Real Wedding: Molly & Owen
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It’s not every day that your mom helps you find true love. But that’s what happened to Molly Roberts and Owen Stearns, whose relationship kicked off with a blind date suggested by their mothers. At the time, Molly lived in Manhattan and Owen lived in Boston, but long-distance dating didn’t turn out to be the big hurdle they’d both expected—and less than two years later, Owen proposed.
For Molly, who’d been astonished to discover that her mother was a good matchmaker, the unexpected proposal was another delightful surprise. On a walk in Central Park at dusk, Owen got down on one knee and presented the ring. The only problem? It was too dark to see! Finally, in the glow of a streetlight, Molly realized that she was holding Owen’s family engagement ring, which had belonged to his great-grandmother and then his mother. “I am so honored to be this generation’s custodian of it,” says Molly.
The couple decided early on that they wanted a country wedding rather than a city affair. Woodstock, Vermont, which Molly refers to as her “adopted hometown,” was the first destination they thought of—and it turned out to be the perfect place. She had become acquainted with the picturesque town in the early ’90s, when her parents had purchased a house there. In the following years, it became the place where her family celebrated holidays, as well as the place they considered “home.”
Best of all, Molly knew that every component of the perfect event was at her fingertips: The Lauren, a beautiful wedding site, and the church where she wanted the ceremony to take place were both within walking distance of her parents’ house. “I had a vision of all our guests walking from the church across the street to the reception in the Lauren’s backyard and, after the reception, walking to Bentley’s for late-night drinks. In the end, that’s exactly what happened.”
To make the event feel truly special, all the wedding details reflected the couples’ tastes and personalities. The floral designs featured Molly’s favorite bloom, the sunflower. The flower’s vibrant yellow hue made it the perfect color choice for a fall wedding. The sunflower motif was carried through elsewhere in the wedding, too, appearing in the wedding logo Molly created to adorn the programs and in the colorful hand-decorated cookies by Lesley Hall’s Sweetie Pies, a favorite local confectioner, that greeted guests at their seats.
The groom’s preferences weren’t left out, either. His favorite fruit, mango, inspired the special wedding cocktail. But best of all for Owen, a sports lover, the wedding-day activities included games of tennis and softball. “It was important to make choices that represented who we are, as individuals and as a couple,” says Molly. Selecting the music was also a decision the couple made together. Inspired by the wedding scene in Love Actually, one of their favorite movies, Molly and Owen chose the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” for the recessional.
To create a seamless event with so many creative details, the couple relied on the help of local experts. “We couldn’t have been happier,” says Molly of the couples’ experience working with wedding professionals. Her advice to brides is to put aside every worry before walking down the aisle. “Plan ahead down to the last detail, but when the wedding day arrives, stop obsessing,” she says. “There will be something that doesn’t go according to plan, and that’s okay. Try to relax, be calm, and go with the flow. You won’t regret it.”
Molly had no trouble going with the flow when she encountered a few changes in plan on her wedding day. Without her knowing, Owen had asked the string trio to play the first few bars of “Eye of the Tiger” from the Rocky movies as he entered the church. Molly immediately found the humor in it. “Our guests loved it, and it was a great way to loosen everyone up and balance the formality and solemnity of a church wedding,” she says. Her absolute favorite moment was Owen’s toast, during which he sang the chorus of “You Are My Sunshine”–and got all of the guests to sing along with him. In keeping with a courtship full of surprises, it seems only right that this wedding day had plenty of beautiful, unscripted moments.