Land’s End Beach Wedding, Tessa Marie Weddings

We love beach weddings! And this Long Island wedding at Land’s End is perfect to put anyone in a summer state of mind. With beach balls, a touch of nautical and sweet DIY touches everywhere, this wedding full of fun and smiles will no doubt make you happy.
The Day the Clouds Gave Way to the Sun – Six Bridesmaids, two Mothers, one Bride and one very hardworking Make-up artist. Make-up started at 7am – for a 6:30pm ceremony. And so our Big Day began. Mom and Dad popped into the room with Lunch for everyone, and although the boys had catered food, they stormed into our room (minus the Groom) and ate their way through all of our food. I grabbed my Dad, and we practiced our Father-Daughter 3-song medley. Our dance consisted of “My Girl”, “The Twist” and Usher’s “Yeah.” I danced the curls out of my hair and was promptly put back into the Make-up chair accompanied by “tut-tuts.”

Tessa, our Photographer, turned wedding planner, took charge. Next thing I knew, we were packed into her little rental and zipping through the rain *sigh* towards a small little park for our first look. I worked hard to convince Anthony to do a first look, and the tap-on-the-shoulder was not going to do it, so I had to think out of the box, something unique. I found my inspiration for the first look on a WeddingWire blog – a free-standing door in a grassy field – Perfect! We borrowed my Dad’s old door from his Bakery. The rain slowly came to an end, and the door was set up in the grass – places everyone! Anthony and I traded a few nervous “are you ready?” and “now?”‘s. He tentatively reached his hand around the door looking for mine, I saw his hand and felt butterflies, this was it! I reached for him.

The sky was a mean stormy gray. The Wedding Party has already marched off. Suddenly the sun peeks out, and the music changes to Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s “Over the Rainbow”. My Mom on my left arm, my Dad on my right, we begin our walk down over the warm sand when I see him, my soon-to-be husband. Although we’ve already done our first look, it was nothing like this. My breath caught in my throat for the first time. That was it, the culmination of all the planning, the saving, the days without sleep, the strengthened friendships… this was the moment my whole life is about to change. That is when “I” become “we.”

Dancing in the Ballroom, we see our next theme. Gone is the carefree beach, here we are presented with grace and elegance. Deep navy overlaid rich white linen. Gorgeous white sails danced on the ceiling. White rose-shaped napkins neatly folded at each setting. The room was filled with a mix of tall Cherry Blossom branches entwined with Yellow Oncidium Orchids. Round globe candles dangled off crystals held up by the burly branches. Puffy white Hydrangeas paired up with yellow roses filled up the other half of the room. The room was lit up in warm amber. People milled between the Ballroom, the mysterious adjoining Cigar room and out the Back Patio. The dancing began the moment we danced in and didn’t stop until the DJ packed up – True Story! Bright Yellow contrasted with Navy Blue, complimented with Light Gray set the mood. Our Save the Dates, Wedding Invitations, and Wedding Programs were designed and assembled by family and assembled by hand. Our PhotoBooth props were also DIY. At this point with all the DIY, we were not about to place the venue provided cards on a table and call it a day, oh no. After days of research on Pinterest, we found the ladders. We ordered two 10ft ladders, cut them down, stained and staged them. We hung the name cards with mini clothespins strung between the ladders and made Faux-Polaroids with Clammy, our travel lobster and his travels around the world. Our Cake Toppers had to be lobsters to tie our beach theme into our Reception. We found someone on Etsy to custom make two lobster figurines for us; they were perfect! Wedding colors, top hat, veil and all! Why stop there? A few more searches on Pinterest and our guests were all handed mini beach balls to throw. Flip flop and “fan” program baskets were set out. Our Welcome Ladders were standing strong; they were still wet as Anthony just recently stained them (shh!). Photographer: Tessa Marie Weddings | Venue: Land’s End | Hair & Make-Up: Reiko Utsugi | Flowers: Andie Lam, Flowers By Andie | Videographer: Rob Coupe, Couped-Up Productions | DJ: FM Entertainment | Wedding Dress: Noray, White One | Bridesmaid Dresses: Two Birds | Groom’s Tux: Black by Vera Wang from Men’s Wearhouse | Groomsmen Tux: Calvin Klein from Men’s Wearhouse | Wedding Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Wedding Cake: Audrey’s Fine Baked Goods | Cake Topper: Etsy | Engagement Ring: Sona Jewelers | Wedding Bands: Niletti Creations | Wedding Dress Hanger: California Arts