Off The Beaten Path Celebrates One Year of LOVE: Tracey and Mark, August 25th, 2012

We’re so thrilled to spend our Sunday wishing our Bridechilla™ , Tracey, and her husband Mark a very happy anniversary. Below we remember some of the special moments of their chill day, and we also sit back and let the bride, herself tells us how she stayed relaxed and so anti-zilla while planning, how married life is, her anniversary plans, and what made her wedding, styled by Mary Ellen Murphy of Off The Beaten Path Weddings, so special and chill.

Happy anniversary! Any big plans?

We just moved out of the city so wanted to stay local and enjoy our new house after a crazy couple months. We have a special dinner planned and are going to spend some time at the beach and playing tennis, generally making the most out of the end of the summer and the great weather on the east coast. Oh and some good wine of course!

What was the best part of your wedding day?

Honestly it was the whole day– and really the whole weekend. It’s so hard to pick one favorite thing– having our friends and family in Napa to share the weekend with us was really special.

Tell us about your planning experience.

We planned the wedding remotely from NY. Being far away had its challenges, but it also let us let go of some of the details because it was too hard to control things from far away. We focused on the few things that were most important and were lucky to have Mary Ellen to work out the details.

Any advice for brides trying to avoid stress while planning?

This is obvious– hire Off the Beaten Path! We were really lucky to happen upon Mary Ellen– I saw some of the work she’d done on the internet and knew her style matched what we were looking for. Once we came out to Napa and met her we knew we had the right person. If you have an experienced planner who knows the area and whose taste you trust it makes it easy to let go of some of the decision making. Having a planner was crucial for the planning for us, but also indispensable for the wedding day. It allowed us to relax and enjoy the day, each other and our guests.

One year of chill love – congratulations! So far, what has been the most valuable lesson learned in keeping a strong marriage?

I wish I had some great advice to give, but we are still newlyweds ourselves figuring it all out!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TRACEY & MARK!
See their entire wedding on Style Me Pretty.

Credit: Wedding Planning + Styling: Off the Beaten Path Weddings, Photography: What Shanni Saw

To many many many more chill years of love and happiness. -Bridechilla™ & Off The Beaten Path Weddings

Related articles

• PART ONE: Interview with a blogging Bridechilla™-to-be (beabridechilla.com)
• Off The Beaten Path Celebrates One Year of LOVE: Niamah & Darren, July 28, 2012 (beabridechilla.com)
• Off The Beaten Path Celebrates One Year of LOVE: Erin & Byron, July 21, 2012 (beabridechilla.com)
• Bridechilla™ Tip #34 (beabridechilla.com)

Off The Beaten Path Celebrates One Year of LOVE: Michelle and Drew, August 11th, 2012

We’re so thrilled to spend our Sunday wishing our Bridechilla™ , Michelle, and her husband Drew a very happy anniversary. Below we remember some of the special moments of their chill day, and we also sit back and let the bride, herself tells us how she stayed relaxed and so anti-zilla while planning, how married life is, her anniversary plans, and what made her wedding, styled by Mary Ellen Murphy of Off The Beaten Path Weddings, so special and chill.
All photos taken by onelove photography.

Happy anniversary! Any big plans?
We are excited to be celebrating our one-year anniversary in Napa this weekend! We have a loooong list of restaurants and wineries to visit, but I think that’s the best kind of “to-do list” to have.  We can’t wait to relax and take in all the beauty of the valley together.

What was the best part of your wedding day?
Drew and I had to talk this one over because we felt there were so many “best” parts…but if we have to narrow it down to one, we think it was the dinner.  There is something so special about sharing a delicious meal with loved ones, and the setting around us was absolutely breathtaking.  I loved that the food was local, prepared with such care, and passed around family style.  It didn’t feel stuffy at all; just a big group of people we love, gathered together to celebrate.

Tell us about your planning experience.
Planning the wedding was a lot of work, but I enjoyed it!  I’m definitely a “planner” in all aspects of my life, so it felt natural making all the decisions and coordinating details.  I can’t stress enough how priceless it was to have Off the Beaten Path Weddings guide me through the process, though!  Trust me, even if you’re type A, totally organized, and love to throw parties, you need a wedding planner! It was especially valuable on the morning of my wedding day–instead of being stressed out trying to make everything perfect, I took a long walk, leisurely got ready, and spent time with my wedding party.

Any advice for brides trying to avoid stress while planning?
I suppose my answer above would work here, too 😉 my advice: HIRE A PLANNER! Also, using Pinterest was great!  It was helpful to have visual examples of ideas to share with the wedding party, planners, and vendors.

One year of chill love – congratulations! So far, what has been the most valuable lesson learned in keeping a strong marriage?
The most valuable lesson we’ve learned so far in keeping a strong marriage is that it’s important to not only say “I love you”, but to do things that show it, too. A month or two before we got married, I left a little love note hidden for Drew in his office.  He found it and thanked me,  and then a few weeks later I found it hiding for me!  Since then, it’s become a little game to find a new place to hide it, and it’s such a nice reminder when you’re doing something mundane  to find a love note unexpectedly.  Even after being together for 6 years I still feel like a giddy school girl when the note shows up!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO MICHELLE & DREW!

To many many many more chill years of love and happiness. -Bridechilla™ & Off The Beaten Path Weddings

Off The Beaten Path Celebrates One Year of LOVE: Kristen & Carl and Meredith & John, August 4th, 2012

Raise your mimosas, everyone. We’re celebrating TWO Off The Beaten Path anniversaries this morning. First we will be wishing our Bridechilla™ , Kristen, and her husband Carl a very happy anniversary and then we also have another chill couple – Meredith and John. Below we remember some of the special moments of this chill day, as told by their event stylist, Mary Ellen Murphy of Off The Beaten Path Weddings. Twice the love, twice the chill.

What was your favorite thing about working with Kristen and Carl?
The couples might have loved a great cocktail almost as much as me! They had a classic champagne cocktail as well as a whiskey cocktail in a mason jar. Kristen and Carl were a very fun couple.

photography by onelove

How did Kristen embrace the chill & be a total anti-zilla?
She welcomed her sweet little pup to the day, a very chill move as always.

Tell us some memorable details that stood out to you about Kristen and Carl’s wedding day.
Kristen and Carl had an amuse course, one of my favorite OTBPW details to add to a client’s wedding. They also had a photobooth for guests to enjoy.. lots of fun 🙂

photography by onelove

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What was your favorite thing about working with Meredith and John?
Their admiration and love for each other made them such a pleasure to work with.

How did Meridith embrace the chill & be a total anti-zilla?
She sabered a bottle of champagne at the reception! Nothing more CHILL than a bride brave enough to do that!

Tell us some memorable details that stood out to you about Meredith and John’s wedding day.
The local hydrangeas were so vibrant with color. The location was full of beautiful touches of purple and green.

To many many many more chill years of love and happiness. -Bridechilla™ & Off The Beaten Path Weddings

Off The Beaten Path Celebrates One Year of LOVE: Niamah & Darren, July 28, 2012

We’re so thrilled to spend our Sunday wishing our Bridechilla™ , Niamah, and her husband Darren a very happy anniversary. Below we remember some of the special moments of their chill day, as told by their event stylist, Mary Ellen Murphy of Off The Beaten Path Weddings. All photos taken by KT Merry.

What was your favorite thing about working with Niamah and Darren? The couples playful spirit made being with them so much fun!

How did Niamah embrace the chill & be a total anti-zilla?
She was so chill that she left her super chill home of Bermuda and had a destination wedding in Napa Valley 🙂

Tell us some memorable details that stood out to you about Niamah and Darren’s wedding day.
Her stunning gown and some of the fun outfits the guests wore. The location was a stunner, a designers dream! The vocalist during the ceremony made me cry 🙂See Niamah and Darren’s wedding film by BASICO below… so much love and smiles in this wedding. And don’t forget to see their full wedding here on Style Me Pretty.

To many many many more chill years of love and happiness. -Bridechilla™ & Off The Beaten Path Weddings