Scrapbook: Melissa & Jon
A local bride tells us what made her day so special.
IF THERE’S ONE THING WE’VE LEARNED, AFTER PUTTING TOGETHER ISSUE after issue of Elegant Wedding, it’s that every bride out there likes to know what other brides out there are doing. And why not? It’s a chance to notice trends, get ideas for your own wedding—and best of all, when it’s a bride who lives near you, see what fabulous things area vendors are up to, and maybe even find some favorites to book for your Big Day.
So here in this section are three beautiful Boston-area weddings. And while every celebration is different, they all have one thing in comon: Each couple created a wedding that was truly about them, their relationship and the life they plan to live together. You’ll see.
FOR DAYS LEADING UP TO MELISSA Iovanni and Jon Mattison’s fall wedding, the rain would not let up. “It was torrentially downpouring,” Melissa says. But on Saturday, October 14, 2006, the couple’s wedding day, Melissa awoke to find clear blue skies and lots of sun. “It was a gorgeous, crisp fall day, and then the day after, it started to rain straight for another few days.”
The weather wasn’t the only aspect of Jon and Melissa’s fairytale relationship and nuptials that came together seamlessly, as if they were meant to be. Set up on a blind date by their respective friends, the couple says they both “just knew” within minutes of meeting each other. “We were both a little surprised about meeting someone so great on a blind date,” Melissa says. “We looked at each other like, ‘Is this for real?’ We just kind of knew we were ‘the one’.”
Eleven months later Jon proposed, and within five months, they celebrated their vows with a reception at Tupper Manor in Beverly (after a last-minute cancellation opened up a key autumn date for the couple). “I had this overwhelming feeling that this was what was supposed to happen,” Melissa says of the sudden opening. “There was no hesitation because we knew it was right. We just knew.”
“They were just so in love,” says Tiffany White, co-owner of Newport, Rhode Island-based Alternate Angles. “There was so much chemistry—they were so easy to photograph.” Together with co-owner Laura Pineda, the two captured moments throughout the day—such as a flower girl by the doorway of the church in awe of the Monique Lhuillier-clad bride or the quiet time between Jon and his brother in the church’s balcony. “When all of the details are put together,” says White, “they really capture the story and spirit of the day.”
A chocolate-brown ribbon became the decor centerpiece of the couple’s wedding, showing up in tiny details such as an accent on the bridesmaids’ sage Levkoff gowns; in the chocolate-dipped biscotti paired with fruit served along with dessert; in the large, chocolate-brown fondant bow topping the three-tiered cake by Cakes for Occasions in Danvers; and in the color of the text on the programs.
But instead of the bouquets of roses and hydrangea, or the bride’s stunning blue topaz and diamond drop earrings, it was the beaming couple themselves that were the focus of the day. “Your life just comes full circle,” Melissa says of their meeting, proposal and eventual wedding. “I just feel like I’m the luckiest person. It was like Jon said, ‘When I found you, it was like ‘That’s the one’.”