Romantic Connecticut Wedding

This is one of those weddings where we just hardly know where to begin. We could start with the bride’s jaw-dropping Casablanca gown, or the beyond-gorg flowers from Agnew Florist, or even the incredible moment-capturing images from Katie Slater Photography. Probably our favorite detail, however, is how the couple displayed the lyrics to Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” at their reception as they were lucky enough to marry on September 21st.

From the bride, Nicole: We got engaged on a random Monday night after work. Joe had planned on doing it sooner, but our beloved rescue dog Riley had decided to eat a tennis ball a week before and had to go into emergency surgery where they found another tennis ball and squeaky toy in her stomach! Joe kept calling me and asking when I was going to be home from work, and not quite understanding the urgency, I was home later than usual. From there I walked in the door, poured myself a glass of wine and sat down on the couch. Joe, who was in our bedroom asked me to call Riley (said dog who ate the tennis ball) and when I did, she came wobbling out of our bedroom with a box attached to her collar. Next thing I knew he was down on one knee asking me to marry him!

We decided that we wanted to take a long engagement, really enjoy that time with each other and our friends and family, and not get stressed out by all the hoopla that comes with wedding planning. So that’s what we did and enjoyed a two year engagement, almost to the day! My inspiration for the day wasn’t necessarily a color or a season but rather the people we’d be spending the day with. From the beginning it was so important to me to keep our wedding as intimate as possible and truly share the day with the people we are closest to and who know Joe and I both as individuals as well as a couple. This “inspiration” also translated in the venue that we chose. After looking around Boston (where Joe and I currently live), I had such a hard time envisioning our wedding in a space that neither Joe or I had any connection to. That being said, we decided to have it somewhere which housed so many memories for myself, my family and of course Joe and I as a couple and had it in the backyard of my parents house. The perfect place to throw a big party for our closest friends and family and to continue to build memories.

A couple DIY touches include the table numbers. I used an Italian Water Bottle and ordered some beautiful grey number decals off of Etsy and attached them to the water bottles. Joe, an artist, created the stickers that were on each of the favors (cookies) with a drawing of Riley’s face and a donation to Big Fluffy Dog Rescue, where we got Riley 4 years ago. I wrote the chalkboard that had the lyrics from Earth, Wind and Fire’s song, “September”, as we were lucky enough to get married on September 21st, the last day of summer. Other touches included the place cards, guest book of the Riley pictures (yes we love our dog) and the vision around the centerpieces. My florist provided all of the beautiful flowers, and I collected all of the candles and arranged them as they were seen on the tables with the water bottle table numbers.”