Classically Charming Yacht Club Wedding on Nantucket

You all know I go weak in the knees for a beautiful New England wedding and Jessica and Steven's classic Nantucket wedding at the Great Harbor Yacht Club has my heart fluttering. I'm dying over the charming First Congregational Church, the fantastic vintage car, the sparkly sequined linens at the reception and, duh, Nantucket. Enjoy! / Photos by Brea McDonald Photography.

Says Jessica, "I have been going to Nantucket with my family since I was 8 years old and we have a home there, so when Steven & I began dating, I naturally wanted to share my favorite place with him – he loved it as much as I do. We toyed with the idea of an NYC wedding and even searched for venues for a little while but nothing seemed as great as getting married on Nantucket and having all of our friends & family travel there for a weekend of festivities.

We were really happy that so many of our guests took a long weekend and took advantage of being on Nantucket – renting bikes, mopeds – going to different beaches & restaurants. My sister made up a guide of things to do/places to eat/shop that we welcomed guests with (& a bag of chocolate covered cranberries!) so they had an idea of how to get started exploring. We had a Thursday night get-together at Cisco Brewery, then a welcome cocktail party at the Boarding House on Friday night so by the time the wedding came around the guests knew each other and we had a lot of time to visit with everyone who made the trip for us.

The dress – I had spent 2 weekends searching for a dress with my mom & sisters – swearing up and down that I wanted a lace dress, but I wasn’t in love with anything I was seeing – something about the Vera Wang bridal shop really pulled me in & I ended up going back to it for a second time. That same day they had just received 2013 gowns and this one dress had just been pulled out of the box – not lace, my mom begged me to just try it – I did and I was in love. The fact my mom & sister cried when I came out sealed the deal! I couldn’t stop looking at photos of it from then until the wedding day.

I wore my Yiayia’s (grandmother) diamond necklace & earrings, which were very special to me since she & all of our grandparents couldn’t be at our wedding.

We had a pretty big wedding party – 7 friends for me & 8 for Steven. I have 2 sisters, both were my Maids of Honor & Steven had his brother for his Best Man. Then we really chose our closest friends from all different walks of life. I had childhood best friends, college best friends and NYC best friends, as did Steven plus my brother. Steven really wanted his groomsmen to wear tuxes so that was pretty easy and we had them all get their own black tuxes, so they could wear one they had if need be. For the bridesmaids, I wanted them to have something simple but classic, and if possible, something they wouldn’t hate me for – so I found TwoBirds bridesmaids, which was very easy – one size fits all and they wrap a bunch of different ways so it was nice to see a little difference between each girl.

Jessica + Steven's Love Story

Steven and I met out at a bar in NYC with mutual friends & they introduced us mainly because they figured out we used to live in the same building in the city but had never met! We hit it off right away & talked the whole time. I was surprised at the end of the night when he didn’t get my number but then he later asked one of our friends for it and we have been together since!

My favorite memory of the day & part we had been looking forward to the most was our first kiss as husband & wife. Also seeing Steven tearing up as I came down the aisle was a very close second favorite. I truly loved everything about our day & how much everyone that was there made us feel so special and loved.

We chose Great Harbor Yacht Club for its beautiful venue and scenery – so exciting to have cocktail hour on the lawn outside and we had a beautiful day for it. 

Shortly after getting engaged, Steven & I took a trip to Paris and stayed at the George V – I was in love with all of the flower arrangements there & worked closely with Dawn to mimic them.

One of my favorite touches at our wedding was the escort table, which we had mirrors for and my sister hand-wrote all of the names/tables on the mirror (tricky! But she’s that good!) and then had beautiful pink/white flowers surrounding the mirrors, perched on a table at the club. So many of our guests commented how much they loved the display. I also was in love with our flowers, when I saw the room that day I couldn’t believe how amazing it came together. 

Even though our wedding was on Nantucket (and at a yacht club) we wanted it to be more of a crisp, clean, energetic vibe than preppy or nautical.

That day and the whole weekend was truly the best of our lives!"
Thanks so much to Jessica and Steven for sharing their incredibly beautiful day with us and to Brea McDonald Photography for sharing such gorgeous photos with us. xx.
Jessica leaves us with some parting advice, "One piece of advice that I heard a lot as a bride-to-be was to step back & soak in the moments & just take the time to look around at the wedding, the guests, the décor to really remember it. I really tried to do that & I think that helped my memories of the day be so clear – so I would pass that advice along."

Jessica and Steven headed to Bora Bora for their honeymoon for 10 days of beach, sun & relaxation! :)

Credits: Church: First Congregational Church / Reception: Great Harbor Yacht Club / Floral Design: Soirée Floral / Event Design: Dawn Kelly Designs / Photography: Brea McDonald Photography / Paper Products (3 companies): Parchment, Village Invites, Dauphine Press / Day of Coordination: Jimmy Jaksic / Gown: Vera Wang / Shoes: Valentino / Groom's Attire: Lord Willy's NYC / Bridesmaids: Two Birds

Tags : MASSACHUSETTS , NANTUCKET , NEW ENGLAND , PREPPY , real wedding , SEASIDE

Subscribe by Email

Follow Updates Articles from This Blog via Email