WellWed on the Cape

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Location: 

Nantucket, Massachusetts

Cake: 

Jodi's Cakes

Design: 

Unique Nantucket Events by Nicole Whelden

Photographer(s): 

Zofia Photography

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{Color Palette}

Will Gibbons cannot keep a secret. Julie Fellows knew what was up the minute she checked in with her boyfriend by phone. “What’s up?” she asked. “Nothing! I can’t tell you! I have to go!” a frazzled Will replied. A few days later, and none too subtly, Will insisted on taking Julie shopping for a new outfit to wear to his fraternity’s annual Sweetheart Ball. Even if she had missed Will’s earlier clues, there was no way she could miss the panic in his eyes when she leaned in to adjust the pocket of his suit pants and he leapt away from her, shouting “Don’t touch my pocket!” Julie knew exactly what was going to happen, and she couldn’t have been happier.

She and Will had been a couple since their freshman year at the University of Washington, when Julie – a pre-med student – and Will – an engineering major – found themselves in many of the same first-year calculus and chemistry classes. They ended up walking home from class together most days, though it took Julie a while to warm up to Will’s nerdy backpack and backwards hat. Eventually, though, she realized that his sharp intellect and surprising ability to fix almost anything had completely charmed her, and the two started dating seriously. (Julie jokes that for Will, the discovery of a science-geek girl who was actually fairly nice to look at was the big drawing point.)

Julie and Will were together all through their college years. When graduation drew near and Will started applying to chemical-engineering doctoral programs, they realized that they had to make some decisions about their future. Since they were both planning postgraduate studies, they knew there were plenty of possibilities, including staying together long-distance or just splitting up, but they also knew they made a good team and decided to stick together. When Will proposed at the Sweetheart Ball, it wasn’t a surprise, but it was a joyous moment for them both. They spent two years planning the wedding while Will attended his engineering program at the University of Colorado in Boulder and Julie worked as a phlebotomist while perfecting her medical school applications.

Though they had met in Seattle and lived in Boulder, Julie and Will knew Nantucket was where they wanted to get married. Will had spent summers there learning to sail in Nantucket Harbor and listening to stories around the dinner table with his fun-loving extended family, who shared a house on the island. Will invited Julie to join him on the island the first summer they were dating – he worked in landscaping, while Julie worked at the former Eat Fire Spring on Old South Wharf – and she fell in love with the island, too, coming back with Will every summer. “Our trip to Nantucket is something we look forward to every year,” says Julie. “We think of it as an enchanting place where friends and family come together, so it felt like the perfect place to have our wedding.”

They chose fun with friends and family as the theme for the wedding. “We treated our wedding like we were throwing a huge party, which meant good food, music, and a warm atmosphere for our guests,” says Julie. She framed pictures from the weddings of her parents and grandparents and the weddings of Will’s parents and grandparents and set them out by the guest book for guests to enjoy. Will’s grandfather read a poem during the ceremony, echoing a reading he had given at the wedding of Will's parents. Julie burst into laughter when her veil snagged on a rough plank of wood as she prepared to walk down to the beach, tugging her head insistently back. Her laughter was infectious, and as a guest helped unhook her veil, everyone joined in the merriment.

Julie & Will's Advice
1) Don’t get pressured into “extras” that don’t work for your wedding. Our guests were well fed and having a blast on the dance floor without the new trends and wedding frills.

2) Be aware that some people will have strong feelings about your wedding, know it’s the wedding talking and don’t take anything personally.

{Other Professionals}
Catering: Nantucket Catering Company
Floral Design: Sherry Loucks
Entertainment: Mike Benjamin
Event Rentals: Nantucket Party Rentals
Hair: Darya Salon
Invitations: William Arthur
Tent Rental: Sperry Tents