Andrea and John celebrated their union with an English Garden style wedding at the historic MOUNT LENOX. This country estate was the home of writer Edith Wharton, and the couple incorporated the historic nature of the space perfectly into their wedding design. Captured by Boston wedding photographer CATHERINE BAND, they held an intimate ceremony in the lush Italian gardens. Florist DAISY STONE STUDIO designed a floral installation that integrated perfectly into the overgrown greenery walls of the garden. Read on to learn more about their day.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS LOCATION? We wanted our wedding to be intimate and knew the small garden at The Mount would accommodate our guests and feel private. The Mount was also close to both families; only 25 minutes from where Andi grew up and about 1.5 hours from John’s family.
HOW DID YOU MEET? We met while working at Wayfair the spring of 2017. Andi was a lead designer on the marketing team and John was a performance Engineer on the homepage team. Our worlds collided when we were both assigned lead roles on a company initiative that required a lot of collaboration and negotiation on both parts. Needless to say we accomplished our goal… and then some.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR PROPOSAL: We went on a hike alone together to the top of Beebe Hill State Forest. At the top of the mountain is a local fire tower, overlooking Andi’s hometown of Austerlitz, New York. John got down on one knee when we reached the top and proposed. She said yes!
TELL US ABOUT FINDING YOUR WEDDING DRESS/ATTIRE: Andi always preferred classic satin A-line dresses that could stand the test of time. After searching for the perfect dress, she came across the Jenny Yoo Spencer dress. It fit like a glove and needed very minimal alterations, so she knew it was the perfect one.
DID YOU HAVE ANY DIY ELEMENTS? Andi designed all her stationery including the formal invitations, ceremony pamphlets, place cards, escort board and hand lettered the welcome sign.
DESCRIBE YOUR WEDDING FLOWERS: Andi’s favourite flowers are peonies, so we incorporated a variety of pale pink and white peonies. Design Direction: A springtime wedding with a lush, garden feel. Colours of whites and blush. Flowers include varieties of peonies, garden roses, ranunculus, hydrangeas, hellebore, spray roses, scabiosa, jasmine vine, ferns and seasonal greenery.
FAVOURITE DETAIL OF THE DAY: It’s so hard to choose just one! I loved a lot of the little details and seeing it all come together. Things like the flowers in my hair to the blue chinoiserie plates at the dinner table. Everything felt so ‘us.’
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE OUT TO A COUPLE PLANNING THEIR WEDDING? My wedding taught me so many things!
Trust: I selected vendors that I loved and admired and at the end of the day, the bride can not plan for everything. I put my trust in my team and let the experts do what they do best – and they outdid themselves. On the trust note as well, my photographer suggested we do a first look because it would allow us to enjoy cocktail hour with our guest. I was on the fence as I really wanted that iconic, special moment when the bride walks down the aisle. But in the end, that moment was incredible, even though we had already seen each other about an hour before the ceremony. We also really enjoyed the time spent with all our guests during cocktail hour!
Patience: I also learned a lot about patience especially during these Covid times when vendors were busier than ever. It was important to empathise with vendors and understand the stress everyone was under.
MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT? The euphoric feeling immediately following the ceremony. The stress of the ceremony was behind us and the overwhelming feeling of gratitude and love knowing I had just married my best friend.
WHAT ASPECT OF THE WEDDING WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU BOTH? It was really important to us that it felt intimate. The size of the wedding was small with 65 people and it made the whole day feel really special.
ANY OTHER DETAILS THAT HELP TELL THE STORY OF YOUR DAY? Something notable that is hard to tell in the photos is how cold it was. It was the coldest it had been for May 29 in over 100 years. The temperature was in the 30’s. As we said our vows we could see our breath. Our guests came prepared and dressed for winter, wearing hats, gloves and scarves. After the ceremony John's Great Aunt even gave Andi hand warmers to keep in her pocket (yes – my dress had pockets!) I went back and forth on the bridesmaid dress colour and ended up choosing the icy blue, which ended up being a very appropriate colour for the day.
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR HONEYMOON: John and I decided to go National Park hopping out west. With COVID, traveling outside the country was not an option, so we decided to witness the beauty our own country had to offer. We flew to Jackson Hole Wyoming and saw the Grand Teton mountain range, then we drove to Yellowstone and stayed in a glorified tent. After Yellowstone we drove down to Moab, Utah to see Canylonland and Arches National Park. From there we flew to northern California to the Redwood National Forest and proceeded to drive down Route 1 in a convertible, stopping at gorgeous pull-offs like Big Sur along the way.
Thank you so much to Boston wedding photographer CATHERINE BAND for sharing this beautiful wedding with us. Catherine uses film photography as much as possible during wedding days when she has natural light available. "I love how my film photographs look like paintings. Wedding photography can be an art, and film forces me to slow down and be artistic." If you're looking for a Boston wedding photographer you can see more of Catherine's work in our VENDOR GUIDE and also in this Late Summer wedding at Belle Mer in Newport, Rhode Island.
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