Real Wedding: Yael and Matt
Chances are that not many marriage proposals take place on a Monday, but in Yael and Matt's case, it turned out to be the perfect day. Wanting the proposal to be an utter surprise, Matt Boynes was careful to go ring shopping in Montreal to avoid running into anyone he knew and was discreet in his preparations. The biggest surprise, however (Yael never actually said yes, just "Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God!") may have been thanks to the jeweler.
Finding the ring was easy enough. The first shop Matt entered had the perfect setting and most beautiful diamond he'd ever seen. He informed the jeweler he would be proposing on the couple's anniversary, September 21st, but when he picked up the ring, he noticed an unexpected engraving : 09/08/08. Matt came to the surprise conclusion that he would be proposing on September 8th, rather than September 21st, of all days to propose, a Monday.
The proposal itself was classically romantic. The sun was setting over Lake Champlain and the couple was enjoying a lakeside walk after dinner in Burlington when Matt popped the question. Although Matt and Yael aren't originally from Vermont, they feel it is truly their home. Part of the reason they chose a Vermont wedding was out of the desire to share their love of the state with their friends and family from home.
Matt and Yael met as freshmen in college and were friends for many years before they began dating. They fell in love quickly and when Yael decided to enter a graduate program at the University of Vermont in 2006, it was clear to both of them that they would be moving to Vermont together. Matt and Yael say, "When we moved to Vermont our relationship was still pretty young, but it grew it's roots here, which is one of the reasons why this place is so special to us."
Matt and Yael did a fantastic job of sharing their love of the green mountain state with friends and family at their wedding. Tables at the reception were named for different ski mountains the couple has visited and placecards were attached to Granny Smith apples. Matt and Yael chose a palette of earth tones which their floral designer, Alison Ellis of Floral Artistry, matched beautifully, and their food, provided by Catering by Dale was local and in-season. The reception was hugely successful and Yael credits their band, the Grift, with keeping everyone dancing all night. Instead of wedding favors, Matt and Yael provided their guests with a late-night dessert crêpe stand set up by the Skinny Pancake.
Matt and Yael's ceremony was a fusion of the innovative and the traditional, the formal and the casual, but most of all it was personal, reflecting Matt and Yael's personalities both individually and as a couple. Yael and Matt designed all of the stationery themselves, including the save the dates, invitations, table cards, and place cards. They wrote their own vows and had the magical experience of hearing them for the first time at the ceremony, which was performed by their best friend. Matt and Yael had each of their parents plant a tree with them, representing the joining of their two families and they asked seven close friends and family members to recite original blessings in place of the seven blessings traditionally recited at Jewish wedding ceremonies.
In addition to indulging in strawberry and banana stuffed crêpes, Matt and Yael's guests enjoyed s'mores as they crowded around a bonfire in the crisp Vermont air, singing along to the acoustic stylings of several of Matt and Yael's friends. The atmosphere was fun, relaxed and full of love as Yael and Matt's first night as a married couple drew to a close. They couldn't have asked for anything more.