Kathleen and Richard at The Little Egg Harbor Yacht Club

How did you meet? We met on Match.com and quickly realized our mutual love for Long Beach Island, our Irish roots, lighthouses, and our mutual obsession with craft beer. How did he ask? We got engaged after Richard took me on a scavenger hunt which ended with a proposal. The hunt took us to all our favorite LBI spots and ended on D-Dock at the Little Egg Harbor Yacht Club, the same spot where we would leave a year later to set sail on the boat that would take us to our wedding reception. Details of your day— We chose a classic nautical theme full of navy, white, with pops of lime green. We chose to use classic hydrangea bouquets and centerpieces. But we placed them in Richard’s family’s sailing trophies. Richard is a bit of DIY’er and took on tons of fun projects that we used for our day. Our invitations set the stage for the day with a simple nautical design and a beautiful watercolor map painted by Richard. Our traditional Catholic ceremony was followed by a bike ride on a bicycle built for two, and then a short cruise on board a friend’s sailboat that took us to our reception. As guests arrived they were greeted by hand-folded origami boats used as escort cards, a DIY card box, and the ultimate sailor’s guest book, a sailboat model built by Richard, with sails for our guests to sign. Why did you choose your venue? We never had any doubt that we would get married at the Yacht Club. Richard’s family has been members for generations. And it’s where we spent summers falling in love. What was on your menu? What was your wedding cake like? Filet with crab cake; chicken; veggies, all served with garlic mashed potatoes (my favorite!) from Beach Haven Catering. Cake was vanilla pound with vanilla buttercream from Clay’s Bakery. Our top tier was vanilla pound with raspberry preserves. I completely forgot we made the top tier different and was wonderfully surprised on our first anniversary when we cut into it! All about your dress! Why was it “the one”? Sleeveless v-neck a-line from J.Crew. Ivory colored with a crystal-embossed sash I had my seamstress sew onto the dress. Very minor train. I knew I wanted a sleeveless dress, and a-lines are my favorite types of dresses. The dress was simple and comfortable, and not super heavy, so I knew I’d be able to dance in it. I was really looking for the simplest dress I could find, and mine was just easy to wear and comfortable while still looking classic and put-together. I actually have plans to remove most of the bottom to turn it into a classic party dress to wear in the future. What was your favorite moment? Passing by our reception venue with our wedding party on our friends’ boat. The whole panorama of the yacht club and our guests gave us a true sense of how loved we were and are. It was also the moment when Richard and I truly saw our vision for the wedding come to life. One detail you couldn’t live without? Our guest book. Richard hand-built a model sailboat to match our wedding colors and named it “Sand Dollar” to match our theme. We made the sails the “book” where people could sign. The sailboat is in our sunroom and I get to look at it every day and re-live our wedding. Did anything go wrong? My bustle fell out so the ever-ready Jeanne, from Bogath Weddings and Events, spent the mother-son dance behind my back sewing me a new one! I also accidentally shot my brand new husband in the eye with a champagne cork (still the greatest story from our wedding) First dance song? Sea of Love by Phil Phillips & The Twilights Advice for other brides? Don’t let other people’s opinions get in the way of your vision for your wedding. My husband and I took advice from others, but really held strong with our plans, our designs, our vision, and everyone said they’re glad we didn’t listen to all of the outside advice since our wedding truly came together and was beautiful the way we had envisioned. Where did you go on your honeymoon? Maine!! We flew into Portland and visited a bunch of breweries and lighthouses as we made our way to Tenants Harbor where we stayed for a couple days. It was perfect.