Real Wedding: Donald Dallaire & David Handy
June 6, 2015
Nantucket Whaling Museum
Nantucket, Massachusetts
Photograph by Zofia & Co.
THE STORY
When your career revolves around styling weddings, the bar is set even higher for your own.
David Handy, a Nantucket-based event designer, learned that quickly after getting engaged to Donald Dallaire, whom he had serendipitously met at a Providence bar a little more than a year earlier.
Step one: delegate. While the grooms-to-be designed and planned their nuptials together, David was happy to hand over the reins to his associates on the big day. “It was important to us that our wedding was stress-free,” David says. Adds Donald with a laugh, “He is actually really good at letting things go.”
One of the easiest parts of the planning process, it turned out, was choosing a venue. Housed in a restored 1847 candle factory and boasting a rooftop observation deck, the Nantucket Whaling Museum was the perfect spot for the couple’s wedding day. “It had the water views we wanted for our ceremony, the space was different and unique, and the building was full of Nantucket history,” David says. Plus, who wouldn’t want to celebrate in the presence of a 46-foot whale skeleton?
To give the quirky space an elegant New England vibe, the couple dressed it up with vintage décor, delicate orchids, and pops of glorious sea-glass green. “I didn’t want a lot of fluff. Just clean, vintage, and natural,” says Donald, who serenaded his groom during the reception with “Someone to Fall Back On,” by Jason Robert Brown. “That’s what I got, thanks to David.”
THE DETAILS
Photograph by Zofia & Co.
David’s lighting team gave the space an underwater glow with pin spots, color washes, and uplighting.
Photograph by Zofia & Co.
From gooey to chewy, the “over the top” candy bar offered 300 pounds of sweets in glass containers.
Photograph by Zofia & Co.
In lieu of a traditional aisle reveal or a “first look,” the couple got ready together in monogrammed Pottery Barn robes gifted by a friend.
Photograph by Zofia & Co.
The museum’s rooftop observation deck overlooking Nantucket Harbor was the perfect place for the couple to exchange vows.
THE FILE
Band Perry Rossi Orchestras
Cake Petticoat Row Bakery
Catering Nantucket Catering Company
Flowers and Tabletop David M. Handy Events
Hair Daryá Salon & Spa
Invitations Parchment Fine Papers
Linens BBJ
Menswear J.Crew
Officiant Daniel Griffiths
Rentals New England Country Rentals
Shoes Artemis Design Co.
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