The Couple: Taylor and Jarrod
The Wedding: 9.15.12 – Rustic weddings – McIlvain Private Estate, Sandwich, New Hampshire
What were the top three priorities for you in planning your wedding?
– The Band (Our whole family loves to dance!)
– The Venue
– The Food and Catering
What wedding traditions or cultural traditions did you incorporated into your wedding and what did they mean to you? We did not so much include wedding traditions, but tried to incorporate our lifestyle and personality into the details of our big day:
Jarrod and I both grew up in the Lakes Region and originally met competing in our shared passion, skiing. Each of our table names and place cards were a local mountains we have spent time enjoying as a couple.
One of our other favorite pastimes is enjoying a good microbrew. For the wedding, Jarrod spent endless weekends building his own hand crafted bar for our rustic wedding. Each guest received a mason jar (with handle) as a wedding favor. The jars contained their place cards and were used for the self serve draft beer bar.
Were there any places where you broke the rules in your wedding planning? Why and how did you do that? Both of us come from a Catholic upbringing. Our decision to use an ordained minister (who happened to be a close friend of the family) was certainly viewed as a unique and out of the box decision. We love the outdoors and our family, it was important for us to have both on our big day. Including Uncle Bob in our ceremony at such a beautiful venue made the day both memorable and personal.
What was your biggest wedding planning success? Our biggest success was getting both the groom and groomsmen off the lake in time to make it to the ceremony. After losing track of time enjoying the last moments before the wedding out on the boat, the boys ended up getting dressed from the back of the rented suburban!
What was the most important thing that you learned through the wedding planning process and what would you tell other brides-to-be? Enjoy the process. I spent so much time counting down the days until our big day that I almost forgot to enjoy all of the little stuff. After our wedding day was finally said and done, it felt as though I had only blinked and it was all over. It was a more beautiful wedding than I ever could have imagined and an incredible start to a blessed life. But, if I could do it all over, I would sit back and enjoy all of the moments just a bit more.
The Wedding Team:
Photography: Emily Delamater Photography
Ceremony & Reception Venue: McIlvain Estate (private family home)
Officiant: Robert Rotchford, Ordained Minister
Invitation Designer: Minted.com
Catering: Marie’s Catering
Florist: Mountain Laurel
Cake: Megan Chesley, Curts Caterers
Wedding Dress: Priscilla of Boston
Bridesmaids Apparel & Accessories: J.Crew, Ralph Lauren
Groom & Groomsmen Apparel & Accessories: Ralph Lauren, Sperry
Hair & Make-up: Unique Ambiance, Meredith NH
Live Music: Manchuka
Transportation: First Student
Favors: Mason Jars
Rentals: Lakes Region Tent and Event
Rings: Dennis J. Dalton, LTD
Thank you. so much Taylor and Jarrod!
Readers, see more images from outdoor weddings in our wedding photo gallery!
What an incredible location! Love it.
Beautiful pictures! Barn weddings are certainly becoming popular, and I know the unBridaled Beauty team adores them! I think the casual and comfortable feel is refreshing :) I wanted to take a moment and comment on your lovely pictures to introduce us. We are unBridaled Beauty – an on-site (fabulously talented!) team of hair and makeup artists based in Orlando, FL. We are always looking for people to connect with in the Bridal business and love your site! We take an immense amount of pride in our work and are dedicated to making our brides a vision of bridal beauty on their big day! Check us out! We would love to mention you! :) http://www.unbridaledbeauty.com
Beautiful wedding with a lot of special touches.
All the details of the wedding are great. I love her gorgeous dress.
thank you so so much for the beautiful feature!! it looks lovely – such a gorgeous wedding and such a sweet couple!
Who did the design/decor set up for this event?
Hi! Beautiful photos. I have been trying to find contact information for this Estate! Would you happen to know how to find more information about this venue for a wedding?
Sweet couple and Stunning Photos !!! You have excellent skill in photography thanks for sharing.
Those lights really enveloped the entire space in a warm, inviting glow. And that hair accessory-CUTE!
Absolutely stunning photos, couple ad venue. Do you have contact information for the estate please?
Great post . Love your post guys . Really very amazing work .