From Teenagers In Love to a Very Special Happily Ever After!
This wedding is straight out of a romantic movie: boy meets girl at boarding school, they fall in love, he proposes and then when they make it official, they decide to do so in the same picturesque area where they first met, with an epically elegant farm fete. But this isn't Hollywood's latest release; it's the real life story of Henry and Charlotte, and Kelly Kollar captured it all for our viewing pleasure. S. Lewis & Son even got in on the live action with their film below! Sit back, relax and soak up this winner for the rest of the week!
From the Bride... My husband, Henry, and I met as teenagers at a boarding school (Hotchkiss) in Lakeville, Connecticut, a town that is still very much trapped in time. That part of the world is magical to us and it felt right to get married in the same place where we first fell in love. I grew up in New York City, so I had always envisioned a very classic and elegant city wedding. Once we decided to get married in Lakeville, however, I had to shift that vision to a farm. The word that I kept coming back to was romantic. We were getting married at a young age (25 and 26), so I wanted our wedding to reflect the beauty and innocence of that youth. Early on, I picked a color palate of soft pinks, greens and off-whites, which tied into the flowers, the invitation suite and the bridesmaids dresses. I was intent on having a crest to use on our “Save the Date” that could flow throughout the rest of our invitation. I came across Gina Langford on Instagram and fell in love with her work – the crest that she made for us helped set the tone and guide the rest of the decisions for the wedding. Choosing a dress was definitely the hardest part of the planning process. At the very first salon I went to, the consultant said “The happiest brides are the ones who try on the least number of dresses.” I unfortunately didn’t take her advice to heart, and tried on almost 100 dresses (I have pictures of myself in dresses that some of my friends have since chosen – the odds of me having tried it on at some point are pretty high!). I kept coming back to a blush Monique Lhuillier dress, which was the fourth dress I had tried on. It had really subtle detail in the tulle, but overall was very simple. I struggled with the decision because I could tell that my mother thought the dress was boring, and I myself worried that it was boring. On my tenth trip to a bridal salon, I took my dad with me. I tried on a bunch of dresses, all of which he was very supportive of, but in a very fatherly way. I put on the blush Monique dress at the end and his face lit up. I knew it was the one. I felt very much like myself in that dress – and that is exactly how I wanted to feel on my wedding day. My favorite moment of the day was the car ride in the convertible from the church to the reception. We drove past Hotchkiss on our way, and it felt surreal to be riding in the open air as an officially married couple past the place where we had our first kiss. I’ll try not to be cliché, but I have two pieces of advice for brides-to-be: 1) Take a moment to yourself on your wedding day. I woke up early on my wedding day and spontaneously went for a run. I had a chance to clear my head and really take in what was about to happen. You’re surrounded by people for the whole day, so for someone like me who is an introvert at heart, it was recharging to get some time on my own. 2) Write letters to each other and to your loved ones. Not only did I write a letter to Henry, but I wrote a letter to each of my parents, each of my siblings, my grandmother and Henry’s parents. It was a way for me to say thank you to the people I love most.
Photography: Kelly Kollar Photography | Videography: Steve Lewis | Floral Design: Felicity Bontecou | Wedding Dress: Monique Lhuillier | Invitations: Bella Figura | Ceremony Venue: St. Marya€™s Catholic Church | Reception Venue: Lion Rock Farm | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Jenny Yoo | Catering: Hathaway Young | Makeup: Melissa Caul | Hair: Andrea O'Connor