Vera and Neil

October 31, 2015

 With a unique venue, gorgeous signage, and a non-holiday themed affair that happened to fall on Halloween, Vera and Neil’s wedding was truly one for the books.

By Kaitlyn Murray

What was your first date like?

Neil: When we first met we had debated Chicago style hotdogs v.s. RI hot wieners. For our first date I created a RI adventure. Mind you, Vera had to fly to Paris for work later on in the day so we only had two hours.

Vera: I got to enjoy a nice Sunday in RI — we ate hot wienies, drank coffee milk and sat outside enjoying the beautiful summer day near Crescent Park.

How did Neil propose?

V: We were heading to Mexico for a vacation on Monday morning and I had been traveling with friends the weekend before. My plane home Sunday night was delayed and I didn’t get home until almost 9 p.m. Despite my exhaustion, Neil was insistent on going out to dinner.  I was so tired I didn’t even notice that he was wearing the same thing he wore on one of our first dates, nor that we were going to one of the first bars we had went to in Boston. Neil nervously ate an entire plate of Truffle Fries at dinner and then on the walk home, in our favorite park, Neil asked what I was most excited about for our trip. I said “Margaritas”… He said “Being your Fiancée”. And the rest is history.

Why did you pick the Providence Public Library for your venue?

V: We wanted somewhere that we had never been to a wedding before. Something different. We looked literally all over RI and Mass. We met Lizzy Greene (of Russell Morin’s Fine Catering) at the Providence Library on one of the first visits and we were so impressed. She was waiting at the door for us full of excitement and great info. We loved her! Neil was ready to stop looking then, but we did look at a few more places…though nothing compared to the uniqueness of the Library.

N: Let’s not forget they have an amazing microfiche collection of their old papers as well. I also liked it due to the number and accessibility of the bathrooms (joke!)

Why Halloween? 

V: Although I love a good costume, Halloween didn’t pose any significance. We just wanted a relatively quick engagement (engaged in April, married in October) and we both love Fall. When a Saturday in October opened up at the Providence Library, we jumped on it!

N: However, we made sure that people were aware that it wasn’t a themed wedding.

What was your theme, then?

V: I had never even thought of my wedding before my engagement. I never had a color palate or design board. I started with a few bits and pieces that I really liked and built it piece by piece. Some of the starting points were how much I loved Robin Hollow’s natural floral design and Fox & Bear Prints’ paper and signage design. The end result was a series of contrasts: the natural and organic look of the flowers with the formality of the library, my formal veil with a pretty modern dress. I loved how it all came together.

I adore your bridesmaids’ dresses, what made you decide to go that route?

V: After being in several weddings myself, I was really inspired by the idea of having my bridesmaids a) rent a dress and b) have dresses that represented them as individuals. I picked each of them to be in my wedding because of how much I love them as unique women and I wanted their attire to represent that.  I locked on the idea of Rent the Runway and had seen a lot of mix-n-match bridesmaids dresses online. So, I left them with a general color scheme of mixed metallics and they each rented a dress they liked.

The close-up shot of the guys’ socks is really fun – how did that come about?

N: I have a relatively young staff and they were always wearing cool socks to work. I decided that we should have a competition every Friday to see who had the funkiest, a.k.a. “Funky Sock Friday.” As you can imagine, after a couple of months you find yourself with a lot of funny-looking socks. My friends used to bust my chops about it so I thought it fitting to get them each a pair for the wedding. Similar to Vera and her bridesmaids’ dresses, I found them socks that all fit their personality.

What inspired the guest book and seating arrangement board?

N: We came up with the idea of getting an antique atlas and having each guest sign on a page that represents them (a place they’d love to visit, where they’re from, a significant location). We also wanted incorporate the map theme into our seating arrangements, so we picked some of our favorite restaurants in the area (and from Vermont, Maine and Québec) and used them as table names. This allowed us to put them on the map as if that’s where they were going to visit.

What was each of your favorite moments?

V:  The first time I saw Neil that day or tiny moments during the ceremony when I looked out into the audience and saw literally all my favorite people in one place. I made sure that I kept looking out into the crowd to remember all of their faces.

N: Once the ceremony was over, we walked alone up the stairs away from the hall. For a couple of minutes it was just the two of us in the glow of this momentous occasion. That small amount of time before rejoining the party is probably my favorite moment because it was just us two.

N: Actually, that’s my second favorite memory. Number one was the first oyster I sucked down during cocktail hour.

What advice do you have for future brides and grooms?

N: For grooms, make a plan for what you want to do the morning of the wedding. Do something that you like to do with your groomsmen; go to breakfast, hit golf balls, shoot some hoops… or maybe burn an effigy of your high school principal. It’ll help the time go by and keep you grounded before the big event.

V: At the end of the day, your wedding day will be a series of mental photographs in your mind. You won’t remember all of the details and you won’t remember the order in which everything happened. Remind yourself to stop, look and remember mental snapshots of your day.

All Images by Molly Lo Photography