
Andrea and Chris Nelson stand in front of the Newport Harbor Light, an iconic landmark on Goat Island in Newport, Rhode Island, where they hosted their wedding reception. Photo: Kim Lyn Photography
Wedding planning entails its fair share of contingency plans for all the “What ifs?” Will the weather impact an outdoor ceremony? If a vendor fails to show up, what’s next? And on the list goes on.
Factor in a destination wedding, and you might consider packing up another set of backup plans. However, if a couple has a wedding planner who is masterful at thinking one, two or even three steps ahead, then the couple has little need to push the worry button.
Such was the case for Plymouth residents Andrea and Chris Nelson. Following a small, sacramental Catholic wedding at the Co-Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Rochester, the couple set off to New England for a destination reception.
The setting itself—Newport, Rhode Island—was idyllic. A coinciding sailboat competition brought a distinctive atmosphere to the surrounding water. The shoreline was dotted with historic mansions à la The Great Gatsby. (Two Newport mansions in fact served as Jay Gatsby’s estate in the 1974 film.)
Andrea, who grew up in Massachusetts, says she knew the locale would be beautiful for a reception. “I think it helped a little bit with the process, just me having grown up in that area,” she says. But when it was time to fill out the broad strokes with more detail, there was local-to-the Metro wedding planning company Denae Brennan Events.
“[Denae] did a lot of the legwork to source out good photographers and good bands and things like that,” Andrea says. “She just took a lot of the stress off of me, really. She really was the one communicating with a lot of these vendors.”
As a couple who both work full-time, the added assistance was a relief. “To have someone like Denae, who’s so organized and enthusiastic, both before the event and the day of, just makes it so much more enjoyable,” Chris says. “You could be present during the time of the events.”
Welcome Wagon
Denae Brennan says something that falls into the “I never thought about that” bucket for destination events is ensuring that hosts provide adequate local information.
“Make sure you give your guests lists of things to do in the area, clear details on the wedding events and what they can expect,” Brennan says. “It’s common to make it a weekend affair with a destination wedding, so be sure to budget for a welcome party the day before the wedding or a casual brunch the morning after to make your guests’ trip into a full weekend experience.”
Andrea and Chris Nelson were sure to follow this advice for the Midwestern contingent of their wedding reception. “Newport is just a really unique place,” Chris says. “I don’t think a lot of Midwesterners [tend to] go there. But Newport has so much history and so many fun things to do outside of just the events for the reception itself.”
To this end, the Nelsons included plenty of local information on their wedding reception website. Andrea also created welcome bags that were placed in guests’ hotel rooms. “It had pamphlets of things to do and just little gifts,” she says.
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