A Boston Tea Party

The invites for our Boston Shower were just sent out! Technically they were supposed to be a surprise, but while house sitting for Sister and BIL Newport awhile back I came across them and fell in love. I was going to pretend to be surprised, but I'm not a good liar..... so I blurted it out that I stumbled across them. Then I proceeeded to ask her to have mine addressed with the Weddingbee moniker.
How cute are they? They even embossed elements, which I love!And it is going to be a bridal tea! :) We are also having a bridal shower in New Jersey thrown by FMIL Newport, but that one will be a complete surprise, other than the date and location. The showers are two weekends back to back...I'm really looking forward to June!

Was your bridal shower a surprise?

Disappointments & Silver Linings

The biggest disappointment during our wedding planning is something I'm still trying to get over. If you've been following along, you may remember Mr. Newport and I met in college. I knew early on he was the one and envisioned getting married at our school's chapel, Ochre Court. Ochre Court is the most significant mansion on the school's campus and hosts not only the chapel, but also many of the school's events. It's where Mr. Newport and I had our first dance and many other amazing memories during our four years of school. I knew it would be the place I said I do. At least I thought I did.

Prior to proposing, Mr. Newport looked into the requirements of getting married at the chapel. On top of being too pricey for us, they also maxed out at 150 guests. At that time we assumed our wedding would be 300-we've now gotten it down to a little under 200. But we knew it was not do-able. We tried to come up with different options, like having a smaller ceremony, but we didn't like excluding anyone. I was really disappointed and I'm still not over it. I keep wishing some way we could get everyone to fit, but even if we could they only have ceremonies when school is not in session, so that limits it to pretty much summer and winter break and smaller breaks inbetween. So at this point everything is booked and on a date that is during the school session, so it's a definite no.

Since we can't get married there, we decided to do our formal photos on campus. I was hoping to do them on the lawn behind Ochre Court. Then I saw a wedding with a photo session at Ochre Court on the Faith Dugan Photography blog. I knew we could take photos on the lawn, but I didn't know it was an option to take photos inside Ochre, as well.

I was so excited to see Faith's post. I've been so disappointed about not having our wedding there, but now I know we can at least take our photos on campus. It isn't quite the same, but when I thought about it, this may actually be better. If we had the ceremony there it would be a bit more awkward to have our photos taken there after the ceremony, since all of our guests would be around. I'm a bit camera shy and having a huge audience would not help. Now we can leave the church and head over and get amazing shots like this couple.

Here are photos of the couple inside Ochre Court. I think they are absolutely stunning!
This is where our college hosts the "snoball" semi-formal dance, which is where Mr. Newport and I had our first dance. The stairs actually lead to the admissions and alumni offices.
We also went to the Halloween dance and senior cocktail here. So many great memories within these walls.
Then outside of Ochre Court is a gorgeous lawn right on the Cliffwalk overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. I love the amazing photos Faith captures of this couple. I can't wait to see what our photographer will do!I'm in love with the wedding party shots, it's such a great location for both shots of us as a couple and larger group shots. These photos make me so happy, when I'm feeling down about not getting married at Ochre, I know I can turn to these photos to cheer me up.

Did you have any major disappoitnments during planning? Did you find a silver lining?

Thanking the Girls

I LOVE tea. My friends and I have gone out to tea many times, just for fun. It would seem the obvious choice, to bring my bridesmaids out for a bridesmaid tea. Easy enough choice, I always knew this would be the case.

But then I started thinking things through, due to my love of tea, my Massachusetts shower will be a tea party. I didn't really put two and two together, but since we're already doing a tea, it seems repetitive to do two teas during the bridal events. Not that I wouldn't enjoy it, but I also started considering timing. One of my bridesmaids lives in New York, she was also a bridesmaid for Sister Newport and couldn't make it for her bridesmaid tea. I want her to be included, but understand she can't come home for every event. So I decided to make the bridesmaid event during the wedding weekend, so everyone can attend. The only day I'll have all my bridesmaids there is the day before the wedding. We have the rehearsal that night, so an afternoon tea wouldn't make much sense anyways.

I decided to make the day before a true girls day. These girls are amazing. They've thrown us an amazing engagement party, they are all helping to host my MA shower, throwing a bachelorette party, and are all spending a good amount of money on the dress, shoes and accomodations. Plus they are all just awesome friends in general.

I want to do something to really thank them for everything they are doing for us. I looked around at different locations and decided to go with the Castle Hill Inn for the bridesmaid luncheon. It is a beautiful inn overlooking the Newport bridge and the Naragansett Bay. After lunch, we'll head to a salon in Newport to get our nails done. Then spend some time relaxing at the hotel together before the rehearsal. I'm excited that the day before the wedding will be a fun filled relaxing day with my girls. Mr. Newport hasn't planned anything yet, but I'm sure he and the guys will plan a fun day as well.

Are you doing anything special to thank your bridal party?

Incredible Edibles

The OOT Bags have been a big item on our to-do list that has been getting pushed off in the planning. I have big ideas for these little bags. After reading Mrs. Lemon's post, I knew I wanted to include lots of snacks for all of our oot guests. Every guest is from oot and many will be driving close to 5 hours or flying in to get to the wedding. I want to make sure they feel welcomed right from the moment they arrive at their hotel.

I've gone back and forth on what to include, I've debated on RI treats or NE treats or going with our navy and white color scheme, but then we kept finding fun nautical/shore treats and decided to go with a nautical theme. Now we just need to narrow down, exactly what will go into these bags. We know the basics, such as a welcome letter, wedding information, area information, water bottles, maybe postcards, but we've found an overflow of ideas on the snack front.

Source

An obvious choice for us is Starfish Cookies! Newport Mom has already offered to make them using her famous sugar cookie recipe. Dylan's Candy Bar has original Sweedish fish and mixed Sweedish fish, a classic and fun twist. I wonder if Costco's sells these? We know for sure we will be getting Goldfish, as they can be bought in bulk at large discount stores, such as Costco and I love the way Mrs. JellyBean packaged them for her guests.
I'm not really a fan of Salt Water Taffy, but I love these favors from The Original Fudge Kitchen via Martha Stewart. The Jersey Shore is Mr. N's home, where Salt Water Taffy is a staple, so these would be a fun nod to where he grew up.
And Lobsters are a well known favorite in Boston, so these lollipops from Ju-C Suckers via Martha Stewart, would be a fun nod to my hometown, while sticking to the nautical theme.
And from my Shuckie post, I think you can tell I love these cookies.
Newport Chocolates has amazing nautical chocolates in so many fun shapes that would be perfect. They are so adorable, but I've always wanted to try chocolate making, so I think this would be a fun DIY project!

Now we just need to narrow it down. Which treats would you enjoy most? Do you know of any other fun nautical themed treats?

The First Dance

When we first talked about our first dance song, we couldn't figure out what to pick. We never really had a song. With no official song, choosing our first dance song hasn't been easy.

I started looking up lists of wedding songs for everything from cocktail music to entrance options. While searching for father-daughter options, I came across the Beatles "In My Life". I had heard it many times before, but as I was reading the lyrics, it didn't remind me of my father, but it reminded me of Mr. Newport. It even ends with our favorite phrase "I love you more".


I loved it. I actually had a friend tell me the song reminded her of Me and Mr. Newport at another wedding. I'm not sure why, but it confirmed my thoughts of it as the perfect song for us. I told Mr. Newport about my new option and he really liked it, too. I thought we chose our song.

A few months later, we were driving somewhere and Mr. Newport put in his Phish CD. The song "Waste" came on and I told him it always reminds me of him because he used to leave lyrics from the song in his away messages in college. He used to put in the lyrics in reference to me. Mr. Newport asked what I thought of it for a first dance song.


I told Newport Mom about the possibility and she couldn't believe I would want song called "Waste" played at the wedding, let alone as our first dance. Then I had her listen to it, and she changed her mind and thought it was a great option.

So we have a decision to make. Go with a more traditional choice or a less traditional choice. It's hard because we really like both options. I think it will come down to the song we like dancing to better. We'll have to do a little trial.

Do you have an "official song"? Did you use it for your first dance, or go with something completely different?