Erin and Matt live along the shoreline in Connecticut and love being on the water but knew they wanted something a little different than the familiar locations near them for their wedding. When they came across Regatta Place in Newport, Rhode Island, they knew it was meant for them – a casual feel on the water with views of the harbor mixed with the elegance of a tent wedding that Erin had always dreamed about. / Images by Erin McGinn Photography.
Says Erin, “Choosing a venue and location was something that we really took our time with. Living on the shoreline in Connecticut and loving the water and marina-life, we knew we wanted that kind of a feel. Matt went to college in Newport and it quickly became one of our favorite weekend getaways while dating. When none of the Connecticut venues seemed to fit our taste, we took to Newport to create an unforgettable weekend experience for our guests. Regatta Place captured the essence of what we were looking for: a classy, marina wedding with the most beautiful backdrop of Newport. We both love being on the water and knew we wanted somewhat of a nautical theme, without going ‘overboard’ – no pun intended.
Trying on dresses was one of the most highly anticipated tasks on my wedding planning to-do list; I had looked forward to this for what feels like forever! I went to several different types of dress shops and tried on pretty much every style gown you could imagine to see how I liked them all. Ironically, the dress I ended up falling in love with was not one I tried on in one of those visits! I found pictures online while browsing Pinterest of the Kenneth Pool Estelle gown and knew I had to have it! I fortunately found a bride that was selling the gown in what seemed to be my size on Nearly Newlywed. The dress was perfect, save for the length! This bride was a few inches shorter than I am and the dress was not long enough! Thankfully, I had the most amazing former co-worker/seamstress to save the day and carefully craft the dress of my dreams into something that was thankfully long enough!
My favorite detail of the wedding was a photo of my grandmother on her wedding day that was pinned to my bouquet. She passed five years ago and I wanted to keep her close to me all day.
Erin + Matt’s Love Story
Matt and I met at a Citizen Cop concert at Toad’s Place in New Haven, Conn. We were each there with friends, watching a Yankee’s playoffs game in the bar, waiting for Citizen Cope to take the stage. The show started late and my friend and I watched Matt walk in and out a few times, initially noting that he was attractive and wondered if he was with the band. We struck up conversation while waiting for the show to start and exchanged casual bar chat. Once the show began, we went our separate ways but he wouldn’t leave without finding me again to ask for my number. We then made plans to meet up a few weeks later for drinks and continued to fall for each other.
Brides favorite memory: “Before we were going to be announced at the reception, we took 10 minutes to just be alone in our bridal suite and really soak in what was happening, together. We could look out the window at all of the guests, there just for us and experience those first few moments as newlyweds together.” In an effort to personalize our table numbers, we loved the idea of having photos of us at each age! It was initially a project I thought I could take on myself and quickly realized that beyond picking the photos and printing them, I needed some help bringing it all together. I went on Etsy and found a shop that made our table numbers on awesome tent cards that were flawlessly constructed. When going through the old photos of us, we found adorable pictures of each of us in the bathtub and got the idea to hang photos on the bathroom of each of us.”
Grooms favorite memory: “(This may be inappropriate, but it was his candid first response) The underwear I had on under my wedding gown. He also noted one of his favorite memories was when the band was gearing up to start the real dance party/music, after the parent dances and cake cutting were over, the two of us were the first ones on the dance floor and never left the floor for the rest of the night!”
Erin leaves us with some great wedding-planning advice: “Planning can be exciting, overwhelming, and consuming at times. Anytime it feels stressful or overwhelming, take some time away from it, spend time with your husband or wife-to-be and remember at the end of the day, this wedding is simply a celebration of the love you two share, and that some of those little details won’t matter in the end. Those feelings you two have and the memories created in those moments surrounded by all of those who love you will last a lifetime.
Also, consider a wedding planner/coordinator, at least for the weekend-of to be on site. While I thoroughly enjoyed the whole planning process, I was so grateful to have our amazing coordinator, Katie O, of Katie O’ Weddings and Events, take over that weekend. Our venue took great care of us and assured us we wouldn’t need a coordinator, however, being that our wedding was somewhat of a ‘destination wedding,’ Katie took care of all of the events surrounding the wedding – the rehearsal dinner, lunch for the bridal party the day of the wedding, and brunch the next day as well as the wedding itself. She seamlessly made sure that everything played out according to plan and took any stress and worry off our plates. It was invaluable to have a person appointed to take care of all the details and any minor glitches that may have come up during the weekend.
And one more, if I’m allowed – take a few minutes together, as husband and wife after your ceremony, at some point during the reception to truly take it all in together, somewhere alone. The day goes by in a flash, and it really helped to take a minute to step back and appreciate everyone who was there with us to celebrate and take in a few moments together to enjoy it all in between everyone vying for your attention. It is probably the only time all of these people will be there in one room all together to celebrate you two!”
Honeymoon | Erin and Matt honeymooned in the Bahamas at the Sandals Royal Bahamian.
Credits: Photography: Erin McGinn Photography/ Venue: Regatta Place / Event Planning: Katie O’ Weddings and Events / Floral Design: Toni Chandler/ Hair and Makeup: Bella Beauty Bridal/ Dress Designer: Kenneth Pool from Nearly Newlywed / Invitations: Two Ems/ Paper Details: Wedding Paper Divas and DIY/ Transportation: Newport Limousine/ {FUNFETTI!!!} Cake: Fatulli’s / rentals: Rentals Unlimited/Music: Boss Band / Ceremony Music: Bella Music / Videography: Phil Toran
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