After knowing one another for 10 years, Mary and Nick knew exactly what they wanted for their Maryland wedding. They turned to a fresh, elegant color palette of navy and yellow to pair beautifully with a classic, simple style. Taking place at Rockland Estates, they incorporated a few rustic elements to tie in the surrounding outdoors, and it all turned out beautifully! Anna Grace Photography was there to capture the day, and Mary is here with today sharing tons of amazing insight about her wedding planning experience… we can’t wait for you to see (and read) it all!
What (or who) helped you most in your planning process and/or on your wedding day?
My mom definitely helped me the most during the wedding planning process. I had a day of wedding planner, so my mom became my wedding coordinator throughout the whole planning process. My mom has amazing taste – very classic and elegant, so she was a huge help in all of my decisions. Pinterest was also really helpful especially working with my florist and coming up with some unique touches we could incorporate into our wedding. My day of planner, Krista Strahan of Crafted Events, was amazing on the day of. I must have sent her 100 different emails of how I wanted the venue set up and it turned out perfect. It’s like she was in my head!
What was the most important thing to you when deciding who to work with for your wedding?
I feel like I really lucked out when picking vendors for my wedding. Before we even started planning I knew that it was important for the vendors to really understand our style, vision, and personality. I wanted my wedding to really reflect that and who we are as a couple. I also wanted to make sure that when I looked back on my wedding 20 years from now, I could still say that it really reflects who I am. My amazing photographer, Anna Grace, went to college with my sister (we actually went to the same summer camp growing up also!). My sister mentioned that she loved Anna Grace’s work so I went to her website, sent an inquiry, and found out she was available for our wedding date! My sister also went to college with our DJ and had wonderful things to say about him as well. My wedding planner was someone I had actually worked with at a previous job and my florist was a friend of a friend. Our delicious desserts were done by a friend my parents went to college with. To say we got to work with people that really knew us is an understatement! Being able to feel comfortable with the vendors made everything so much easier and allowed them to really understand what we wanted in our wedding.
What was your inspiration for your wedding details and/or design?
If I could pick two words to describe the “style” of the wedding I’d say classic and simple. I’ve always had a very classic and simple style and I didn’t want to stray too far away from that on my wedding day. We got married at a gorgeous estate with a big red barn, so I wanted to make sure we had elements of rustic and classic which I think we did really well. We didn’t really have a theme necessarily since we felt that having an outdoor wedding provided enough natural elements to the ceremony and the reception. Our colors were navy and variations of gold/yellow. I’ve always loved navy and yellow together, but since it was a fall wedding we toned down the bright yellow to allow more fall colors to be incorporated into the color palette and the flowers. My husband LOVES University of Michigan and their colors are blue and yellow so it was easy to convince him of the color choices :)
What was your favorite thing about your wedding?
I think my favorite thing (as cliche as this is) was seeing my husband for the first time during our first look. For some reason I was SO nervous. We didn’t have an audience…it was just use and the photographer (but I think a few people snuck a peak!) which made it SO special. I’d never seen Nick smile that big and I really felt like the most beautiful girl in the world. He looked SO handsome in his suit and I just couldn’t wait to get that ring on his finger!!
What is your best piece of advice for other couples?
I would say in terms of planning make sure to always go with your gut. It can get very overwhelming with so many options and sites like pinterest and etsy. Once we made a decision on something we stopped looking. If we didn’t do that I probably would have changed my mind 100 times. Some advice that I was given for the reception is to make sure to step away, just you and your spouse, for 10 or 15 minutes to sit together and remember this time. The day goes by so fast and it is important to step aside and just be together and soak it all in.
We absolutely agree with Mary’s advice, so definitely take it to heart! Thank you so much for sharing your wedding day and planning experience with us Mary and Nick!
Vendors who made it all happen…
Photographer: Anna Grace Photography // Caterer: Celebrations Catering // Event Planner: CRAFTED EVENTS // DJ: DJ TJ // Makeup Artist: Heather Rea Style Studio // Dress Store: Icon Bridal Boutique // Floral Designer: Kate And Lily Flowers // Bakery: Mary Lee’s Desserts // Invitation Designer: Minted // Event Venue: Rockland Estates
Lauren
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AHHH! Love this and love re living our wedding. Thank you so much for the feature!
Loving the varying bridesmaids dresses!