Danielle Leffel and Rob Goates set the goal of keeping things clean and simple for their April 2010 wedding at the Cypress Club in Spicewood, Texas – not so much in terms of the guest list that topped 300, but simply in the colors and tone of the event. “I wanted everything to feel natural and earthy,” explains the bride. The soft gray and ivory color scheme was employed to not detract from the stunning landscape surrounding the venue. Queen Anne’s lace in mason jars sat atop rustic wooden pedestals in the center of each table, while bridesmaids in simple gray dresses carried bouquets of ivy and white lisianthus. During Danielle’s vows, it began to pour rain and a guest leapt up from her seat, running down the aisle with an umbrella in hand. All at once, the couple, who had planned every detail of their wedding around a subdued and gentle color palette, was saying “I do” under a giant rainbow umbrella.

Every couple preparing to marry would certainly say that their relationship was a journey of sorts. But for Suzanne Farrell and Justin Smith, their travels were also of the literal sort. From hiking near the summit of Mount Etna in Sicily to sipping snake whiskey in Laos, the couple had shared a passion for adventure over their 14-year relationship, so it was only fitting that those adventures became the theme of their May 2009 celebration at Branford House in Groton, Connecticut. In their ceremony program, they described their journey as a couple and the many miles they had traveled together. Themed reception tables were named after their various modes of transportation they’d employed around the world: buses, seaplanes, hot air balloons, taxis, rickshaws, and most famously, the elephant they rode while in Thailand, which became their wedding mascot. “If you pass an elephant on your way to a wedding, it is supposed to be good luck,” the bride explains.

Job opportunities and a love of the salty Chesapeake brought Alexis Prior and Matt Dattoli separately to Annapolis, Maryland, in December 2007. Matt, a teacher at the U.S. Naval Academy, moved in to the vacant apartment just one floor below Alexis, an interior designer, and by New Year’s Eve, the two had bonded over their love of the ocean. So on September 19, 2009, the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club, located 20 minutes outside the city where they fell in love, served as the fitting setting for the couple’s bayside nuptials. With understated nautical décor, the club put on display the sprawling views of boats cutting white, frothy paths through the bay. Matt, a Lieutenant in the Navy, provided the finishing touch on a true Annapolis wedding, wearing his crisp full dress whites uniform for the ceremony – staged in the club’s waterfront gardens, of course.

Dana Holmer and Tad Miller always thought they would get married on the beach. Years later, after developing a deep connection to the city of Nashville, Tennessee, and knowing it would be easier to plan a wedding from home, they decided to bring the beach to Nashville with a tropical wedding at Cedarwood estate. Though Cedarwood’s Southern charm is well established, dating back to the mid 1800s, Dana and Tad managed to transform the grounds. From the island-themed food to the steel-drum duo, every detail of their June 27, 2009, celebration emanated the warmth and relaxed vibe of the Caribbean islands.

It wasn’t just a winter wedding that Ashley Porter was after when she chose February 6, 2010, as a wedding date. “Every meaningful date throughout our history as a couple, from our first conversation to the proposal, took place in February,” Ashley explains. The Red Lion Inn in Cohasset, Massachusetts, chosen for its old New England charm and close proximity to Ashley’s hometown of Duxbury, provided a canvas of sprawling wood floors and exposed beams upon which a cool, icy décor was laid. Guests mingled upstairs and down, beneath brightly lit chandeliers in the large open hall. From the outside, the historic inn, built in the 1700s, glowed against the cold winter backdrop.