Jessica and Blake’s Wedding | Groton Long Point Yacht Club | Groton Long Point, Connecticut

One year ago this weekend, on a simply perfect mid-June afternoon, we celebrated and documented the wedding of Jessica and Blake at a location we’ve always loved, The Groton Long Point Yacht Club. Their picture perfect ceremony took place on the water in the backyard of Jessica’s aunt and uncle’s house (house personal can you get) and their reception at what the GLP locals refer to as The Casino. It couldn’t have been more special in every way, as they so beautiful describe. Congratulations on your first wedding anniversary, Jessica and Blake, and thanks to all the people who made this such an extraordinary day!

They met while working at SigmaCare (they worked on separate projects! It was totally fine!) as project managers. After a particularly fun night out with coworkers, Blake mustered up the courage to ask Jessica on a date in the Summer of 2014.

Their love has flourished ever since.

From attending a ‘football’ match in Barcelona to watching every Harry Potter then Star Wars movie in order to (through much peer pressure from friends and soon-to-be family) teaching Blake to love Vail, these two have been able to share their passions with one another since the beginning.

Blake knew Jessica was The One when she uttered those four little words: “How ‘bout them dawgs!”

After asking Jessica’s parents and sisters for their blessing, Blake popped the question the weekend before Thanksgiving 2016, in a bed and breakfast in NJ.

Proposal Story (as told by Blake) –
We knew early that we would get engaged, I’m pretty sure I brought it up on one of our first dates (smooth, I know) and she knew exactly when I went and picked up the ring. Given all of this, I needed to make the actual engagement memorable so I planned a special weekend at a charming B&B. I quickly encountered a hurdle, Jessica’s lifelong friend Whitney was going to come in that weekend to visit from Chicago and Jessica wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. In addition to colluding with Whitney so Jessica couldn’t own any of the plans, I had to ask her to cancel on the weekend get together last minute (We love you Whitney!!!). Friday comes, Jessica is SO excited to hang out with one of her best friends and then she gets the text, she is heartbroken. I felt horrible. I couldn’t take it anymore so I took her aside and told her, in a cryptic way that may not have helped things, that I caused her friend to cancel. She was concerned why I was so cheery about sharing that, I changed the subject and provided her a packing list and told her to be ready to go tomorrow morning. The next day, I rented a car and picked her up. First stop, lunch, second stop, massages, third stop, a wine vineyard to watch the sunset and then last, but not least, the B&B. We went out and had a great dinner and started our walk back to the B&B. From the beginning, she had been a bit confused and had asked why I was doing all this, to which I replied, “Because you deserve it”. She agreed. When we arrived back at the B&B, there were flowers and champagne waiting and I got down on one knee. She said YES. I still had a few more surprises waiting for her. My parents were amazing enough to come up from Atlanta and meet us for brunch and then we went to her parent’s house to celebrate with family and friends including my engagement wingmen – Whitney, Joe and the whole Stagg family, I couldn’t have done it without you. It was an amazing few days that I will never forget.

Choosing GLP –
Although Jessica fell in love with the city long before attending NYU, she always held a special place in her heart for Groton Long Point — the water, the sun, and of course her wonderful cousins who she spent summers babysitting. She shared this special place with Blake and naturally he fell in love with it as well. The two have spent countless long weekends and summer nights soaking up the magic of this beautiful spot.

They may not agree on the best TV shows but their wedding location was an easy decision. Blake and Jessica can’t wait to share Groton Long Point with the people they love most, on the day they’ll remember the rest of their lives.

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Wedding Day –
Our wedding day was so special because everything was so personal. We were so lucky to get married in a place that was so special to us, in the backyard with all of our family and friends, and my sister conducting the ceremony.

Leading up to it, we knew it was going to be amazing and the day-of turned out to be even better than we could have imagined.