The Friday night after our rehearsal dinner and before our wedding, we decided to host a welcome party in my family’s backyard to welcome all our wedding guests to Nantucket. It was so nice to visit with all our guests the night before our wedding so we could spend our whole wedding night on the dance floor. It was the perfect low-key night before our wedding day and I’m so excited to share all the fun little details with you today!
We strung globe lights across the backyard and set up long white tables with cocktails and finger foods. My incredible sister and maid of honor Reilly and her friend Andy built the monogrammed sailboat as a bridal shower gift and it is one of my favorite details of our entire wedding. From the custom sail with our Kearsley Lloyd monogram to the bottle opener screwed into the side, it is one of the most personal and thoughtful gifts I’ve ever received. I know we’ll be using our new beer boat for many years to come!
Several of you asked to see the bar from my family’s original home on Nantucket, which I discussed in this post about what the island means to me. My late grandfather painted it during a storm and a friend of a friend was able to keep the front of the bar when my family sold the house. My mom and I tracked it down on the island this summer, and it meant so much to my Grandy to have it at our party. It’s painted with a variety of symbols that represent different sayings for being overserved — dead stiff, high as a kite, hitting the bottle, etc. — and was such a fun conversation starter.
I thought it would be fun to make our welcome party a white party since I knew it would make for beautiful photos and I think every girl loves an excuse to wear a little white dress over Labor Day weekend! The vast majority of our guests showed up in white and it was fun to see everyone put their own spin on the dress code. I went with this Kate Spade dress — I couldn’t get enough of that floral neckline and the t-back! — plus pearl studs and Jack Rogers (clearly resting my feet for my wedding shoes the next day!).
I ordered custom cups with our wedding crest from Discount Mugs and was impressed with how well the watercolor design showed up. We also had striped straws and custom cocktail napkins printed with fun facts about the two of us and our families. And then we surrounded the beer boat with custom koozies featuring the outline of Nantucket. I live for these little personalized details and I love that we have plenty of extras to use at home!
The Millie’s food truck was a major hit with lobster rolls, fish tacos, and steak quesadillas. My cousins and siblings have all spent summers working at the restaurant in Madaket so it was a no-brainer to serve their food at our welcome party!
I was so happy that my blogger girlfriends Jess and Lauren were able to make the trip! They’re the best.
With my cute cousins Maddie, Kitt, and Wyatt.
Will’s best man Paul repping his cowboy boot company.
My Bucknell friends / sorority sisters Kelly and Margo! Kelly is the one who inspired me to write my first 101 in 1001 list. 🙂
Just some of our wonderful family and friends. 💙
Because our family and friends were staying in houses and hotels all over the island (as opposed to a traditional room block situation), we handed out our welcome boxes at the end of the party instead of trying to get them to everyone’s rooms before they arrived. Our welcome boxes included two bottles of Nantucket Nectars half & half, Cape Cod potato chips, packets of Advil and sunscreen, and monogrammed cookies made by my mother-in-law Reggie (aren’t they incredible?!). I ordered the boxes here, the monogrammed stickers here (using the crest from our wedding invitations), and the striped grosgrain ribbon here.
I hope you enjoyed this peek into our welcome party! I’ll be back tomorrow to share photos from getting ready the morning of our wedding followed by our first look in this same backyard. Thanks so much for following along!
*Photos by Cameron & Kelly Studio
Keep up with Design Darling!
Instagram / Pinterest / Facebook / Twitter
I’m dying to know where the white dress with the flutter sleeve is from?! The girl wearing it is on the far left in wedges of the first group photo
I’m planning a welcome party in my family’s backyard in Sag Harbor. I love your welcome party–it’s so classic and organized, while still feeling casual. Do you mind sharing where you got the coolers and white table clothes? I’d love to do a similar theme.
We rented them from Nantucket Party Rentals. Sorry that’s not more helpful!
Every little detail was so perfect! Filing this away for when my day comes 🙂
As a fellow Bucknellian who just graduated, I love seeing that you’re still close with friends from school! ‘Ray!
So many incredible details! Love!
My favorite thing about this party was how the Horan clan + friends pulled together and were “show ready” minutes before the party. Seamless. I love the backyards in Nantucket– the high hedges that everyone has as a “fence” really make a pretty backdrop for a party.
Beautiful! Curious as to how many guests were invited to your wedding?
We had 130 people there 🙂
Absolutely stunning! Makes me want a wedding “re-do”.. haha! Beautiful down to every last little detail! Congrats!!!
Aww you are too kind!
Everything was absolutely STUNNING! I love Design Darling Wedding Week! Congratulations again!
All of the details are so beautiful! It must have taken so much work it took to put it all together. Congratulations!
Love the white dress code! So was your rehearsal Thursday, or Friday before the Welcome party? Love the idea of getting to see guests before the wedding.
Our rehearsal dinner was on Thursday and our welcome party was on Friday 🙂
the happiness is so evident!!! thanks for sharing– everything has been gorgeous!
Beautiful!!! What is the first look? Never heard of that tradition. Look forward to photos!
Thank you! A first look is when the bride and groom choose to see one another before the ceremony. You can read more about our choice to do a first look here: https://mackenziehoran.com/2017/07/12/wedding-wednesday-would-you-do-a-first-look/
Love the idea of a welcome party and everything looks so beautiful!
Lauren,
http://www.atouchofsoutherngrace.com
Mackenzie,
Your welcome party looks like it was so much fun, I love the idea of a white dress code, especially for labor day weekend! We are trying to do a similar situation for our wedding in August and hoping to have a taco truck for the Friday night party, did Millie’s do all the set up and clean up of the back yard or was that you and your family? Did you have a bartender for the evening? Also, love the boxes, do you know what size the circle stickers you ordered were?
Thank you so much!
Thank you! Millie’s set up their truck in the driveway but we did the backyard and clean-up ourselves. The bar was pretty much self-serve but we had family members taking turns mixing margaritas and things like that. I believe the stickers were 4″ circles!
thank you so much!!
Ok Mackenzie I thought yesterday’s post couldn’t be beat and you may have done it! I am so in love with all of the little details strung throughout all the events of your wedding weekend. Love how everyone wore all white. These photos are gorgeous, and the beer boat made by your sister!?! So awesome 🖤
Everything turned out so perfect 🙂 I bet these photos make for the best of memories!
Mackenzie,
Every single detail of your wedding has been absolutely perfect!! I have always wanted a destination wedding because I feel like it gives you more opportunities for all of the small details that are included in your planning. I will most certainly be using these posts as a reference for my own wedding when the time comes! Congratulations again!! I cannot wait for the rest of wedding week and I am so anxious for all the honeymoon posts!!
The beer sailboat is amazing. I love your monogram with the hydrangeas at the bottom—it’s so pretty!