Claire Bean does some of the most beautiful flower creations you’ll ever see (remind me to tell you sometime about a wedding she did with a tiny pot of African violets at every seat), so I knew this would be a lovely wedding as soon as I saw her name in my inbox. Then I saw the photos from Our Labor of Love, and read the story from lovely bride Kat, and I knew you’d all just love it.

Credits: designer shoes with rosettes

Credits: blue check shirt groom

From the bride: We had what we referred to as “summer-spectacular-Monday-wedding at the Wolffer Estate.” So first let me explain the obvious: MONDAY. Ben and I are both actors living in NYC and working on Broadway (I’m in “West Side Story” and Ben is in “American Idiot”), and Monday is the traditional day off in our world, so basically if we wanted to have any of our actor “family” at the wedding, we really had to hold it on this most untraditional day. Since we spend our lives on stage, we really wanted our wedding day to be more personal and to put the focus on family, so we aimed for personal and familial, kind of like an elegant outdoor dinner party for our closest family and friends.

After looking at every possible venue in Manhattan, we finally decided on a mini-destination wedding in the Hamptons. Turn the corner into the circular driveway at Wolffer Estate Vineyard, and its like being swept away to Tuscany – we felt completely secluded and in another world.

Credits: yellow parasols wedding ceremony

Credits: flower girls in yellow

Ben has a huge, close knit family filled with little ones, so our way to incorporate them was to have his 8 nieces and nephews, 2 half-brothers and 1 half sister, plus my 3 young cousins serve as our “child attendants/flowergirls/ring bearer” – 14 children under the age of 11! Just shiny, happy kiddos parading down the aisle on a gorgeous summer day. What could be better than that?

One of my favorite parts of the wedding was our friends singing…I gotta brag and just say that we have the most talented friends and family in the world! So you better believe that we were going to have them “make a joyful noise” on this most sacred day, including my very good friend Jennifer Sanchez who sang me down the aisle (Jen is one of my closest friends and has one of my all time favorite voices. We did our first Broadway show together and we sat next to each other in the dressing room for 2 years and nearly 700 performances!).

Credits: bridesmaids in white dresses

Credits: laughing bride and groom

Father Callahan’s ceremony was serene and sacred when it needed to be, but more than anything it was joyful. Like, laugh out loud joyful. Heart-burstingly joyful! We imagined a beautiful summer wedding with a laid-back and relaxed, sweet, fun, whimsical, romantic, elegant and did-I-mention-FUN vibe, and that’s exactly what we got. It was seriously the most perfect summer day imaginable…one of those perfectly warm, low humidity, clear bluest sky days that just make you happy to be alive!

Credits: wedding kiss!

Credits: bridal portraits in vineyard hamptons

Credits: centerpiece pastel flowers yellow pink

Credits: wedding toast vineyard reception

Credits: bride and groom first dance

We fell in love by accident, not to mention that Ben is the poster child for “accident prone,” and we wanted our first dance to reflect that, so our first dance was to “Accidentally In Love” by the Counting Crows. Fun, joyful, up-tempo and completely unexpected. He was twirling me around the dance floor so well that many people thought our dance was choreographed, but we were just winging it!

Photography: Our Labor of Love

Venue: Wölffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack, New York

Bride’s dress / belt / shoes: Monique Lhuillier / Lela Rose / Yves Saint Laurent

Bridesmaid dresses: Thread

Groom’s suit: J.Crew

Ring bearer dish: Paloma’s Nest

Day-of stationery: The Village Invites

Flowers / day-of coordination: Claire Bean

Rentals: Classic Party Rentals

Catering: Fresh Flavors

Music: Vali Entertainment

A big thanks to Claire Bean and Our Labor of Love for sharing this gorgeous wedding with us, and to Kat for taking the time to share so much about her beautiful wedding.

I’ll leave you with some advice from the bride, which is the same advice I’d give after my own wedding: Work with amazing vendors. It will take a load off of your mind! They know what they are doing….so trust – it will seriously add years to your life. We researched and researched (and researched….) to find the right vendors who shared our style and aesthetic and then just let them do what they do best. No need to micromanage!

Paloma’s Nest is a sponsor of Snippet & Ink.