The proposal came with a seven-month lead time. On July 1, 2023, Steve got down on one knee at Avalon, New Jersey, the bride’s favorite place on Earth. The ring was only part of the plan. Since the fall of 2022, he had booked a VRBO for her closest friends and family, arranging for them to appear after the couple had their moment alone. The bride later described it as a day she never dreamt she’d have before meeting him.
The wedding itself took that same dual-home concept and built an entire ceremony around it. Steve is from Martha’s Vineyard. The bride is from Pennsylvania. They chose The Farm at Eagles Ridge in her home state, then filled it with coastal references and farmhouse touches to bridge both lives. The palette was blue and yellow. Hydrangeas did the heavy lifting in the floral design, with candles placed throughout to reinforce the coastal atmosphere without tipping into nautical kitsch.
The food carried the same logic. The groom’s side contributed a raw bar with oysters shipped in from Martha’s Vineyard. The bride’s side answered with late-night cheesesteaks. JDK Catering handled the execution, and the menu worked as a direct translation of the couple’s geography. The cake, a three-tier vanilla number with cinnamon buttercream from The Master's Baker, sat somewhere in the middle, topped with pearls that echoed the pearls on the bride’s veil.
The bride wore a two-piece gown with an overskirt from Daydream Bridal. Her bridesmaids stood in butter yellow. The groom rented through The Black Tux. She wore custom Nikes. The details were personal in ways that went beyond aesthetics. The ceremony included a chair reserved for the bride’s late mother, who passed when the bride was six, and a second chair for the groom’s late father. The officiant was a family friend, and notably, the person through whom the couple first met. The couple exchanged private vows before the public ceremony. One of the bride’s brothers walked the dog, who served as flower girl, down the aisle. The bride’s brother and the groom’s sister carried the rings.
The signature drinks were mapped to taste and origin. The groom chose a Moscow Mule. The bride picked an Aperol Spritz. The specialty was an Espresso Martini, and the bride made all of the espresso syrup herself. It is the kind of detail that gets lost in a recap but matters in the moment. The favors came from Evans Candy. The invitations were from Minted. Drapery was handled by Shumaker PDT, with linens from Premier Linen Co. and rentals from Treasure Events. Jeannie Lytle shot the photography, Vasaturo Still and Motion handled the film, and DEevents Co. managed the planning. The music came from Rad & Kell and 3West Band.
The aesthetic was labeled coastal farmhouse, which is a category that can go wrong in either direction, but the specific choices here kept it honest. The blue and yellow palette gave the florals a clear structure. The heavy use of candles created warmth in the barn setting. The Martha’s Vineyard oysters did not just sit on the menu as a nod; they were the point. The cheesesteaks were the counterpoint. The result was a wedding that read as a conversation between two places rather than a theme.
The couple’s own words, from the bride’s account of the proposal, carry the emotional core. She called the day perfect and said she could not have asked for more. She noted she had never dreamt she’d have a day like it before she met Steve. That sentiment extended into the planning, where the couple worked to include the people and places that shaped them. The private vows, the family friend officiant, the dog in the ceremony, the reserved chairs for absent parents. None of it was decorative. It was all structural.
The reception followed the same pattern. The three-tier cake held cinnamon buttercream, a fall-adjacent choice that worked with the farmhouse setting. The pearls on the cake and the veil tied the bride’s look to the dessert table in a way that felt intentional. The custom Nikes kept her comfortable. The espresso martini syrup, made by hand, gave the bar a personal stamp that no vendor could replicate.
The wedding was published by Style Me Pretty under the categories Casual and Traditional Elegance, which is an accurate pairing. It was a casual event with formal undertones, a barn venue with coastal food, a Pennsylvania ceremony with Martha’s Vineyard oysters. The couple did not try to merge their backgrounds into one thing. They let each side stand on its own and let the day hold both.
According to Style Me Pretty.
