Our Kent Island Wedding

This was somewhat difficult for me to write. I’m not good with PDIA (public displays of internet affection). But, three years ago today, I married my best friend my soul mate my husband (those first two things are true, but don’t you cringe a little when you read stuff like that?) and I can’t help but try.
It was a gorgeous, unseasonably cool August day and the absolute most romantic and beautiful day of my life. I had actually struggled with the idea of having a big, proper wedding because I don’t really enjoy being the center of attention or planning big parties, but I wouldn’t trade the memories for anything.

Our Kent Island Wedding – The Details

We had nearly a year-long engagement, which gave us plenty of time to work out the details. I admit I’ve blocked a lot of the planning process out because ouch, but everything came together beautifully in the end. When I talk to brides now, I get all sage with wisdom and preach about how it will all work out in the end and not to sweat the small stuff. But when it’s two o’clock in the morning and you’ve eaten 4,317 jelly beans that are supposed to go into your wedding favors, it can be difficult to keep perspective. Here’s what I do recall.

The Venue

I’ve always wanted to get married by the water. I didn’t care where, as long as it wasn’t an inflatable pool in the backyard (although, actually, that doesn’t sound so bad now). We got engaged in September of 2012 and had a weekend trip to the Eastern Shore of Maryland planned for the following weekend, completely unrelated.
It turned out to be the perfect location for our dream wedding. We scouted a few places in the area, and quickly fell in love with Kent Manor Inn. From the gorgeous setting to the staff to the fact that they took care of most of the details, it was the perfect location.
Besides the waterfront location, the only thing that really mattered to me was that the event be casual, but still elegant, and a ton of fun. If you’re going to go through all that trouble to throw a party, it had better be a damned good one.
To make that happen, I needed an army of amazing people on my side. It was so fun to have (almost) all of my most beloved people together in one place. That’s one of the best things about a wedding, if you ask me.


Even now, when I look at these pictures I see past the beautiful outfits and scenery and think about karaoke with my cousins the first night we were all on Kent Island together. I remember the dance party at the Jetty after our rehearsal dinner, which was just a warm up for the wicked dance moves that were displayed at the reception (stay tuned for that below).
Kent Manor took care of the little things so that I was able to make those memories instead of going crazy about the to-do list.

The Flowers

The flowers may have been my favorite visual aspect of the wedding. For our wedding colors, I chose black and white as the backdrop against a plethora of neon colored daisies.
We used My Flower Box out of Baltimore, and they were rockstars. Each bridesmade had a unique bouquet and each arrangement was stunning. I still buy myself neon daisies on occasion to relive the happiness of that day. I also had my bridesmaids pick our their own little black dresses to wear to ensure they’d be able to wear them again, although looking back black wasn’t exactly the most summery of shades.

The Cake

I’ve written about the bakery we chose before, back in my early days of blogging. Sadly, Baltimore Cakery is closing this year. I wish them all the luck in their ventures going forward, and will never forget the happy day of cake tasting we had once upon a time.

The Photography

All of these gorgeous photos were taken by Shore Impressions Photography. I cherish these images. I will admit, it took a long while (nearly a year) to get them and googling their information to share on this post revealed that I may not have been alone in that frustration. But, you can’t deny that we got lucky with awesome photos. I hold no grudges and if you’re a patient person living in the DC/Baltimore area who needs a photographer, I’d definitely recommend.

The Main Event

Alright, now that we’ve got the details out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff. As I said, we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to get married. The preparation is mostly a blur, looking back.
I spent the majority of the day with my amazing bridesmaids beautifying at Swan Cove Spa and then hanging out in our suite at Kent Manor. Tom has yet to divulge all the activities that took place in his day, but from what I understand it was less of a process.
Put on suit, tie the tie, pop a mint and a guy’s good to go. (But didn’t he look handsome? Swoon.)
Back in the girls’ room things were a tad more hectic. I was sick with nerves all day. Not about the getting married, but about somehow making a fool out of myself in front of all one hundred of my closest friends. My girls had it under control though and kept me from focusing only on the jitters.
When it came time to put on the dress I burst into tears, which is really unlike me. I’m not usually a happy crier, but at that moment I realized how happy I was to be marrying such an amazing person. (I could keep going, but I feel uncomfortable gushing.) So we fixed my makeup, and started that magical moment of slipping into the wedding dress.
Or, not so much. I’d had major alterations done on the dress and while the tailor did an outstanding job they accidentally sewed the hook and eye on backwards at the top of the zipper. It took about a half hour and buckets of sweat (so much tulle), but we finally got it done. And then we fixed my makeup again. And my hair was a little flat so we touched that up a bit. (Meanwhile, the guys were having beers on the lawn. Let me just say, I’ll be happy to never need to be that pretty ever again.)
Finally, it was time to get started. While I don’t remember the planning and getting ready process that well, I don’t think I’ll ever forget the ceremony. I was an emotional mess walking down the aisle with my Dad, which again took me by surprise. It was just all so perfect, and I couldn’t believe it was actually happening.

Then I saw Tom and started an ugly cry that unfortunately continued for the rest of the ceremony. Our photographer, Chris, did an excellent job of catching me in between sobs to where I actually looked normal. Bless him.
The ceremony was short and sweet. The highlight, for me, was sharing our personal vows even though I was shaking so hard I could barely read what I had written.
It was like a dream to be up there with my person next to the water, declaring our love for each other.
And then, we were married!

Aside from my slight misgivings over the black dresses and suits, my only other regret from the day is that we didn’t do a first look before the ceremony. I think it would have alleviated some of my nerves seeing Tom before we said “I do” and taking the pictures beforehand would have given us more time to party at the reception. But after a long, sweaty photo session and only one terrifying spider-in-the-dress incident, we moved into the garden room for a beautiful rest of the evening filled with toasts, good food and so much dancing.

It was so hard to choose between these action shots. Let us just say a good time was had by all!

It turns out, both of our dads have killer moves on the dance floor. Here is Tom’s dad dropping it low.


I won’t say it was a perfect wedding. As is to be expected, there were a few hiccups. But when I think back on that day, those things barely register. Instead, I think of the cool breeze coming off the water, the overwhelming feeling of love radiating from everyone in the room, and the excitement of knowing that this was just the beginning of a beautiful life together.
It’s only been three years of marriage, but I honestly feel that each one has been better than the last, and it all started with that beautiful day. I’ll never take for granted this adventure-filled life we’ve built with love, and I can’t wait to see what’s to come.