Cheyenne & Arjun's Nor'easter Wedding at Greenvale Vineyards in Portsmouth, RI

Every so often one of our couples’ weddings finds itself smack in the middle of a weather event. For all of its seasonally transitional beauty, September does indeed have a history of throwing us some unexpected rain here and there but it’s been a couple of years since our last truly rainy wedding day. Cheyenne and Arjun, two absolutely lovely people living and working in Washington D.C., stayed the course for their wedding plans along the Rhode Island coast in the week leading up to what would turn out to be a historic nor’easter, dumping more than six inches of rain through nearly sixty mile per hour wind gusts. Weather has been so much more difficult to predict in the past handful of years in this area of the New England coast that’s historically already tricky to call, and these two, their guests, and of course us and the rest of the vendor team had our attention glued to the NOAA forecasts as Saturday approached. When we arrived at their airbnb in Middletown just down the road from Greenvale Vineyards, the wind was already whipping and the rain was already coming down in sheets. The sky was dark and threatening and one glimpse out towards the ocean painted quite a dramatic picture: white caps crashing against the rock face at Purgatory Chasm, the rough water dotted with adrenaline seeking surfers hoping to capitalize on the event. Inside, however, we found Cheyenne and Arjun hanging out with their friends, prepping marigold garlands and listening to indie rock as they began to dress for the wedding. Despite the drama outside the mood indoors was lighthearted, and folks were buzzing along doing their part to get ready for the day no matter what it ended up like.

Once together Cheyenne and Arjun could at least face the challenge as a team, and as we headed over to the venue to appraise the situation we were met with fiercer winds and even heavier rain. Out of town for the weekend, the vineyard owners generously allowed these two and their families to use their home (an 1860s Victorian mansion) for staging in the moments leading up to the ceremony. Every wedding day no matter how perfect the situation takes a village to pull off; there’s always lots going on behind the scenes that comes together to make sure that folks are having a good time, everyone stays safe, and nothing comes crashing down. If we didn’t have the positivity of their coordinator Kayley, the vigilance of their tent company, the liveliness of their band, the dune-like structural coziness of Ayla’s florals (not to mention their function as a windbreak during the ceremony), and the stalwart leadership of Sally from Smoke & Pickles we’re not sure if this day would have gone as well as it did. When it came time for the ceremony to start and their guests had packed into an auxiliary tent (booked last minute to accommodate the rain plan), Cheyenne and Arjun and their parents waited at the front door of the mansion anxiously. Perhaps for the one and only time that day, the rain stopped for a ten minute period allowing all six of them to make it into the ceremony tent relatively dry. It’s actually so difficult to explain the moment when they both made it into the tent, but the collective release of anxiety and following catharsis of the ceremony concluding was off the charts. The shift in energy once everyone arrived in the main tent was massive, and a day that felt uncertain at times suddenly felt like a party. With the wind continuing to howl outside the tent, folks stayed warm with hot apple cider and complimentary blankets and the atmosphere inside just got cozier and cozier. The band which had to that point been waiting in quite wet conditions kicked into high gear and dinner, toasts, and dancing all went off without a hitch.

We usually end these blog posts by talking about how grateful we are to have been there or how beautiful the day was. When this wedding ended, instead of wallowing in our waterlogged boots, we felt triumphant. Not only did it happen, but it actually went pretty dang well considering the circumstances. Alongside the other vendors we left feeling like we can actually handle anything that’s thrown at us, and that’s as good a silver lining as we can hope for.

Venue: Greenvale Vineyards
Planning/Design: Shore-Creative
Coordination: Coordinance K
Florals: Shade Studio
Catering: Smoke & Pickles
Dress: Cheyenne’s Mom’s dress
Menswear: Bonobos
Makeup: Lorna Made Me Blush
Hair: Allie @ Ora Beauty
Tunes: House on Fire
Rentals: PEAK