love shooting large weddings, and as fun as it would have been to have all of our friends present, it just wasn’t the right decision for us and I have no regrets about the route we took.
Choosing Our Vendors
Location was truly a no brainer. Newport was such a special place to us — it was where we went on our first couple’s trip, the first place we said “I love you,” and where we got engaged. Pretty much from the start I had a vision of incorporating some sort of boat into our wedding portraits, and that led me to finding our planning, Kate Murtaugh. During COVID Kate began putting together unique elopement experiences for couples, both at sea and on land, and I absolutely loved what she created. She was one of our first vendors we booked and knew she would do an amazing job bringing our initial vision to life.
Finding a venue was also relatively simple. Although Kate provided us with many great options, Forty 1 North has been one of my favorite Newport restaurants ever since the first time my college roommate introduced me to it. I went to Bryant University in Rhode Island, so Newport weekend trips were easy and frequent. Once Matt and I began going more often, Forty 1 North became one of our go-to spots so it just made sense to say our vows on the deck overlooking the harbor.
While we knew wanted to take portraits a boat on our wedding day, we didn’t want to have the ceremony itself at sea — that felt like an accident waiting to happen, and a lot to ask of our guests. Although we initially looked into some larger boats for the occasion, in the end using the same sailboat from On Watch Sailing that we got engaged on just felt right. It made it even more meaningful incorporating it into our special day for our private sunset charter. Kate’s go-to floral designer for her elopements was her good friend Jill at Beach Plum Floral, who had actually also done the gorgeous florals for my college roommate’s wedding on Cape Cod back in 2019. Jill was another easy decision as her work is absolutely stunning, and having experience safely adhering florals to a boat was invaluable.
Perhaps the easiest decision was hiring Lauren Fair as our wedding photographer. I have loved Lauren’s work for years — she captures moments on film in the absolutely dreamiest way, and I knew she would be the perfect person to document our special day. I was so honored that Lauren agreed to work with us as I know she only takes a handful of weddings herself per year, and I truly don’t think I would have trusted anyone else to capture our day the way she did.
When it came to videographers, I was excited to be able to work with my good friend Julia at Lane Visuals again. She and I had been friends on Instagram for years, long before either of us were a part of the wedding industry, and she also shot one of my couple’s weddings alongside me in 2021. Julia is such a calming presence, and I so appreciated her love and support throughout the entire process and on our wedding day. I absolutely loved working with our other vendors as well, including the incredibly sweet Ali and Cristina who did my makeup and hair, as well as Lauren at Line Avenue Calligraphy who designed our stunning custom invitation suite. Our wedding would not have been the same without our rockstar vendor team, and I so appreciate all of the hard work each one of them put into making our day perfect.
The Wedding Day
Matt and I truly couldn’t have been luckier when the day finally came. We were blessed with the most beautiful, late May weather and incredible sunlight all day. It had been such a rainy spring that I (of course) was frantically checking the weather in the weeks leading up to our wedding, but I couldn’t have asked for anything better. Lucky for us, because we didn’t really have a solid rain plan since so much of the day relied on being able to go out into the harbor on a private charter!
From start to finish, it was hands down the best day of our lives. Endless thank yous to our family for their support, our friends for understanding that we needed to keep our guest count small, and our vendors who brought our vision to life flawlessly. I would do anything to go back and do the whole day over again, but instead I will keep reliving it through these incredible photos for years to come…
Photos by Lauren Fair Photography
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Vendors:
Photography: Lauren Fair Photography
Planner: Kate Murtaugh Events & Design
Venue: Forty 1 North
Videography: Lane Visuals
Floral Design: Beach Plum Floral
Hair & Makeup: Ali Lomazzo Beauty
Private Charter: On Watch Sailing
Rentals: Party Rental Ltd.
Invitation Suite: Line Avenue Calligraphy
Vow Books: Olive Paperie Co.
Shoes: Bella Belle Shoes
Bridal Gown: BHLDN
Groom’s Suit: Indochino
