Going the Distance

Before marrying on August 26, Emily Kochman and Jonathan Tillman had become quite adept at racking up sky miles. When the couple started dating in 2002, Emily was a senior at the University of Chicago and Jonathan was working for HotJobs.com in Washington DC; the two jetted back and forth to visit each other as often as possible. From the start, Jonathan knew Emily was the one; it took Emily just slightly longer to be sure. Yet, when Jonathan visited Emily in South Africa, where she spent the second semester of her senior year, any doubts melted. It’s not every guy, after all, who jets halfway around the planet to spend Valentine's Day with his sweetheart. “When he walked off the plane in Africa, I thought, this is it. This is my husband,” says Emily.
Venue - Historical Grounds
After looking at several coastal venues, including a few Newport mansions, they selected Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum in Bristol, a venue that boasts a Queen Anne–style mansion and lush, rambling grounds, including a rose garden, a bamboo grove, and a 10-acre Great Lawn that sweeps down to meet the water's edge.
Ceremony - A Simple Moment
After a walk down the grassy aisle, escorted by her father, Emily faced Jonathan at the altar. “I remember this moment so clearly,” says Emily. “He was tearing up and I was trying to make him laugh. I think he was more nervous than I was.”
Vendors - Trusting the Experts
After the couple selected vendors, they felt comfortable turning over responsibility and judgment to the experts. For example: Emily simply told her florist at Sayles Livingston that the wedding’s color scheme would be cream and sage green and that she liked hydrangeas. “When I first saw my bouquet,” says Emily, describing her bouquet that included hydrangeas, green cymbidium, and lisianthus, “I thought, ‘My god, this turned out to be more gorgeous than I ever imagined.’”
Bridesmaids - Letting them Choose
Reflecting her easygoing style, Emily simply asked her two bridesmaids – a sister and a best friend from childhood – to select dresses within the color scheme; she let them choose the style and fabric. Their choice: satin dresses in a sea foam green that complemented her simple yet stunning mermaid-cut wedding dress beautifully.
Details - Understated Elegance
Although their wedding was certainly unpretentious, fun, and intimate (the couple only invited 85 guests so they would have a chance to spend time with everyone), it also shined with an understated grace from Emily’s dress, which she adorned with star-shaped crystal earrings and no necklace, to the color scheme, which complemented Blithewold’s serene, verdant outdoor setting.
Photography - In Focus
After the wedding service, Emily and Jonathan had their photos taken, as a couple and with their families. “Getting our photos taken was the best,” recalls Emily. “We were able to focus on each other and the fact that we were married. The rest of the night we spent so much time walking around talking to people that it wasn’t until the end of the night that we were alone together again.”
The Cake - Tiered Tiramisu
Following a cocktail hour on the mansion’s deck, guests moved to a large white tent where dinner and dancing rounded out the evening. Eschewing the formality of a sit-down meal and assigned seating, guests were invited to help themselves at the many different stations – including an Asian stir-fry station and a buffet serving beef tenderloin and chicken with grilled vegetables – and then pick a table of their choice. After dinner plates were cleared, out came the wedding cake: a delicious, tiered tiramisu affair.
A Lasting Memory - In Tune
When the deejay played Alicia Key’s soulful “If I Ain’t Got You,” Emily and Jonathan stepped onto the floor for the first dance. Following a parent dance to Stevie Wonder’s “You are the Sunshine of my Life,” the entire crowd was lured onto the dance floor with a broad range of songs, from infectiously fun ditties, including hits by Rod Stewart and Abba, to more slower numbers by Van Morrison, Marvin Gaye, and Coldplay.