Ashford Estate Wedding

May 15, 2021

We must tell you about the Ashford Estate wedding that we just can’t stop thinking about! It was absolutely stunning. Of course, so were the bride and groom, Chelsea and Erik. If you’re planning your own wedding, get inspired by their sweet story…

For Chelsea and Erik, it was love at first sassy comment! Having both recently graduated from college, the two crossed paths at a house party in New York City. Erik was living in Boston at the time and was visiting friends who happened to be living with Chelsea’s friends from NYU. Chelsea didn’t really speak to Erik at the party… but as the group ventured out to local bars later that night, she began flirtatiously bashing the Patriots (Erik’s beloved football team). A lifelong Giants fan, Chelsea just couldn’t help herself! Instead of being offended, Erik was intrigued. He eventually got up the courage to ask Chelsea if she wanted a drink. Her response: “I can buy my own drinks!”

Three weeks later, Erik found himself making another trip to NYC… this time to see Chelsea. The rest is history!

Ashford Estate Wedding Details

“Our two most important things during wedding planning were the venue and the photographer, so we locked those both in more than a year in advance,” Chelsea said. “Once those were set, we took our time coming up with our color scheme and landing on the vibe we wanted.”

“Erik and I knew that we wanted a very romantic vibe with a mix of classic black tie sophistication and rustic, ethereal whimsy,” Chelsea said, describing the couple’s wedding style. “Neither of us are flower people so we wanted mostly candles to give us that romantic, cozy, autumn vibe. This would give our guests an emotional reaction as soon as they saw both the ceremony and reception spaces.”

The couple also wanted to bring the beautiful wooded grounds inside their gorgeous venue – The Ashford Estate. To do this, they used pine cones for their seating table and worked greenery all around the centerpieces and tables in the reception space. Chelsea’s father also built a gorgeous custom chuppah to sit under during the reception since the couple didn’t have one during the ceremony. It was made from wood from the family’s farm in Illinois, which made it incredibly special. Their romantic, candlelit dreams certainly came true!

Not every element of wedding planning went so smoothly though. “Finding the gown was one of the hardest parts of wedding planning!” Chelsea said. “I went with my family and they fell in love with an Essence of Australia dress that was very form fitting – and not really what I had envisioned myself wearing on the wedding day. But they cried and loved it and I wound up taking it home! Something still didn’t feel right so I kept looking and eventually found a Martina Liana top and two skirts – one from Zuhair Murad & another from Maggie Sottero – that I absolutely love. For the ceremony we wanted a very romantic, ethereal vibe so I wore the Martina Liana Celia top with the Maggie Sottero Gemma skirt and a custom cathedral length veil. I changed into the hand-beaded Zuhair Murad skirt for the reception because it sparkled under the dance floor lights and had a party vibe.”

We must say, Chelsea looked absolutely stunning! Erik couldn’t take his eyes off her the entire time! He also looked incredibly sharp wearing a custom tux from The Black Lapel, paired with black velvet tux shoes and a bow tie.

“Laura from The Ashford Estate was amazing,” Chelsea said of her Big Day. “The entire staff pulled off every element. MDS Floral was wonderful with setting up the candles and greenery. DJ Chris had people dancing until (after) the party was supposed to end. And of course our wedding photos are phenomenal! Evgenia took the most amazing photos of it all! We could not be happier with our perfect day!”

Chelsea and Erik, we are honored to have shared your special day with you. Thank you for allowing us to capture these photos which are a testament to true love!