You know what I love? This bride. A crazy cool fashionista who isn’t afraid to buck tradition and totally rock a stunning silver gown. And not only does she have some killer fashion sense, she also happens to know how to throw one seriously amazing party. One that celebrates her gorgeous Belle Mer I do’s with fab paper goods from Lauren Chism Fine Papers, lush florals from Green Lion Weddings and beautiful images from Snap! Photography. See them all in the full gallery.
From The Bride… As part of a New Year’s Resolution, Peter and I promised to plan a trip together in early 2013. His choice was London and my first choice was Paris, so agreed to visit both cities. I’ve always dreamed of going to Paris, but little did I know this trip would be extra special. Moments before we left for the airport, while I was still frantically packing before heading out, Peter called from the other room. He started by saying he bought me something to take on the trip and before I knew it, he was down on one knee asking me to be his wife. Moments later we were off to London and Paris for what I know call “our engagement-moon”. Fast forward four months after our engagement when we finally started to seek out venues. We took our time, found our dream location and quickly secured a late winter wedding date.
Peter and I love Boston and I always thought we would get married in the city, where Peter is from and where we call home. We looked at a few venues and felt overwhelmed in the beginning so we stopped searching and took a break from wedding planning during the summer months. While chatting with girlfriends, it was suggested we look at Belle Mer, a modern seaside venue with beautiful views and a simple yet elegant setting. Upon arrival at Belle Mer we immediately knew this was our spot and worked quickly to secure a date and start the planning process.
While I never had a dream wedding, décor or inspiration in mind. I did find my dress prior to finding a venue and my dress really helped guide me towards a color palette. My dress, the venue and time of year influenced the neutral and soft palette. After meeting with Kim from Greenlion and describing our desire to have natural materials – wood, lots of candles, pale blush and white flowers our vision really started to come together. Overall, our goal was to have a modern, yet classic wedding.
We both love food and enjoy a good party, so immediately we knew that a cocktail style reception is the direction we wanted to go in. This type of reception lends itself to some flexibility with the room setup and tables, which allowed us to have fun with the table décor. With a mix of high and low tables we incorporated floral vignettes throughout and whitewashed manzinita branches with hanging votive candles to help add some depth, warmth and height to the space. We also had fun with the seating arrangement since we wanted to encourage our guests to “mix & mingle” and spend time on the dance floor. Our theme really involved into a simple and modern seaside cocktail party.
It was important to us that we get married in a Greek Orthodox church and deciding on the location was an easy decision. We incorporated his family and parents into the ceremony by using the candles and stephana they used for their wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony incorporating all of the Orthodox traditions.
The wedding reception was a direct reflection of our personalities and it was so fun to plan and incorporate elements that were important to each of us. Peter was laser focused on food and entertainment and I took on the overall design elements. Peter was able to get his 80’s dance party, which included a Karate Kid montage with a Peter Cetera’s song playing in the background and I had fun picking out all the flowers and table décor and bringing together the details with the help of Kim from Greenlion. Kim really took my vision and helped tie it all together with the flowers and she deserves all the credit.
Our wedding turned out perfectly and we are so fortunate to have worked with amazing vendors that helped make our dream wedding a reality. It was truly the perfect day and we couldn’t have been happier with how everything came together.
Photography: Snap! Weddings | Floral Design: Greenlion | Wedding Dress: Vera Wang | Cake: Belle Mer: A Longwood Venue | Invitations: Lauren Chism Fine Papers | Ceremony Venue: St Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church | Reception Venue: Belle Mer: A Longwood Venue | Hair And Makeup: New Leaf Salon | Calligraphy: Lettered Life | DJ: Victor Events | Boutique Hotel: The Attwater Hotel