Source: Brides
Photo: Readyluck
When John first spotted Lucy at a college party, he was immediately smitten but thought he didn’t have a chance considering she already had a boyfriend. But weeks later, after a conversation about their mutual love of tennis and when Lucy was decidedly single, John made his move. “A tennis lesson was our first date,” she recalls. Nearly six years later, John popped the question as the couple noshed on a selection of cheese and sipped wine in a New Orleans park. And in celebration of that delicious moment, Lucy and John chose to carry the tradition of wine and cheese through to their wedding, where they served a pairing to their guests during the reception.
Their May 31, 2014 fête was held in St. Michaels, Maryland, and focused on a laid-back aesthetic that would equal a great party for the couple’s friends and family. “I wanted a casual-but-beautiful setting where people would be comfortable letting loose in their cocktail attire and dancing the night away,” Lucy says. And with Readyluck behind the lens and Pineapple Productions guiding the elegant affair, the couple got just what they wanted.
When Lucy spotted the wedding dress she would eventually wear down the aisle, she couldn’t force herself into making a decision. “I kept searching even after I tried it on,” she says. “But I found that I couldn’t make a decision to buy any other because I kept thinking about that dress. I finally went back and tried it on a second time and that was when I decided it was ‘the one.'”
The Lela Rose gown featured an illusion sweetheart and a mermaid flair, with a deep V down its backside. With her dress, Lucy paired a few pieces of heirloom jewelry, including a bracelet passed down from her great aunt for whom she is named. “It was just a simple tennis bracelet, but it was wonderful to feel I was carrying my family on my wrist,” Lucy says.
Bridesmaids wore a variety of navy chiffon gowns from different designers. “I wanted them to be comfortable in their dresses and really like them,” Lucy explains. “I told them they could choose whatever dresses they wanted.” While it was important to the bride that the dresses complement one another, she didn’t need them to match. “Luckily all my bridesmaids have good taste, so I didn’t have to worry about what they would choose to wear.”
Each woman carried a mixture of roses, ranunculus, and lisianthus, while the bride’s bouquet also featured peonies and purple and blue accent blooms.
John and his groomsmen wore suits in blue-gray hues and pinned peach roses trimmed with spring foliage to their lapels. The couple didn’t want to ask the men to shell out for new attire, so they asked each to wear their own suits in coordinating shades.
John and Lucy exchanged handwritten vows beneath an archway laced with peach, pink and white blooms near the water. “The inn was beautiful and we loved that it would serve as a mini-vacation for our guests,” the bride says. “In the end, the venue was more wonderful than I even imagined.”
Just beyond the inn, the couple hosted their tented wedding reception, where guests found their seats painted on clamshells — a tradition the couple uses at home to mark their visitors and denote seating assignments for intimate dinner parties. The couple also offered corn hole to keep guests entertained during cocktail hour and to further stress the casual nature of their big day.
Photo: Readyluck
“My mom painted all the paper products for the wedding day,” Lucy says. The bride tried her hand at DIY projects by tackling some of the lettering.
Beneath the tent, the couple’s 125 guests found a mix of round and rectangular tables topped with candles. Round tables offered overflowing round centerpieces, while the rectangular tables featured a variety of bud vases and lanterns.
The pair and their guests noshed on a beet and cheese salad and local rockfish with morels, filet mignon with chimichurri sauce, or mushroom cannelloni. “The day we taste-tested the menu was one of the most fun days I’ve ever had!” Lucy recalls. “It was party in itself.”
The couple’s cake was decorated with fresh flowers. Beneath its vanilla buttercream frosting, guests were treated to a lemon-thyme cake with lemon curd filling.
The couple requested what Lucy dubs as a “long” list of music that ran the gamut from their high school favorites to their Ella Fitzgerald first dance song.
“The whole thing just felt like one big love fest,” Lucy says of their wedding day. “It was wonderful to share our love for each other with the other people in our lives we care about.”
Venue, Catering and Cake: The Inn at Perry Cabin || Wedding Planner: Pineapple Productions || Bride’s Wedding Dress: Lela Rose || Jewelry: BHLDN || Shoes: Melissa || Hair & Makeup: Amie Decker Beauty || Bridesmaids Dresses: Jim Heljm; Bari J. || Groom’s Attire: Alton Lane || Wedding Bands: Friend & Company || Florist: Dragonfly Events || Invitations: Bella Figura || Music: Scott Borg and My DeeJay || Rentals: DC Rental || Favors: Donations made to Carolina Covenant || Transportation: Bayside Limousines || Photographer: Readyluck
Want more spring wedding inspiration? Then check out another couple’s wedding in the video below.
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