{logo design above} betsywhite {photography} michael riddell {reception site} hildene

GENEVA, NEW YORK{logo design above} betsywhite.com {photography} Glow Weddings by EIEIO {reception site} Belhurst Castle

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It was Boston’s first snowfall of the year when Brian asked Katharine to join him at a caroling party at the Crane Estate, a gorgeous historic mansion overlooking Ipswich Bay. Before the party began, the couple took a stroll around the property and found themselves at the edge of a cliff overlooking the water. Brian knew it was the perfect time. Getting to one knee, he asked Katharine to be his wife. Katharine, who had always assumed she would burst into tears at a proposal, was surprised that, instead of weeping, she let out a squeal of delight before responding, “Absolutely, yes!” As the snow continued softly falling, the couple left the party and instead dropped by their alma mater, Gordon College, on Boston’s North Shore, and rang the engagement bell — a school tradition. Returning home, they spent the evening in front of a glowing Christmas tree, eagerly calling family and friends to share the news.

Ringing the school bell was an appropriate way to announce the next step in a relationship that had begun at Gordon College. Katharine and Brian first met when they both volunteered to work the booths at freshmen orientation week in the summer of 2006. “We began hanging out with the same friends, and that turned into going on walks and grabbing coffee together,” says Katharine. Their first official date came in October, and they decided to spend the afternoon at Ocean’s Lawn, a huge nature reserve on the cliffs of Magnolia. Together, they climbed onto a flat rock jutting out into the water and talked for hours. After that day, they both knew they had found something great. “We spent the next several years together, graduating from school and starting our careers, all while having a blast and falling in love,” says Katharine.

Katharine, a graphic designer, embraced a DIY philosophy for the wedding. She wanted to create celebratory, cheerful décor based on yellow, her favorite color, so she mixed and matched paint swatches, ultimately choosing baby blue, navy blue, and white to complement her main color. “The result was a summery, nautical theme combining both modern and vintage elements,” says Brian. In the months before the wedding, Katharine personally made all the invitations, programs, menus, place cards, a series of small flags reading “hooray,” tags for mini-bags of kettle corn, pinwheels for the ceremony, and mustaches for the photo booth. “I wanted our day to be filled with our personalities and quirks,” says Katharine, who also made letters to lay across the cake table and tiny flags for the cake. The décor suited Katharine and Brian’s easygoing, happy personalities,

Katharine, a graphic designer, embraced a diY philosophY for the wedding to create celebratorY, cheerful décor.

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which also came forward on the dance floor. When the couple were first getting to know each other, they had often gone swing and salsa dancing. So for their first dance, they opted to skip traditional music and instead boogied to Michael Bublé’s version of “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”

Katharine’s grandmother, a lifelong kindergarten teacher, was unable to attend the wedding, but Katharine honored her presence by ringing her school bell after she and Brian exchanged vows. “It was a personal way of connecting with her during a moment I wish we could have shared together,” she says. Both Katharine and Brian’s grandfathers had also played a big role in their lives, and each spoke at the ceremony. “Between the two sets of grandparents is 125 years of marriage! We couldn’t have had better role models during our ceremony,” says Katharine.

Aside from a quick cake-cutting ceremony and the first dance, Katharine and Brian decided to forego other wedding traditions to leave more time for dancing. “We just didn’t want to stop dancing! The floor was full all night, and we had a blast!” says Katharine. As they spun around the dance floor, the couple knew they would never stop enjoying that crazy little thing called love.

wedding professionalsfeatured

katherine &

brian’s Advice

plan to stop planning ! we made

sure that our plans were done by

the week of the wedding. it was

relaxing & fun & exactly how it

should be. 1No.

be in the moment. who cares if they

play the wrong song ? dance with

your family , laugh with your

friends & kiss your husband.

that ’s what it ’s all about.2No.

Cake: Upper crUst cakeryUppercrUstcakes.com

entertainment: laser soUnd, Bernard HeveronlasersoUnddj.com

event rentals: vital plannervitalplanner.com

Floral Design: tHe Flower BarnpenFieldFlowerBarn.com

Hair: deja vU salon

PHotograPHy: Glow weddinGs By eieioGlowweddinGs.Us

reCePtion site: BelHUrst castleBelHUrst.com

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