Meredith and Jim's Newport Beach House Wedding

Meredith and Jim were married this summer in beautiful Newport with a stunning ceremony at St. Mary’s and a reception at the new Newport Beach House. This fun-loving couple perfectly matched polished decor and personalized DIY elements. The Newport Beach House was the perfect backdrop for their big day. Plus, their pictures by Molly Lo Photography are AMAZING! Scroll down for their full wedding day pics and their love story as told by Meredith.

“I was born and raised in Wyckoff, NJ just a few miles outside of New York City, which might sound familiar if you’ve seen the Real Housewives of New Jersey. We lived a fast paced lifestyle where yellow meant GO and Yankee Stadium was only a thirty minute drive down the road. Jim is from Tallmadge, OH, a beautiful tight knit community in northeast Ohio where everyone knows everyone (and I mean everyone) and LeBron James could be found at the local Swensons.

Jim and I were introduced through Craigslist. Sort of. I was everyone’s charity case at work and constantly being setup. When my colleague mentioned he wanted to introduce me to his friend, I told him I was all set. He suggested again. And again. And again. So I agreed to meet at the bar next to my apartment in the Fenway area with some other friends. Jim had met my colleague through a basketball league .. that he found on Craigslist .. and they became friendly.

Our first encounter was less than romantic— neither of us were terribly impressed. Jim showed up in Red Sox attire (WHAT!?) and I had a half a glass of wine and a few too many ice water with lemons. He offered to drive my friend and I home but I turned that down and we went our separate ways. A month, a failed attempt at a Justin Timberlake concert (Jim learned quickly trying to pull a “fast one” on me wasn’t a great idea), a baseball game and lots of laughs our impressions of each other were changed drastically. We spent the following weekend on a sail boat in Nantucket, enjoyed Labor Day in DC, became foodies in Chicago, rallied at the Muni Lot for Jim’s beloved Brown’s in Cleveland, visited my college teammates in Raleigh and saw the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC all before the New Year.

A well-deserved promotion for Jim meant a move back to Ohio and I couldn’t imagine my life without him, so I requested a transfer from my job to their Cleveland office and off we went to what I thought would be cornfields and cows. We enjoyed “city life” again last summer in Cleveland before buying a house that fall in suburbia USA and getting settled in our jobs. On October 3, 2015 we went to my grandparent’s cabin in upstate NY for a weekend with my family. After Jim asked (meh, begged) six different times to go for a hike (for the record, it was raining) I agreed just so he would stop asking. Jim looked so handsome. I had on leggings, a flannel, a puke pink knee length puffer jacket from the ‘80s, a bright orange hunting vest, whistle and walking stick to scare the bears. A few minutes into the walk Jim kept asking me if there were any special spots on our property but the ones I could think of were too far away so I told him no. Ten minutes later he got down on one knee and pulled out the most stunning diamond ring I had ever laid my eyes on.

We knew we wanted to get married in New England, the place we fell in love and began our life together, but we didn’t know where exactly. Cape Cod, Nantucket, Boston and Rhode Island were our top choices but the quaint town of Newport immediately won us over and we knew we wanted to have a venue right on the beach. Planning was difficult from hundreds of miles away and I had wished I could have had my mom there to come over after work and begin some of our do-it-yourself projects, but she is pretty talented at FaceTiming so we managed J

Thankfully though, Jim was the King of DIY. He created our guest book (two oars that we will put in our beach house one day, hopefully on the water in Newport!), our M&J sign and our cornhole boards which were enjoyed by all of our guests. The day was perfect and getting married in the same church that JFK and Jackie O said their I dos was almost too much for my history buff husband. We recited our vows to each other overlooking the water on a cliff near Second Beach just the two of us, it was magical.

Jim’s wedding gift to me was so special it had me in tears. He began a journal the day we got engaged and wrote in it nearly every day, sharing his love for me with the most beautiful words and allowed me to relive memories we shared during those special months. While reading the book my mom gave me a beautiful handkerchief that my great-grandmother gave my grandmother on her wedding day, and my grandmother gave my mother on her wedding day.

I don’t know how any day will ever top this one, every time I think about it a huge smile appears on my face. I am living a dream I never knew existed and I have truly married the most perfect man for me.”

– Meredith