It’s always a special day here in STG land when one of our wonderful blogging brides’ weddings shows up in our inbox. Especially when it’s as gorgeous as Alyssa and Colin’s luminous light house-themed Jew-ish wedding.
Seriously, just LOOK at Taylor Dunn Photography’s bright, airy, emotion-filled snaps of the big day.
It doesn’t get much more picturesque than this. Everything from the couple’s sweet, whimsical ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent to Alyssa and Colin’s adorable lighthouse logo to the fact that they used our very own Smashing The Glass pouch for their smash glass under the chuppah is total wedding goals.
And speaking of that chuppah? First of all, it’s a charmer, with birch poles, a clean green and white color scheme, and just a touch of asymmetrical greenery and florals. But it gets even better when you find out Alyssa and Colin’s fathers – plus Alyssa’s brother – teamed up to build it – using branches taken from trees in the yards of the bride and groom’s childhood homes (!!!). I KNOW.
Now for the rest from Alyssa…
How we met
Alyssa, the bride: I met Colin at just 13 years old. He was a silly kid in the back of the school bus and to be honest one of the only Jewish people I knew. We spent countless rides to school laughing and teasing each other relentlessly.
Senior year of high school we reconnected and rekindled our friendship. I was drawn to his humor, easy-going demeanor, kind nature, and his ability to be friends with everyone! Our friendship effortlessly evolved into an amazing relationship that I never expected.
Keeping it Local
Colin and I both grew up and currently live in Connecticut, so when choosing our wedding venue we wanted to remain local for our friends and family to easily attend.
We also knew we wanted to pick a venue with a similar aesthetic to one of our favorite locations, Cape Cod. Ever since I was a little girl the Cape has always been a special place close to my heart. Every summer my grandparents rented a house on the water for nearly two months. My cousins and I spent each summer playing endless rounds of mini golf, eating endless amounts of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, and soaking up those endless summer sunsets.
Knowing my fondness for the Cape, Colin decided to make my favorite place even more special by proposing at the top of a Cape Cod lighthouse.
After touring a couple of venues, Colin suggested we visit Latitude 41 in Mystic, CT. Driving through the charming nautical town of Mystic, I was brought right back to my times on the Cape. The venue was just as stunning as the town, and I could instantly picture us saying, “I do”.
The selling point for us was not only the spacious lawn area right along the water, but the gorgeous lighthouse similar to the one where we made our first commitment to each other. Our wedding day was more than we could have ever dreamed of. As the summer sunset was finally faded on our perfect day, I knew Mystic would become another favorite place we would cherish.
Custom Invitation
Our wedding invitations were not only unique because of their custom design, but because they were created by two of our friends Danielle and Justin Lappen of My Wed Ink.
Knowing the Lappens personally I knew that their easy-going personalities, creative talent, and professionalism would be the perfect combination to create a stress free experience along with beautifully designed products. They did not disappoint! They perfectly captured our vision of highlighting nautical components while still feeling clean and timeless.
During the design process of our invitations we had thrown some ideas back and forth on different nautical elements to incorporate. One idea I had was a lighthouse. The Lappens quickly designed a beautiful lighthouse including our initials A&C.
We ended up not using the lighthouse for our invitations, but we did put it on nearly every other paper product at our wedding! It became sort of the “logo” of our wedding that we included on our programs, reception signs, table numbers, and even our thank you notes! Colin and I are so grateful to not only have had our wedding details perfectly designed for us, but designed by two of our favorite wedding guests.
Hair + Makeup
Besides of course choosing my groom, choosing Allison Neves of Beautifully Unafraid was one of the best decisions I had made for our wedding. About three months prior to the wedding I went to Allison’s for my hair trial. With my Pinterest picture in hand, Allison perfectly executed the look I had envisioned. Of course my indecisiveness kicked in about 3 weeks before the wedding and I started to question if the hairstyle I had chosen was a little too trendy. Scrolling through Allison’s Instagram feed I found a gorgeous low bun from one of her previous brides. The look was elegant and timeless and exactly what I was hoping for.
I felt horrible switching up my hairstyle after I had already gone through the trial, but Allison’s calm nature and sweet manner helped ease my worries. She quickly responded saying it was not a problem at all and that it was an easy switch. My hair turned out even more perfect than I could have imagined!
Due to my somewhat last minute switch, I hadn’t really thought of the placement of my veil. Allison suggested placing the veil below my bun so that no part of my hair was covered. When explaining this to my mom, she quickly recognized her nervousness to execute the directions. Allison stayed throughout all of our getting ready pictures to ensure my mom could properly place the veil into my hair. Allison went above and beyond to make sure we not only looked beautiful but felt calm and confident as well!
An Unexpected Dress
After binge watching one too many episodes of “Say Yes to the Dress”, I had fallen victim to thinking everyone is supposed to have that “bridal moment” when finding their wedding dress. I had no such moment, yet still found my perfect dress. I had specifically chosen a shop that carried a line of dresses I had been lusting after online. All the dresses were stunning, just not stunning on me. Feeling discouraged from my picks, I finally tried on my sister’s choice. She had picked out a gown that was the same designer as her own wedding gown, yet was a completely different style.
She deemed this gown was “classic Alyssa”, and when I tried it on the rest of my family agreed. Although I definitely felt like it was the best dress of the day, I wasn’t fully sold and went home empty handed.
Luckily my sister, who was a recent bride herself, had taken pictures of me in each dress I had tried on. For the next few weeks, I continued to look at myself in that one dress and could picture myself walking down the aisle.
I went back to the shop a little while later with my bridesmaids this time and tried on a few more gowns. Yet everyone agreed that my sister knew best. I might not have cried, or gotten chills, or had the perfect bridal moment, but having my sister’s choice end up being “the one” makes finding my dress extra special.
A Handmade Chuppah
Colin and I toured a couple of venues prior to selecting Latitude 41. One of the first venues we looked at was setting up for a Jewish wedding while we were viewing the space. Colin and I were in awe, not only of the beautiful atmosphere they had created but of the gorgeous chuppah at the center of it all. We congratulated the family and shared how beautiful the chuppah looked as the focal point in the space. The father of the bride then proceeded to tell us how he had handcrafted the chuppah as a gift for his daughter to cherish for years to come. I couldn’t get over the sweet sentiment and of course gushed about it to my mother.
My mom then shared the story with my dad who also could not get over the emotional gesture. My dad thought it would be even more nostalgic for our chuppah if he built the structure with birch trees from the yards of both Colin’s and my childhood homes. My dad went to Colin’s dad for guidance and he too loved the idea. He even brought back trees to incorporate from their vacation home in Vermont. After researching many different chuppah structures my dad, brother, and soon-to-be father in-law all built the “home” that we stood under and declared our vows and commitment to one another.
Our music choice
As stated in my previous post, Colin and I have attended our fair share of weddings, so we knew the elements of the first dance that we liked and didn’t like. We liked the idea of a fun song rather than a slow romantic song. We also liked the idea of spontaneously dancing as opposed to a choreographed dance; however, when it comes to dancing we both have zero rhythm and two left feet.
To ease our nerves we decided to take a dance lesson at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio. We told our instructor from the beginning that we were terrible dancers but didn’t want to look robotic counting every step. Our instructor completely understood our vision and provided us with just the right amount of guidance.
Throughout the entire wedding process I only had a few nerves about the wedding day, one of which was our first dance. Yet our first dance ended up being a true highlight of the wedding for me. My worries of being the center of attention melted away, and it felt like it was only Colin and I on the dance floor. I couldn’t help but think back to the countless times we had practiced dancing in our kitchen and ended up in a fit of laughter. The song we had chosen was, ‘You Are the Best Thing’ by Ray LaMontagne. It’s upbeat pace and simple sweet message was the perfect combination to represent our relationship. After 11 years together we’ve never had “a song”, and now we have one that will remind us of our favorite day!
Photographer
When deciding on a photographer I knew I wanted someone who uses natural light to capture a bright and airy feel. Our friend Anne Lee, of Anne Lee Photography, instantly came to mind.
However, as a close friend we wanted her to attend our wedding as a guest, so I decided to look through her Instagram to see if she followed anyone with a similar aesthetic. I stumbled upon Taylor Dunn, of Taylor Dunn Photography, and after scrolling through only a handful of her pictures knew I needed to book her.
On our wedding day, Taylor and her husband Chris were nothing short of miracle workers. They managed to wrangle up and direct our entire immediate family and bridal party for pictures before the ceremony while staying on schedule. Of course this type A kindergarten teacher always appreciates promptness.
Yet it was truly their kind nature that impressed me most. They were able to give orders and demand poses while remaining the sweetest people ever. Their easy-going demeanor kept everyone calm and relaxed at all points of the day. We absolutely loved how Taylor and Chris were able to capture the pure joy of our special day! They provided us with the most beautiful memories that we will be able to cherish forever!
Honeymoon in Italy and Greece
Over the course of our 12-year relationship it’s hard to believe Colin and I had never traveled out of the country together, so when deciding on our honeymoon location we wanted to begin our adventure as Mr. and Mrs. traveling to a new place together. We had narrowed down our destination list to two desired locations: the Amalfi Coast and the Greek Islands.
We liked the idea of a honeymoon that incorporated both relaxing beach time as well as sight seeing. It took us a while to decide between the two locations but we ultimately picked Greece. If we had traveled all the way to the Amalifi Coast we both would have wanted to experience all of Italy, which would made for a very tiring honeymoon with little down time. Although this wasn’t our first time leaving the country, it was as a couple, so we decided to use a travel agent for guidance. She had suggested that a cruise or a tour group might relieve some of apprehension.
We decided against a cruise so that we could experience various hotels and restaurants instead of relying on a ship. However, when it came to a tour group, we had varying opinions. I had felt as though a tour group may be beneficial when traveling to the islands or even simply getting around the cities. Colin had felt as though a tour group may become a burden and he didn’t want to feel obligated to spend time with strangers. After a little research on our own, Colin had found the perfect solution, the Trafalgar Cost Saver tour. The cost saver tour different from a regular Trafalgar tour included an extensive amount of alone time. The Greek Island tour traveled to Mykonos and Santorini together, but once there, had free time alone.
Ironically, we both thoroughly enjoyed the people on our tour and ended up spending a lot of time together! The tour had offered a few excursions that made for such a memorable trip including a tour of the Acropolis, a wine tour in Santorini, hiking a volcano, and a sunset cruise. Our honeymoon was truly one of the greatest times of our lives and we can’t wait to travel more as a married couple!
Alyssa & Colin’s little white book
Photography — Taylor Dunn
Ketubah – Ink With Intent {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue — Latitude 41
Stationery – My Wed Ink
Hair – Beautifully Unafraid
DJ – Spin Enterprise
Flowers – Ladybug Designs
Honeymoon – with Trafalgar
