Cape Cod Coziness

Weddings can be extravagant, to say the least. Jonathan and I wanted to focus on the real reason for marriage and keep our October wedding small, simple, and all about our commitment to each other. Our vision kept going back to our guests; we were looking for a time of bonding between our families and friends. Much like Rachel Getting Married — minus the rehab.

We rented a vacation home for the week; the Overbrook House in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The home was built in 1920, complete with a fireplace-heated dance hall — a gift from a husband to his ballerina wife. Can you get any more romantic than that? The place was perfect: we could house our family and close friends, have a place for all of our procrastinated DIYing, and provide a somewhat relaxed vacation for everyone.

The days leading up to the actual wedding were, by far, my favorite part of the whole process. We bought our flowers in bulk online: sunflowers, a ton of different fall-colored Gerbera daisies, and greens. At one point, they were all spread out on the dining room table, and everyone was sitting around stuffing Mason jars for the reception tables. Having that degree of emotional and physical investment from everyone made it so personal.

We held the ceremony in the living room (nice and cozy!) and had the reception and traditional New England clambake in the dance hall, just a sweet little nature walk away from the main house. My stepmother slaved away to make beautiful mismatched pennants to line the walk from the ceremony to the reception. We collected random sheets and she cut and sewed about four hundred individual flags. Phew! I’m planning on making them all into a quilt to savor the beauty forever.

My sister and I made napkins for all the place settings. It was lots of work for something you use to wipe your mouth, but they were worth every bead of sweat — the tables looked fabulous. With vintage salt and pepper shakers scrounged up by my sister-in-law, each table had its own unique feel.

My mom gifted me a beautiful 1950’s headpiece from the same antique store where Jonathan and I got engaged. I wore embroidered shoes from Ginger Root Vintage. My wedding dress was my grandmother’s which had been passed down to me. Surprisingly enough, it only needed a few nips and tucks. Thanks, Grandma Pauline!

Jonathan and his best man wore vintage blazers from a local shop, and Jonathan made it classy with suspenders and a bowtie from Vintage Bygones. Our matron of honor and flower girl were in custom matching dresses made by Kasey of kayemkay. Sporting an elbow padded corduroy blazer and toddler bow tie — courtesy of Etsy shop, Bebecha — was our ring bearer, a.k.a. “Ceremony Entertainment.”

My brother-in-law made several different batches of apple butter for our favors. I made heart-shaped biscuits and wrapped them up, taping them with hand-printed tape from Washi Wishes. The day before the wedding, our dear friend Christine made our fabulous two-tiered carrot cake and four pumpkin pies, while the rest of the gang worked on sticky buns, caramel apples and sugar-coated pecans.

"The days leading up to the actual wedding were by far my favorite part of the whole process."

Steve, the brother of the groom and best man, brought his band, Spirit Kid, to play Beatles’ covers and their own 1960s-vibe original songs for the reception. It’s a classic era that had every generation singing along and, in my case, dancing around like a fool. It was like a free concert for the family.

One thing that first held us up with planning our day was the fear of copying. We saw so many wonderful ideas out there but didn’t want to be unoriginal and feel like thieves. We quickly got over our hang-ups. We realized that trying to ensure that everything was our own original and brilliant idea was overwhelming and impossible. So, friends: get inspired and borrow as many ideas as you want! In the end, your day will be unique because of the ones you love, the help and advice you’ll receive, and the future that you and your other half will share together.

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