What’s better than a Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum wedding in late summer?  Not much, to be honest… Emily + Jonathan’s wedding day was kinda perfect!

Planned by Sara Reynolds Events, the entire day ran smoothly and was surprisingly cool for August in St Michaels.  Arriving at the museum campus around noon, we unloaded our purple delivery van and got right to work!

The 2,000 + feet of waterfront access on the Miles River and views from Navy Point really can’t be beat when looking to host a classically eastern shore wedding full of coastal & nautical details.

Ceremony at The Bandstand

Funny enough, the Tolchester Beach Bandstand that now resides at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum originally comes from much closer to us here at Wildly Native Flower Farm!  Tolchester is a bayfront town also in Kent County, only about 10 minutes drive away.  In the 1800’s there was an amusement park at the beach that would bring people from nearby as well as from across the bay, coming to our shore by ferry! The bandstand was a key fixture there, but luckily was saved before demolition.

But enough about local lore, back to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum wedding!!  The bandstand structure has four open sides, so we made sure to triple check which one was being used to frame the ceremony before attaching their florals! The view through to the waterfront make a perfect backdrop to their ceremony.

At the entrance to the aisle, the bride + groom had requested two low dish arrangements full of local grasses with no florals. This was a sweet place for a nod to the gorgeous natural scenery.

The Wedding Party

We love a wedding party full of friends, happiness, and color!  The bridesmaids chose floral patterned dresses in various shades of softer pastel colors, with their all-white bouquets tying them all together.  Emily carried a vibrant seasonal bouquet, full of every color that we grow!

The groomsmen looked sharp in dark blue suits, with white floral boutonnieres to match the bridal party.  Jonathan had a colorful boutonniere to match Emily.

Their flower girls were originally going to carry little baskets with a floral arrangement in them, but their baskets were nowhere to be found that day so we pivoted and made mini bouquets instead!  The girls loved feeling like the grown-ups, and everyone was happy all around.

After the Ceremony

The escort cards were made by the bride, Emily!  She is an amazing potter, and created each oyster shell piece individually, adding bright colors to complement the overall theme of the day.  They really popped in the photographer’s flatlay photos, too.

Our white porcelain compotes accented the space, full of every August bloom that we grow.  This includes zinnias, echinops, solidego, abelia, gomphrena, dianthus, celosia, eryngium, eucalyptus, hellenium, echinacea, ptilotus, foxglove, strawflower, craspedia, statice.

The entrance to the tent drew the guests into the reception.  Lanterns and chinoiserie vases sat at the base of the tent poles, which led into our greenery garland with small pops of floral accents!

Into the Sailcloth Tent

Ok, not that we didn’t love the rest of the wedding setup, but we are so excited to show you the reception tables!!!!

The head table will stay with us forever – three light wood harvest tables placed end to end with a serpentine moss floral meadow runner!!!

We created 28 individual arrangements covered in moss.  Once they were arranged down the center of the wedding party table, we went back around to tuck moss in and around all of the seams for a completely flat-to-the table look.  There were also taper candles and votives to add ambience to the tablescape.

For her guest tables, we created two separate looks.  One had scattered vases and taper candles, while the other had arrangements placed into the couple’s carefully curated collection of vintage oyster tins!  The textured blue glassware and crossback chairs used throughout really tied it all together, too.

The rectangular harvest tables had a mix of clear glass vases and pressed flower bud vases, with colorful taper candles as well as pressed flower ones, and a mix of clear, silver, and pressed flower votive candle holders.

The round tables alternated between a solid blue linen and a blue and white patterned option, with either clear or silver votive candle holders.  No two oyster tins were alike, making each table even more unique.

Pressed Flower Details

For another layer of visual interest and detail, the couple (+ planner) chose to use our own pressed flower taper candles, votive holders, and bud vases!  When they came out to Wildly Native for a farm tour and table mock-up, we were excited to show them all the options in person.  After a walk through the fields, Sara pulled out a sample of each of their linens while we pulled various votive holders and taper candles, until we had the perfect blend of rentals and candles to match their style.  We had been pressing pansies all spring (as well as other other florals), and used them to create the taper candles, frosted glass votive holders, and white porcelain bud vases that were used throughout the reception. Want to have one of your own? We sell them over on our Etsy site!

The Finishing Touches

To tie it all together, we placed an extra moss arrangement on the low table in the lounge area, which played off the gold edge on the glass table and the rich blue velvet couches perfectly.

There were smaller oyster tins as well, which we filled with bright summer florals and were used as an accent on this INCREDIBLE bar from Pretty Little Wedding Co!

Two other white porcelain compote arrangements were placed in the tent as well, on the guest book table and memorial table.

And their cake was so cute! Their bakery added a few final touches of marigolds, echinops, and (all edible florals!) to their small cake, and we loved the bright floral tablecloth that it sat on.

Looking for a florist for your Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum wedding? We’d love to talk through all of your ideas and see what we come up with together! You can easily submit an inquiry here for more information, and the whole process moves smoothly from there. Hope to chat flowers soon!

Vendors

Florals: Wildly Native Flower Farm

Venue: Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

Planner: Sara Reynolds Events

Photographer: Molly McManus

Rentals: Eastern Shore Tents + Events; Pretty Little Wedding Co

Catering: Garden + Garnish

HMU: Updo’s for I Do’s