Doesn’t matter if you hated him in school, you ain’t gonna hate him today! Shakespeare is in the house. Today’s Worchester, MA wedding is an ode to Shakespeare’s sonnets (and also an ode to my grade 10 memories of English class).  Sean and Michelle, both lit majors, shared a love for Shakespeare.  Just WAIT till you hear about their proposal.  Totally adorable.  So it was only appropriate that Mr. Shakes, and literature in general, play a huge part in their wedding theme.  It’s super lovely on a few different vintage levels.  All perfectly presented to us by these amazing photos taken by Decisive Moment Photojournalists.  Oh, and Michelle has given us the recap from her wedding day.  Hark, she speaks:

Sean and I met our junior year at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. We were both English majors so literature was always a part of our relationship. Early on, we took a class together and would spend afternoons reading novels together. At one point, I mentioned to Sean that my favorite poem was Sonnet 29 by Shakespeare. After graduation, we both became teachers and eventually found jobs teaching high school English at the same school. In November 2009, we took a weekend trip to Cape Cod. While walking the beach, Sean proposed at the end of a rock jetty. It was a crisp fall day and the most beautiful setting for a proposal. Even better, Sean had memorized Sonnet 29 and recited it to me. We spent the rest of the day calling family and friends then shared a nice dinner out. As we started planning the wedding, Holy Cross and Sonnet 29 were always what came to our minds. Immediately, we knew the ceremony would be at Holy Cross with our old professor, Father James Miracky, officiating. Next, we decided to make Sonnet 29, and literature in general, the theme of our wedding.

We were looking to make it romantic and vintage with elements of nature. Immediately, my mom jumped in as our wedding planner. The first step was finding the perfect atmosphere to match our poetic theme. Lord Thompson Manor fit the bill. The estate is gorgeous and the Manor felt right out of a story. The space inspired the Gatsby-esque tuxes the guys wore and my vintage inspired dress and birdcage veil. I also wore my great-grandmother’s pin on my dress and my Godmother’s fur stole to complete the look. Our vision came together with personal details. Our invitations were in the form of a book and featured an oak tree on the cover- a motif that appeared throughout the wedding details. Each table at the reception was numbered with a Shakespearean Sonnet, printed in script writing on aged paper- made by the groom- and had old books, tea cups, birdcages and candles as centerpieces. Touches of purple and pink flowers sprinkled the room. The entire manor was bathed in candle light and guests enjoyed delicious food and the “Purple Sonnet” martini while the band played. Sean and I secretly took dance lessons to surprise our friends and family with the most wonderful first dance. Another DIY project was our cake topper. Sean sculpted the figures out of clay and he and I painted them to look like us. At the end of the night, each guest received a book of Shakespeare’s Sonnets and my Italian grandmother’s homemade cookies. It was the most perfect night for Sean and me. Thanks to everyone at Lord Thompson Manor, we had no worries throughout the weekend; from the rehearsal dinner through the Sunday brunch, everything was perfect. We are so happy to have the amazing pictures taken by Glen Cooper and a wonderful video made by my sister, Gina Reis. In all, the whole wedding process was everything we could have imagined. Everyone involved in the planning worked to make a whole weekend that reflected us as a couple.

Event and Floral Design: Jackie and her staff at Lord Thompson Manor | Venue and Catering: Lord Thompson Manor | Wedding Dress: Mikaella Bridal | Shoes: Payless | Bridesmaid Dress: Bill Levkoff | Menswear: Calvin Klein, Legend Tux | Wedding Cake: Michelle Bohegian of Something Sweet by Michelle | Invitations: Minted.com | Entertainment: Brickpark Entertainment | Bridal Veil: Birdcage veil purchased at Mariella’s Bridal in Rocky Hill, CT | Photography: Decisive Moment Photojournalists (Glen Cooper and Chris Gagne)

Pretty things. Every day I get to look at pretty things. And I love it. Today is no exception. Picnics, typewriters, bicycles and bouquets.  This New England shoot by Tyra Bleek Photography is the culmination of inspiration, artistry and hard work by all the participating vendors.  The result: more than just a photoshoot, these images tell the story of one of the most exciting times in our lives.  Being engaged is a time you’ll never forget.  It’s fun, exciting and full of inspiration.  Which exactly what this shoot embodies.  A time where love slaps us all in the face, drags us around and gets us prepped for the rest of our lives.  And it’s lovely.

Photographer: Tyra Bleek Photography | Event Planner: Mikado Weddings | Event Designer: Haberdash Vintage | Other: Sweet Lydia’s

A secret: I especially love when real brides submit their weddings to La Belle Bride. I mean, I love submissions to my little wedding blog…period. However, hearing from brides is a particular treat. Fresh from their wedding day, they’re usually ready to burst with details. Today’s DIY wedding was submitted by Susan Lee, a sweetheart bride from Boston. And she’s just full of great insight from her sweet wedding day

The inspiration for the day is trying to make my wedding modern, relax and intimate. I’ve been to so many weddings that have the exact same feeling – a ceremony at a church and reception at a huge banquet hall. We love our friends but we were so over the traditional wedding. We wanted something “out of the box”. That really made us to decide on having the ceremony outdoors at Hyatt Harborside which had the backdrop of Boston and our reception at Rocca Restaurant and Bar. We rented out the entire restaurant – cocktail hour downstairs and brunch buffet upstairs. It was so intimate because the space was smaller but everyone loved it. People got a chance to bond with other people at the next table. It was great! And most importantly, we wanted our day for us to really BE with our friends. So many brides say they never remember their day because it was so rushed but I remember everything about my day. And my husband and I wanted it that way. We didn’t rush anything and cut out things that weren’t important to us – we didn’t do the bouquet/garter toss, father/mother dance and etc. So with those things cut out, we had time to mingle and really have fun with our friends and family.

Planning my wedding wasn’t the most fun but my sister aka MOH aka wedding .coordinator did most of the work (I didn’t make her do all the work….her ideal job is to be an event planner). I told her what I liked and she made everything happen even with the budget we had. Having all that stress off my shoulders definitely made my life a lot easier and enjoyable.

Our wedding was filled with DIYs. Our photobooth was set up by our photographer and my husband and I made the props for people to use. We glued mustaches on sticks and bought signs to use. My husband went to Home Depot and got thin wood boards, cut out speech bubbles and painted them with chalkboard paint so people can use and write on them. It was awesome! We use birdcages as cards box and used Moo cards for guest books. We designed and created all our Save the Dates, invitations and signage around the reception. I created short and tall centerpieces with hydrangeas purchased at BJS (much like a Costco) and curly willow branches. There might be more but I just can’t seem to remember.

My day was fantastic!!!!!!!!! It was the best day of my life (well maybe there might be better days later) but I felt so loved and I was just ecstatic to marry my man. I knew that no wedding is perfect and mine was not perfect. The ceremony was next to the water and it sooooo windy. My hair was blowing everywhere and I was sure I didn’t look too attractive but I didn’t care. I didn’t let anything that didn’t go my way ruin my day. I just had to not think about it and remember the most important thing. I was going to married to my husband! And that’s why my day was great. And I loved how relax my reception was. People came up to me and said that it was such a fantastic idea to rent a restaurant and that the environment was ‘very us’. I was able to eat and catch up with people and took great photos at the photobooth. To me, my wedding was pretty darn perfect.

Venue and Caterer: Rocca Restaurant and Bar |  Wedding Dress: Allure |  Shoes: Nine West  |  Bridesmaid Dress: David’s Bridal  |  Menswear: JCrew  |  Wedding Cake: 6 different cakes from Dessert Works |  Invitations: DIY  |  Florist: Bumble Bee Landing |  Hair/MU: Hair by Carolina |  Photography: Joshua Behan