Blog

Classic elegance in Newport at Castle Hill was an EASY style to design for Martha and Mike.. and the bonus of an amazing color palette landed them as a BEAUTIFUL 4 page Feature Wedding in Bliss Celebrations Guide magazine, released last week! How could Bliss resist this sweetness!?! Take a peak and look for Bliss on stands now! {PS we’ve got some in studio too!}

The rain had already started as I drove to Newport to capture pre-bridal…but there were little openings in the sky giving us hope that perhaps it would all clear up..

Q. What was your favorite moment or aspect of the day?

Martha. When the weather parted for the outdoor ceremony. Walking down the aisle with my dad. Getting texts from Mike before the ceremony. Dancing ALL night long.

Q. Finish this sentence: “One thing I learned from my wedding planning…”

Martha. Sweat the small stuff. Details count.

ok.. so Mike.. Mike’s excitement throughout the day was the best thing to watch!! & capture! .. I can only imagine how giddy he was when Martha said yes to his surprise proposal… “Mike proposed to me on December 28, 2010. I had no idea he was going to propose but I had always hoped it would be before the year ended. We had just spent the Christmas holiday with my family in Newport and we decided to take a small trip to Mohegan Sun for a couple days- rest and relaxation. After an amazing day and the gym and spa, we headed to the black jack table. As we were playing an older woman behind us dropped a glass and it shattered. Mike yelled out “Mazel Tov!” and he and the woman chuckled and exchanged a few “How did you know I was Jewish?” laughs. After blackjack we went to dinner at Bar Americain (Bobby Flay). Mike is well aware of my love for food (I am now a chef in Hartford) so he knew this was a good restaurant pick. We were seated at a large round table and just after we ordered and tasted our first sip of wine, Mike says, :Martha, can I ask you a question…” to which I respond, “yes”. He then said, “Will you marry me?”. I must have looked stunned because he said, “I am serious, I have a ring!”. He showed me the ring under the table and I almost died. I forgot to respond (despite having prepared my response for about 6 months) and just hugged him! He of course said, “so…well…what do you think?” and I of course said “YES!!!!!”.

After a few minutes of kissing and hugging and smiling/laughing, it just so happened that the Jewish woman that broke the glass walked by (note the casino is quite large so this chance walk by was a surprise) and said to Mike “The mazel tov gave me luck! I just won $1000!”. Mike then said, “it brought me luck too! I just got engaged!!”. We all toasted and had a drink together. It was awesome.”

Q. The Flowers

Martha. Stoneblossom Floral Design {Stoneblossom has a lovely feature on this event too!}
Bride- all white roases with feather whisps in bouquet
Groomsmen- orange gardne roses with chocolate fiddlehead
Bridesmaids- white and subtle orange rose bouquets

Center pieces (amazing!): pewter vases on long tuscan head table with tall mercury candles scattered throughout table. Vases will filled with large arrangements of ivory and orange (lots of macora orchids…my favorite). Round tables were either decorated with all ivory or all orange. FLowers were set in beautiful mercury and pewter vases. Candles throughout.

Q. The Bride Wore.

Martha. Jim Hjelm: ivory V neck dress (lace and satin) with an open back
Kate Spade: ivory peep toe heels
Veil for ceremony
Feather fascinator in hair for reception

Q. Entertainment

Martha. Lisa Love Experience (voted Best Band in Boston 2011): this band truly made the wedding. ALL of our guests danced all night, including my 92 year old great aunt who had 15 stitches in her foot!

Q. What made your event UNIQUE

Martha. We only invited our closest friends and family and therefore were able to keep our #s under 100. This was the perfect size for our wedding. The setting, the band and the food were all amazing. The fact that the rain stopped four our ceremony to be held outside was a miracle. I made 300 french macarons from scratch{Martha by the way is a chef!!} that were on the dessert table for all of our guests, late night snack of McDonalds and orange soda.

Q. Lastly, if there was 1 magazine you could dream of being featured in, what magazine would that be and why?

Martha. Bliss Magazine (love the layout and how they feature weddings)

..well that dream feature certainly came true! Congratulations Martha & Mike!!

Vendor List

Rabbi: Lev Baesh
Stoneblossom
NE Invitations
Bridal Finery
Alagria Salon (Mariana and Kelly)
The Lisa Love Experience

.. a fun note from Martha! “We absolutely adore Kristin and did from the day we met her. Kristin really fit the bill for us in many ways- super creative, down to earth, young and fun, smart (helped us make the decision to have our wedding outside, despite the “chance of showers”!) and caring. She took time to get to know us and what we wanted for our wedding- well beyond just being the photographer. If it weren’t for Kristin we would not have met so many other fabulous vendors that helped us on our day.”

Thank you Martha.. xoxo I’ll miss the planning with you this season!!!