Real Wedding: Caroline & Christopher
When Caroline Gagel spotted a package on her doorstep one day, she assumed it was a recent Amazon.com order and opened it without a second thought. Instead of the books she’d been expecting, however, Caroline discovered a leather-bound portfolio with an appraisal for an engagement ring inside. Since she had been dating her boyfriend, Chris Goodchild, for six years and knew that he’d planned a romantic dinner for that upcoming weekend, it didn’t take much effort for Caroline to put the pieces together. What did take effort was keeping her discovery to herself. She says she made it almost all the way to dessert, but when at one point Chris changed expressions in a particularly suggestive manner, Caroline could no longer contain herself and burst into hysterical laughter. She apologized, then began laughing again. “What do you know?” Chris asked. “I know everything,” Caroline admitted at last. “Well,” he said, “I guess, will you marry me?”
Considering that their engagement commenced with a proposal like that, it’s no surprise that Caroline and Chris planned a fun, laid-back wedding that was anything but traditional. For Caroline, who grew up in Houston but had spent every summer since childhood at her family’s house on Martha’s Vineyard, the Cape was the only place she’d ever imagined getting married.
Caroline’s a big fan of black-and-white color combinations, as her house and wardrobe amply attest, and she wanted to bring that same aesthetic to her wedding. As a nod to the rolling green fields that surround the Agricultural Society Barn, she added green to her palette as well, choosing green flowers exclusively, including hydrangeas, orchids, wheatgrass, and bells of Ireland, for the flower arrangements. When it came to prints, she chose a mix, including stripes, damask, Moroccan tiles, and Marimekko prints, for a crisp, graphic look that she carried over into the bridesmaids’ black-and-white dresses from Anthropologie, the flower girls’ black-and-white gingham frocks, and the black-and-white striped socks worn by the groom and his attendants.
Chris’ brother David, a classical bassist, helped the duo put together an eclectic arrangement of wedding songs for their string quartet, including “I Love NYE” by Badly Drawn Boy for Caroline’s walk down the aisle and a violin rendition of “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin that was a huge hit with their guests.
Caroline and Chris made it a point to infuse the wedding with plenty of personality. During the cocktail hour, they arranged for lawn games including bocce, croquet, and horseshoes to be set up outside. (Some guests had so much fun with the friendly competition that they headed back outside after dinner was done to finish their games.) Because their niece — Caroline’s sister’s daughter — was too little to walk down the aisle as a junior flower girl, her father pulled her down the aisle instead, in a wagon with a sign attached to the back that read, “Here Comes the Bride.” (“Naturally, she was the true star of the wedding,” Caroline says.) For the couple’s wedding cake, they asked their cake designer to use Chris’ family recipe for chocolate chip pound cake and served it with Mad Martha’s ice cream, a Vineyard tradition, in Oreo, Snickers, and strawberry flavors. Caroline and Chris also enlisted friends and family to bake up a storm, producing hundreds of cookies in five flavors for a cookie bar whose tempting desserts doubled as wedding favors.“Chris and I love cookies about as much as we love each other and decided our wedding wouldn’t be complete without them,” says Caroline.
Like their engagement, Chris and Caroline’s wedding was full of laughter, surprises, and fun, the perfect reflection of their easygoing relationship and a happy promise for the future. “We have never had more fun than we did at our wedding,” Caroline says.
Caroline & Chris' Advice
1) Let your menu reflect your tastes ~ not that of the caterer or cake designer. Run wild with the flavors ~ the possibilities are endless!
2) Have fun during your wedding day ~ we set up yard games for our guests during cocktail hour, and it was a blast.
{Other Professionals}
Entertainment: The Sultans of Swing & Schubert and Co.
Reception Site: Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society Barn