The Wedding Planner
It was early Spring and we received an inquiry about a wedding aboard Moment. How exciting and flattering to have a couple choose us to celebrate their special day – and it would be the first one! The event would be super low key as the couple – two lovely women from Texas – wanted it to be just the two of them while visiting the cape.
There probably isn’t a wedding in the history of time that diminished rather than escalated. Moment’s first wedding was no exception. We get very excited by the concept of doing more and helping people make the best day possible no matter what occasion. From the initial phone call to the day of the event, we went through every detail to make sure the day was a huge success.
One such detail to call out is that typically guests arrive at Moment via launch service on the west end of Provincetown and sometimes when the tide is extremely low, said guests have to get their feet wet to make it out to the launch. Naturally, the time scheduled for the wedding was during mean low tide, which would have meant wet wedding dresses. In an effort to keep it as comfortable and desirable as possible, we made special arrangements with the Provincetown Harbor Master to tie up to a dock that would allow the brides to seamlessly enter the boat.
To continue with the details, restaurant, hair, make-up recommendations were made, a photographer was booked and everything was falling into place … everything except the weather forecast. The July 4th week was a 10/10 stellar week with fantastic sailing, swimming, and sunsets, except for the Friday wedding day. The skies completely opened up and it was a nasty mess. By some stroke of luck, we were able to fit the ceremony sail in the following day as was the photographer and all other arrangements. Wow!
Fast forward to Saturday evening … Moment arrived a few minutes before the brides, docked with assistance of two harbormasters(a big thank you!), and was ready to go. Professional photographer, Brad Fowler, was literally on board to shoot the event. In unbelievably gorgeous white dresses, the brides arrived and descended down the gangway towards Moment. Brad moved them around to get all the angles of photos before we got underway.
In the spirit of escalation, it wasn’t just the brides on board. The parents of one and the sister of the other flew in for this very special event and joined us for the sail.
We were off. The photos continued, the mainsail was raised. The last item of escalation was that the captain would be the officiant of the wedding. Sailing a 47′ sailboat, calling for the rings, and allowing the couple to seal their vows with a kiss all happened that Saturday evening. Thank you auto-pilot for holding your compass course!
During the exchanging of vows, we had a couple “Moments” when Brad almost had an insurance claim on his camera equipment, but thankfully the captain / officiant was there to help steady him for just the right shot as the winds and wave action swayed us about.
After we heard the proper amount of “I will” and “I do,” we gently sailed back through Provincetown harbor, which was bathed in golden light for a final round of photos. The brides were whisked off by the launch service and then on to pedi-cabs to their next adventure.
Congratulations Kim and Michelle!