Lavender Filled Wedding on the Bay

Katie and Will love to travel, and they knew they wanted to get married in Katie’s home state of Maryland, so they found the perfect inn on Chesapeake Bay for their wedding day! Complete with flowering fields of lavender, a beautiful garden ceremony space and a chic reception barn, their celebration was full of love and joy. Manda Weaver Photography captured their day!

A lavender filled wedding on Chesapeake Bay in Rock Hall, MD

How They Met & The Proposal

“Katie and Will first met in 2011 when they were both living in Philadelphia – William rowing and studying finance at Drexel University and Katie working in finance. As the story goes, the rest is history. After the first time they met, with William’s characteristic persistence, they realized they were meant to be, and have been practically inseparable ever since.

Katie’s father had passed away a few months before Will and Katie were set to travel to Italy. Prior to leaving for Italy, Will asked Katie’s uncle (who later ended up being their officiant!) for Katie’s hand in marriage. Will asked Katie to be his wife overlooking a valley of rolling hills at a picturesque winery in Tuscany, Italy.”

The Food

“Food and drinks were of the utmost importance to us, because we wanted to make sure our guests were nourished and not thirsty! We also enjoy eating local and organic in our own home whenever possible, and we choose to support the local economy. The Innkeeper, Joanne Rich, is an experienced caterer who prepared all of the food for our 130 guests. The ingredients were sourced from local farms and fishermen, wherever possible.”

DIY Backyard Wedding by Isabelle Selby Photography

Special Details

“We had a photo of Katie’s father on a seat directly in front of where we exchanged our vows. At the beginning of exchanging our vows, when Katie’s uncle (officiant) said that her family was giving her away, Katie turned around and placed a flower from her bouquet on the seat with her father’s picture. Katie’s mentor, Nicole, who was also in the wedding, gave Katie and Will each a set of angel wings to include in their dress and tux to symbolize Katie’s father being with them both throughout the day. We had custom-made koozies with our pup Dennis’s photo on them.”