From Martha

Happy fall, my friends! John has been dreading today, because to him, fall simply means that winter is on the way (and he hates winter). I feel much more positively about fall than he does. Regardless, here’s what we’re hoping to pack into the next three months:

— hang something seasonal on the front door
— make one month’s flower arrangement a chrysanthemum for the front step
— complete at least one house project (can be anything, really!)
— take a trip to a corn maze
— make a delicious-sounding fall dish like homemade Twix bars or caramel pears
— finally purchase the perfect pair of brown leather boots (John gave me the gift card for them last Christmas!!)
— go on a weekend hiking + camping trip
— make pumpkin chocolate chip muffins
— catch the goat showmanship competition at the NC State Fair (yes, watching the goats and their child handlers is our very favorite activity at the fair)
— finally take Martha up on all her pumpkin projects and do something crafty with a gourd
— join in the sweet potato harvest at our church
— drink hot apple cider (my favorite)

What’s on your fall to do list?

Photo by La Tartine Gourmande

Today is the last day of summer. How are we feeling about that?

For us, as always, it went by too fast, but I’m satisfied with the amount of fun and good food we managed to squeeze out of the last three months. On that note, let’s catch up with my summer to list.

Did I…
— go swimming in the Eno River? Yes!
— jump off the wharf at the Island? Argh, no. Too wimpy.
— see a moonlight movie at Koka Booth Amphitheatre? Yep! We went to two, and they were awesome, as always.
— go to a Backporch Music concert at the American Tobacco Campus? Yes! We went to three concerts, and they were all awesome. Better yet, we took my Dad to one, a friend from home to another, and Nancy + Will + Winston to a third.
— complete a Backwoods OK race? No! Sadness.
— shag at North Hills? Nope.
— go on a road trip somewhere in the southeast? Not really…
— take a walk on River Road in Mystic? Nope. Sadness again.
— spend a day at the beach? Yes! Several, actually, in Charleston.
— eat lots of cobb salad and chicken souvlaki? Yes!
— camp? Nope.
— have a staycation? Nope.
— watch fireworks? No, they were fogged out in Maine over the Fourth!

Let’s see… 5 out of 13. That doesn’t sound like too good of a ratio, but I’m still chalking the summer up as a success! How about y’all? How were your summers?

Check back tomorrow for my fall to do list!

When last we left off with our reception saga, we were getting pretty desperate. Nowhere we looked at fit all of our criteria, and we were beginning to think we would never find a spot to celebrate. Yes, friends, we finally got so desperate that John literally sat down and began scrolling along the Connecticut coastline in Google Maps, calling out “Here’s a piece of lawn! Here’s a piece of lawn!” And you know what? It actually worked! One of the pieces of lawn he stumbled upon was the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, and that, my dears, is where we will be holding our reception. In their Sunken Garden, to be specific. I had never once considered this venue before John found it (I didn’t really even remember it existed, actually!), but now I can’t imagine celebrating anywhere else!

As we soon found out, the O’Neill hosts performances, conferences, and the National Theater Institute most of the year. But on days when they’re not welcoming playwrights and actors, they host events. Happily, we were able to squeeze into their schedule!

A tour? Of course!

Here’s the view from behind the Sunken Garden’s stone wall, near the first steps onto the property from the back parking lot.

There are lovely stone walls all around the property. Stone walls are one of my favorite features of New England :)

We’re considering holding cocktail hour here, on the Sea Porch of the Hammond Mansion. (We’d move those picnic tables, obviously, and there’s a lovely green and white striped awning we’d ask to be put out.)

For dinner and dancing, we’ll invite guests into the garden. They’ll walk down the steps you can see at the bottom of the frame below into the walled space (just imagine a lovely tent in the middle!).

Here’s the view from one corner.

Here’s the view from roughly the middle of the garden.

If you walk out towards the water, you can turn back for a lovely wide view of the property.

We are so happy to have found the O’Neill and to invite our guests to celebrate there with us next year! One final word of caution to other couples who might like to book it for their big day: the staff at the O’Neill is extremely difficult to get ahold of and get prompt responses from. I typically wait at least two weeks for my calls and emails to be returned (yes, really!). My guess is it’s because events are not their main business, and so they choose to prioritize theater activities. Not ideal for sure, but it’s a tradeoff we’re willing to make for a lovely spot, available date, and reasonable price.

What do you think? Those who are familiar with Connecticut weddings, are you surprised by our choice?

Ladies, thank you so much for the kind words on Friday’s post! We had the BEST time in Connecticut this past weekend. Our appointments on Friday were great (though exhausting, when taken together), and our engagement party was so, so, so wonderful. So much thought and care went into it, and I can’t wait to share with you all! We are feeling very loved.

But, before I get into all that, I know I promised information about our venues! Today I want to share our ceremony spot, and then tomorrow, I’ll conclude our location saga by telling you all about our reception venue.

From the beginning, it was very important to John and I to be married in a church. We believe our marriage is a covenant before our family and friends, but also before God. Though it is 100% possible to feel the Holy Spirit anywhere you can say vows, it was the right decision for us to be married in a church.

Okay, a church, yes, but which one? The church we now consider our home church is in North Carolina, where we live, so that was out. We both have childhood churches in Connecticut, but we wanted somewhere that felt right to both of us, not necessarily for one more than the other. A neutral location, if you will. Plus, my childhood church doesn’t have a center aisle, which is a major design flaw, if you ask me :)

After ruling out the childhood churches, we were left with one obvious choice: the Memorial Chapel at the US Coast Guard Academy in New London. Reasons we quickly fell in love with the idea of holding our ceremony there:

1. The Chapel welcomes visiting clergy, meaning there were very few obstacles to the pastor from our church in North Carolina performing the service (something that was also very important to us).
2. Center aisle!
3. Central location to many of the reception locations we were considering, and only about 15 minutes away from the location we finally landed on.
4. Momma is happy. She always dreamed of at least one daughter getting married there.
5. My Dad is retired Coast Guard and taught at the Academy for 25+ years, so I have very happy memories associated with the base.
6. The Chapel is GORGEOUS on the inside, and it just so happens to match perfectly with our chosen color scheme. Also, the film photographer documenting our wedding is going to be very happy, because the natural light inside is gorgeous, thanks to large banks of windows along both side walls!

Shall we take a little tour?

Here’s the outside, lovely steeple included. There’s no parking up on top of the hill where the Chapel is located, so guests will park below and walk up, but there is a circular driveway where my Dad and I can pull in and stage our grand entrance.

This is the narthex just inside the first set of double doors. I love that the doors to the sanctuary can be closed, my Dad and I can scoot in from outside, we can shut the front doors, and then open the sanctuary doors when it’s time for our entrance.

Peeking into the sanctuary…

Ahhh!! Pretty blue walls! Side note: Dang, that aisle is slippery.

Beautiful light! I also love that the sanctuary is not tiny, but also not so big that it will feel empty once our guests sit down.

And now we’ve arrived at the front, where we’ll say our vows. A lovely spot, I think.

And that concludes our tour! A few notes for those who might be interested in getting married at the CGA Chapel:

1. You may only reserve the Chapel if you fit into a few categories, including if one or both parties are a Coast Guard Academy graduate, active duty or retired Coast Guard personnel or their dependents (must have valid ID card), or active or retired Coast Guard Academy civilian faculty and staff members.
2. Wedding dates cannot be reserved more than a year in advance. Though I submitted paperwork and talked to the Chapel more than a year before our date, I still had to call at the 365-day mark to make our official reservation.
3. The Academy Chapel is a religious facility, so no civil ceremonies are allowed. Your preferred clergy member must be approved by the Command Chaplain, but can be a Chaplain, Priest, Minister, Rabbi, or other religious official.

More information is available on the CGA website for those who are eligible and interested!

What do you think? We are very, very excited!!