Laid Back Boat Wedding In New Jersey

I described the theme of our wedding as industrial vintage. I was inspired by a vintage typewriter and used that font in all branding elements. Our invitations were very simple, black type letterpressed into a heavy white stock. The decor was a mixture of vintage elements with simple greens and delicate flowers sprinkled throughout. We spent months collecting glass bottles, candlesticks, old books, etc. My dad and I built our table stands, installing steel pipe pieces onto wood platforms to hang the table numbers and dinner menu. Our favors were custom matchboxes with our logo and the date. 

The ceremony took place in a neighbor's backyard on the bay. From there, Pat and I left by an antique wooden Chris Craft, followed by our bridal party in two additional boats. We had the guests walk 5 minutes north to the reception at LEHYC - but set up a cocktail pit stop halfway in front of my parent's house. Couldn't let our guests get thirsty!

Our menu was a family-style made up of a chopped kale salad, jumbo lump crab cakes, beef tenderloin, and a vegetable orzo dish. The cake was delicious - lemon with blueberry filling and buttercream frosting. We also had a tres leche sheet cake which was out of this world.

Pat and I agree that our favorite moment was our 1st look. It was so special to have the time together really take in the fact that this was actually happening. We were overcome with emotion and it made all the difference to experience that privately (besides our immediate family watching a few yards away hah!).

On the funnier side, after our 1st look, Pat and I went to the beach for a few photos before the ceremony. As we stood on a wooden jetty trying to take ourselves seriously, the wind kicked up and my veil flew off my head and into the ocean. While it was totally surreal, we burst out laughing and I convinced myself that I didn’t need a veil to walk down the aisle. A few minutes later a surfer pulled it out of the water and a patron ran it back to us as we were leaving to head to the ceremony. UNBELIEVABLE!! We were picking out the seaweed and shaking it dry up until the moment my dad walked me down the aisle. It was hysterical.

Our first dance song was Frankie Valli "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" - the 1st broadway show we saw together and our favorite soundtrack while cooking dinner.

The best advice Pat and I got was to make sure and take a moment for yourselves on your big day. In general, it's such a whirlwind and so easy to get caught up in everything going on. Halfway through the reception, Pat pulled me aside and we sat on the edge of the dock just taking it all in. That quiet minute alone with each other is something we think back on all the time.