Claire Marie and Ben’s wedding weekend began at Black Rock Farm, where they welcomed family and friends to Maine for an evening together before the wedding day. It was relaxed and colorful, with good food, drinks, and plenty of time to settle in and enjoy being together. For Claire Marie and Ben, who care so much about the people in their lives, having that extra evening with everyone was an important part of the weekend.

Saturday began with their Catholic ceremony at St. Brendan’s Chapel before everyone made their way to Wandby Landing for the reception. The two settings gave the day a natural shift from the tradition of their ceremony into the colorful, eclectic celebration we had created for the rest of the evening.

When I began designing Claire Marie and Ben’s wedding, I chose four words to guide the direction: organic, eclectic, connected, and fun. They gave us a clear point of view for the entire wedding, from how the tables looked to how dinner was served and how the evening unfolded. We wanted the design to feel at home in coastal Maine, but Claire Marie and Ben were never going to have a wedding filled only with quiet neutrals. This one needed color, and lots of it.

At Wandby Landing, we layered bright, vibrant florals with patterned vintage plates, natural textures, and woven pendant lights overhead. Mini pineapples found their way into the tablescape, which was exactly the kind of unexpected detail this design needed. There was so much personality on the tables without any one element having to carry the entire design. The vintage plates brought in color and pattern, the florals were full of movement, and those little pineapples added a playful detail among it all.

I wanted the design to feel collected and interesting, but I also wanted there to be pieces of Claire Marie and Ben in it that had absolutely nothing to do with a color palette.

They both love to read, so books gave us one of the most personal elements of the wedding. I built their seating chart around old library cards and books, giving guests a completely different way to find their seats. We continued that idea at dinner with menus designed to look like vintage book covers. It was a detail that made sense for them, and it also worked naturally with the vintage plates and eclectic direction we had already established for the reception.

Claire Marie’s love of books gave us another little opportunity. Her favorite Disney princess is Belle, and I loved the idea of acknowledging that without turning it into an obvious Disney reference. We brought in a candelabra as a subtle nod to Beauty and the Beast. It was one of those details that did not need an explanation. It worked within the design whether you knew the story or not, but Claire Marie knew exactly why it was there.

That is what I want personal wedding design to do. I do not want every meaningful detail to announce itself to the room. Some details can simply be there because the couple will notice them. When those pieces are incorporated well, they become part of the larger design rather than feeling like a collection of references competing for attention.

The reception was also designed around how Claire Marie and Ben wanted their guests to spend the evening. Dinner was served family style, with platters passed around the tables while everyone settled in together. After spending so much time designing those tables, I loved seeing them become exactly what they were meant to be: full of people, food, conversation, flowers, half filled glasses, and all of the evidence that dinner was being thoroughly enjoyed.

One of my favorite things about Claire Marie and Ben’s wedding had nothing to do with the design, though. They stayed together throughout the night. They spent time with their families and friends side by side, moved through the reception together, and actually experienced their wedding together. It sounds like such a simple thing, but on a wedding day with so many people excited to see you, it is very easy for a couple to be pulled in different directions. These two kept finding their way through the night together.

And they knew how to have fun.

Their first dance was incredible and easily one of my favorite moments of the reception. They went all in, their guests were completely engaged, and it set the tone for the party that followed. Claire Marie and Ben also had a surprise waiting for everyone: a saxophonist. Their guests had no idea he was coming, and watching the surprise unfold was so much fun. Once the music and dancing were underway, the energy in the room was exactly what we had hoped for when we chose that word fun at the beginning of the design process.

Not every memorable part of the weekend came from a design deck or planning meeting. At one point, fire trucks happened to drive by, and Claire Marie and Ben had the chance to take photos with them. It was completely unexpected and became one of those funny, very real pieces of a wedding weekend that you could never manufacture ahead of time. After months of carefully planning so many details, I love that their collection of wedding photographs also includes something that simply happened because they were in the right place at the right time.

That willingness to enjoy the unexpected is very much Claire Marie and Ben.

They were wonderful to work with throughout the entire planning process. They cared about their wedding and were invested in the decisions we were making, but they also trusted the people they had hired. More than anything, they were grateful. They were grateful for their families and friends, grateful for the people working around them, and genuinely appreciative throughout the process. That made planning and designing this weekend for them incredibly rewarding.

Their gratitude was just as evident once the wedding arrived. They were not so focused on what was coming next that they missed what was happening in front of them. They spent the night with their people and with each other. They danced. They laughed. They noticed the details we had spent months creating, but they did not treat those details as more important than the reason everyone was there.

That is probably why connected was such an important word for this wedding. It influenced the way we planned the weekend, but it was also already part of who Claire Marie and Ben are. Our job was to create a wedding that gave that connection plenty of room.

Looking back at the finished reception at Wandby Landing, I loved how many layers of their story were sitting together in one space. Bright flowers and vintage plates filled the tables. Tiny pineapples were tucked into the design. Books became a seating chart, library cards led guests to their seats, and vintage book covers became dinner menus. A candelabra quietly nodded to Belle. Overhead, woven pendant lights warmed the tent as the evening continued.

Then people came in and made all of it matter.

That is the part I never want to lose in wedding design. The room can be incredible, but it is being created for people to live inside of it. Claire Marie and Ben did exactly that. They filled it with the people they love, stayed beside each other through the night, surprised everyone with a saxophonist, and had an incredible time celebrating the fact that they were finally married.

Creative Partners

Planning & Design: https://charitylynnweddings.com/

Photo: https://edenphotoandfilm.com/

Venue: https://www.wandbylanding.com/

Florals: https://www.bountyoblooms.com/

Hair: https://www.hairthatmoves.com/

Makeup: https://srpullingmua.com/

Cake: https://www.letthemeatcakemaine.com/

DJ: https://mainemadeweddings.com/

Live Music: https://www.rickylipinskisax.com/

Groom’s attire: @billbespoke

Rehearsal dinner/welcome party: @blackrockfarm

Rentals: @revelryeventcollections @afa_rentals @bbjlatavola

Day of paper: @cove_mill_design_co

Save the dates: @annielouise_studio

Content: @lexiejoyevents

Invitations: @Mintedweddings

Transportation: @customcoachne  First Charter