Relaxed + Preppy New England Wedding by Kat Hanafin

Today's bride and groom met in 4th grade and the two basically have a love story fit for a deliciously sappy movie (you'll see - just read their sweet love story below). Matt and Laura threw a beautifully relaxed + preppy wedding on a stretch of dreamy New England coast in Cohasset, Mass. I'm drooling over their reception at The Cohasset Sailing Club and I know you will be, too! / Photos by Kat Hanafin.

Says Laura, "We had the incredible opportunity to host our wedding at the Cohasset Sailing Club. My uncle has volunteered there for years, so we went out on a limb and asked if they would let us have our wedding reception there. The sailing club has the most amazing view of the entire Cohasset harbour - and we were lucky enough to be able to put a tent up right on the water. Matt wanted to minimize the day feeling too much like a 'wedding' so we tried to keep it pared down and make it feel as much like a party as possible. We tried to keep it nautical and beachy without being too kitschy.

Did you include any family heirlooms or special family traditions? "We included a few - the Boston Whaler being our favorite [more on that below]. My aunt, who I call my 'American Mom' lent me the bracelets she wore on her wedding day, which was really special. My other aunt and godmother had bought my dress, and my third aunt gifted me a lace handkerchief from my great grandmother to carry down the aisle (I have a lot of aunts). My sister wore a pearl bracelet that I had made for her with pearls from a necklace Matt had given me years before (I had the necklace made into two matching bracelets) and we both put sixpence in our shoes from the years our parents were born."

Matt + Laura's Love Story

Matt and I had met back when we were in the 4th grade - our families are good friends, and his parents made the 13 hour trek up to our lake house north of Toronto for two weeks. Years later, I moved to Cohasset for the summer after my first year of college to nanny for two wonderful girls. I was living with my aunt for the summer, who happens to live accross the street from Matt's parents. Long story short, we agreed to break up at the end of the summer, and three years later I moved to the states permanently, seven years later we were engaged, and eight years almost to the day we were married about a half a mile from where we started.

I'd walked by Meredith's in Scituate, Mass., and seen the dress in the window, and thought it would be perfect. I didn't cry or get emotional - I just knew it felt right when I put it on, and I couldn't stop thinking about it when I got home. I went back the next day and bought it.

Matt and I are both very close to our siblings, so they were our maid of honor and best men. I chose two of my closest friends from nursing school and two that I met after moving to Boston, Matt chose his three best friends from childhood. The boys wore classic khaki pants and navy blazers and the girls wore simple navy dresses that they chose from the store I bought my wedding dress from. I'd gone the day before with the most honest of my bridesmaids and narrowed it down to a few choices for them to pick from.

Your favorite memory of the day? "I should probably say something about Matt and I, but 'our' black lab was our ring bearer - watching her stroll down the aisle with her flower collar was just the cutest thing ever."

We were able to arrive at the reception on Matt's family's boat - we were able to take a short ride with our family over, have a glass of champagne together, relax, talk and enjoy the beautiful harbor. 

We'd also set up lawn games outside the tent - featuring a set of corn hole decorated with the Canadian and American flags, which was a big hit. Passing out beer cozies that said 'wicked, eh' instead of favors was also a smart move in the 90 degree heat.

We borrowed hurricane lamps from a good friend's mom, chairs from my aunt's dining table, used an antique mirror as a menu board that was in the attic, and sourced a lot of the decor from Etsy. But by far, the best 'antique' at the wedding was the Boston Whaler I gave Matt for Christmas a few years ago (We got engaged 12 hours after he picked up the boat. Coincidence? I don't think so). We filled it with ice and used it to chill drinks at the bar, and by the end of the night, we got a great picture of one of my best friends sitting in the boat, surrounded with ice and beer, paddling away. 

My sister and I both went to my Dad's alma mater (Queen's University!) an extremely school-spirited University back home in Canada - instead of doing a traditional father daughter dance, we performed the 'oil thigh,' Queen's school dance and song (in gaelic!) with my friends from college who had come up for the wedding. It made for some of my favorite pictures from the night.

Thanks so much to Matt and Laura for sharing their beautiful day with us and to photographer Kat Hanafin for sharing her lovely photos! xx.

Laura leaves us with some great wedding planning advice, "Relax. Literally everything went wrong or off-course the day of our wedding, with the exception of the weather. As long as you end up married to your partner at the end of the day and you were surrounded by family and friends then it was a success. If you relax and have fun so will everyone else. We had an actual medical emergency in the middle of cocktail hour - I'm talking ambulances and all. And everyone still had a blast. Oh, and it doesn't hurt to have two doctors, a few nurse practitioners, a dozen MGH nurses and a respiratory therapist as your wedding guests."

Laura and Matt honeymooned in Nantucket. 

Credits: Photographer: Kat Hanafin / Catering: The Silent Chef / Tent: Sperry Tents / Ceremony: First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Cohasset / Reception: The Cohasset Sailing Club / Wedding and Bridesmaid's Dresses: Meredith's Bridal (No longer open unfortunately) / Make-Up: Blush Hingham / Hair: Rudoph Adamo Salon / DJ: Unique Sounds / Raw Bar: Island Creek Oyster Co.  / Florist: Beach Plum Floral

Tags : MASSACHUSETTS , NAUTICAL , NEW ENGLAND , PREPPY , real wedding

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