Whitney Schweiser and Kyle Gordon have been friends since 2012, but they think they may have met years before during their undergrad years in Boston. Upon moving to New York City, the pair moved in similar social circles and overlapping friend groups. “We started eerily running into each other all the time,” Whitney laughs. So, going out on a date felt natural, and that first date in 2016 led to a precious engagement about two and a half years later.
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“Despite what many people think, we got engaged in our Cobble Hill apartment 30 mins before leaving for the airport to fly to Norway on a 10-day trip with friends,” Whitney says. “Kyle had picked up the ring that morning, and I guess it was burning a hole in his pocket — he couldn’t even wait for Norway! As we were running around packing (both in our PJs and robes), he called me into our bedroom and was on one knee. It was perfect. No theatrics, just us.”
The optimistic future Mr. and Mrs. Gordon didn’t realize they were embarking on a frustratingly long engagement of more than two years, thanks to the pandemic. They were supposed to marry in September of 2020 but pushed it back by more than a year. “If I could go back, I would make that engagement period as short as possible,” Whitney adds.
Planning kept rolling nonetheless. “Our first planner retired mid-Covid around the time we pushed our wedding out a year, so we found a new planner,” Whitney says. “Because we had done a lot of the preliminary planning with Planner One, Planner Two really just helped us with those last three months. We felt very grateful to have her come to our wedding weekend!”
Having grown up in Destin, FL, Whitney often drove out to 30A, the scenic beachside highway along the Florida panhandle, for beach days and weekend getaways. “It’s easily one of the most beautiful places on earth, and a lot of people don’t know about it,” she says, surely referring to her friends, colleagues, and classmates from the Northeast (wink wink).
The fashion-conscious and immensely stylish bride picked her color scheme by looking through her closet. “I wear a lot of dresses with gold, champagne, and peachy blush undertones — my closet could have clothed every single one of my bridesmaids!” Whitney says. “Once I decided on the color palette, I told my bridesmaids to buy a dress that they would 1) wear to a beachy-formal wedding AND 2) wear again. It all came together from there!”
“Wedding dress shopping in NYC is the best,” Whitney declares. After about a month of research and discovery, she brought a few friends for a day of appointments at top showrooms. “My friend Maggie begged me to try on this fitted lace applique dress, which I was skeptical of because the lace was not what I had in mind. But the sample fit perfectly, and that specific dress made me feel like my best self, so it ended up being the dress.
Neither Whitney nor Kyle wanted the added stress of writing their own vows, so they opted for a traditional exchange. “However …” Whitney shares excitedly, “… our best friend, Henry Cashin, officiated the wedding and did an amazing job customizing our ceremony. I think his speech was 25 minutes long and took him years to write and lots of Q&A sessions with us. So, while we didn’t write our own vows, the ceremony felt very us.”
When it came to a first look, their mothers didn’t give them a choice! “They wanted to see Kyle’s face in real-time while he saw me walk down the aisle. Kyle and I didn’t have the heart to fight with them,” Whitney adds. After the “I do”s, the new Gordons and their 140 smiling guests went a half-mile down the road to the WaterColor LakeHouse to get the party started.
A lively cocktail hour was an important part of the night to the bride. On the dock behind their reception venue at the Watercolor Boathouse, a live guitarist filled the air with old-school country tunes, small bites were passed, and the open bar kicked off the revelry. Between a cocktail hour and the reception, a table of tequila shots helped guests find their assigned seats, complete with a huge sign that said ‘Take a shot, Take a seat!’
When it came to the meal, Whitney believes in a seated dinner all the way. “Maybe I am lazy, but I require a seat, so we figured our guests likely felt the same,” she adds. “Kyle and I also don’t love disorganization, so we aren’t chill enough people to do a roaming or standing dinner.” Happy, tequila-primed guests enjoyed a delectable menu of fried green tomato and goat cheese salad, surf and turf entrée with filet of beef and blackened grouper, with sides of pancetta Brussels sprouts and scalloped potatoes.
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“My friend attended a wedding the month before ours, and they had a glitter bar. She called me immediately and said I had to have one.” Whitney, who has always loved glitter, thought it would be fun for guests to deck themselves out in glitter as the celebrations ramped up throughout the evening. “To this day, all of our guests bring up that glitter bar,” she says. The bride also embraced the Florida panhandle vibe with light-up cowboy hats and late-night fried chicken biscuits.
They embarked on their “honeymoon” six weeks before the wedding. “It was an 18-day extravaganza and I wish I could go back,” Whitney says. “We started in Lake Como for a friend’s wedding, then Florence and Tuscany, then the Amalfi Coast (Positano, Capri), and ended the trip in Santorini, Greece.”
Whitney and Kyle recently bought a house and moved back to Boston where it all began. I asked Whitney if she had any tips for future brides. “Get a glitter bar, and bring in late-night food,” she says. “Your guests will hate you in the morning for the glitter, but they will be very happy that the food hopefully curbed their hangovers.” Cheer to the Gordons!
Thanks, Whitney and Kyle, for taking us back to your day. And thanks to Dear Wesleyann for the fabulous photos.
RESOURCES
Ceremony: The Chapel at Seaside
Reception: WaterColor LakeHouse
Planner: Shelby Peaden Events
Day-of coordinator: Shelby Peaden Events
Photographer: Dear Wesleyann
Flowers: Florals by the Sea
Stationery: Ella Letterpress
Hair and makeup: Rollands Beauty Bar
Bride’s gown: Mira Zwillinger
Bridesmaids’ dresses: Ulla Johnson, Shona Joy, Hannah Artwear
Groom’s and groomsmen’s attire: Blank Label
Catering: WaterColor / Fish Out of Water
Cakes: Confections on the Coast
Entertainment: Fly by Radio
Rentals: H&M Event Rentals
Linens: Florals by the Sea
Transportation: Get a Goober, Sunshine Shuttles
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