Real Wedding: Virginia & Brian
It’s no surprise that Virginia Wise and Brian Hobin decided to celebrate their wedding by the sea. After all, many of the landmark moments in their relationship occurred right on the beach.
They first met on the beach, over Independence Day weekend in 2004, when Virginia joined a friend for the holiday weekend festivities on the South Shore in Marshfield. Brian was also a guest, and after a weekend of swimming, boating, and lounging on the beach together, the two found they had forged an almost instant connection. When Brian left that weekend, he had Virginia’s phone number in his pocket and the happy knowledge that his new apartment was only about five minutes away from her parents’ house in Boston, where he was working. Virginia, however, had almost finished packing for her planned end-of-summer move to New York City, where she had found a new job. So the couple spent the first two years of their relationship commuting back and forth between Boston and New York on the infamous Fung Wah Bus — the cheapest (and often most hilarious) mode of transportation between the two cities. After two years, Virginia decided to take the plunge and moved back to Boston to be closer to Brian.
They decided to get married on the beach, too, in March 2008, when Brian planned an impromptu vacation to Fort Lauderdale to escape the long Boston winter. Brian, whose graduation was just months away, had accepted a job in San Francisco — on yet another beach — and asked Virginia to come with him. They were busy planning their move across the country, but Virginia didn’t know that Brian was planning something else, too. He carried her engagement ring around in his pocket for three days, biding his time and waiting for the perfect moment. He found it, on the beach of course, as the couple raced along the water’s edge, laughing and breathless. Brian pulled her close to him, dropped to one knee, and asked the completely stunned Virginia to marry him. “I had no idea it was coming,” Virginia says.
Virginia and Brian knew they wanted to get married on the East Coast, as close as possible to the Atlantic Ocean, and as soon as they saw the waves crashing on the shore at the Popponesset Inn, they knew they’d found their spot. “It is as close as you can get to the beach without actually being on it,” Virginia says. She knew planning the wedding cross-country would be tricky, but by enlisting her mom’s enthusiastic help and choosing great vendors who made the process stress-free, Virginia was able to put together the wedding she and Brian wanted.
The wedding itself was a perfect celebration of love and fun. Virginia, a graphic artist, played with designs for wedding details, incorporating a note of whimsy with bold icons for place cards, wedding programs, and favor cards. Scattered paper lanterns lit up the beachfront ceremony. The couple took their palette inspiration from the beach itself, mixing dazzling emerald greens and rich, sunlit blues with shimmering sand and tan shades. Brian traded the traditional black tux for a warm tan suit, while Virginia opted for a classic gown whose soft white echoed the subtle glow of a sandy beach. For Virginia and her mother, seeing the results of their hard work come together in the enchanting seaside wedding was incredible — and even the weather smiled on them, with the dazzling sun breaking through after weeks of miserable weather.
And, of course, as soon as the ceremony ended, Virginia and Brian celebrated by flinging off their shoes and running down the beach with their bridesmaids and groomsmen, who happily joined in the splashing seaside celebration, adding yet another special beach memory to Virginia and Brian’s history.
Virginia & Brian's Advice
1) Be sure to stop every once in a while and take it all in ~ the day goes by so quickly, and you want to savor how special it is.
2) Spend some time with your new spouse, too. It’s wonderful to spend time with all your guests, but make a few special moments for each other.
{Other Professionals}
Entertainment: Beantown Band
Hair & Makeup: Beyond Beauty
Invitations: Greenwich Letterpress
Photography: Mark Eclipse
Reception Site: The Popponesset Inn