Real Weddings: Melissa & Matt

November 10, 2012: Vesuvius Vineyards, Iron Station

July 9, 2013

Sarah Moïse Young, Photographs by The Beautiful Mess,

The bride, a wedding photographer, found her form-fitting Allure Couture gown at New York Bride & Groom. The groom wore grey trousers from New York Bride & Groom with a charcoal vest and a gingham tie.

In a vineyard scattered with festive lanterns and twinkling lights, this DIY bride transported her guests to a colorful celebration. Melissa Jespersen, wedding photographer and owner of Melissa Joy Photography, and Matthew Clark, a foreign currency trader for CCM Securities, added color wherever they could—from tiny pops of teal in their thank-you cards to pink and blue cotton candy and popcorn holders for late-night snacks. The bridesmaids added a feminine touch with strapless, rose-petal pink chiffon gowns by Bill Levkoff from New York Bride & Groom and a bridal bouquet of pink and white garden roses by Elizabeth House.

Before dinner, guests played cornhole and sipped drinks at pink cocktail tables on the lawn. The bride and her mother designed the lavish centerpieces, with silver linens overlaid in lace, mercury glass candlesticks, and glass vases overflowing with white ranunculus, stock, and pink dahlias. The sweets table held Melissa’s favorite red licorice, s’mores favor bags, and chocolate-chip cookies, plus two kinds of cake—a three-tiered Tizzerts vanilla frosted cake, and a tres leches cake from Miro. Guests released wishing lanterns with their hopes for the bride and groom before sending the Clarks off for their Punta Cana honeymoon.