Love and Lobster Coastal New England Weddings

Some couples dream of slicing into a white wedding cake as their loved ones ooh and ah on the big day. But all those tiered layers and sometimes not-so-sweet price tags just don’t cut it for other brides and grooms.

Modern couples are doing away with plenty of traditional wedding elements, and towers of elegant white fondant are no exception. Wedding desserts can easily adapt to individual styles and budgets and still satisfy a sweet tooth. One option is to go small — cupcakes are a crowd-pleasing alternative that have boomed in popularity over the last couple of seasons. But other options are turning up at receptions everywhere. Consider these delectable desserts:

CAKE BUFFET

Ok, so this option doesn’t count as a huge departure from tradition, but presentation makes all the difference. Have a smaller, traditional cake made for you and your sweetheart, and let your guests choose from a variety of cakes, say red velvet, chocolate, vanilla, tiramisu, cheesecake or whatever your hearts desire. Label them with cute signs and revel in knowing everyone’s enjoying their favorite flavor.

DESSERT BUFFET

Here’s another self-serve alternative. Put together a smattering of desserts such as cookies, candies, pastries, brownies and doughnuts — pick one or mix them all together — and present them in coordinating containers, such as champagne flutes or silver trays. Try picking goodies in just one or two colors for a polished look, a la Martha Stewart’s black and white dessert bar. Or take a cue from the time of year and serve up seasonal desserts, such as ice cream sundaes in the summer, candy apples in autumn or s’mores for a winter wedding.

PIES

Throw a pie in the face of tradition and give cake’s flaky, eminently fillable cousin a chance to shine. The flavor possibilities are nearly endless, making it a breeze to coordinate with the season, and pies can make for a sweet way to incorporate a family recipe. Top them with white meringue for a sophisticated, more traditional look, or keep a rustic feel with simple golden brown crusts.

CARNIVAL CLASSICS

Surprise your guests with the guilty pleasures of fair food without the Ferris wheels and Tea Cups (unless you’re really going all out with a carnival theme). Watch as the best man tries to eat a funnel cake without covering his suit in powdered sugar, or rent a cotton candy machine and see your grandparents indulge in a childhood favorite. Take it up a notch and serve sophisticated spins on the originals, like deep-friend Toblerone chocolate bars or high-end salt water taffy.

When a man pops the question, it’s an unforgettable moment he and his beloved will cherish for the rest of their lives. But some proposals are so memorable that they capture the hearts of even total strangers. Here’s a roundup of some of the most remarkable, headline-grabbing proposals from the last year (no pressure, fellas):

Endearingly geekiest: Brian Haggerty, an employee of LinkedIn, developed an iPhone app for his elaborate proposal to his girlfriend Jeannie. The treasure hunt app sent his soon-to-be fiancee around a heart-shaped route throughout San Francisco. After she solved all of the video clues, Jeannie found Brian waiting on a hilltop ready to propose.

Best choreographed: A guy brings his beloved to Madison Square Park in New York under the guise of a romantic afternoon stroll. They stumble upon a “documentary film crew” and he agrees to be interviewed, while she waits nearby. What follows is an expertly orchestrated testament of love, complete with singing and dancing by the love-struck guy and a bunch of his pals, “He hearts you” T-shirts, and even a few back flips. Watch the whole thing here.

Jim Henson-iest: Meet New Hampshire photographer Sid Creaser, also known as “the Muppet proposal guy.” Sid, a huge Muppet fan, proposed to his longtime love, Sara, with the help of two Muppet dolls he secretly created in their likenesses at an FAO Schwartz workshop. Sid then filmed a movie trailer about his relationship with Sara with the Muppets as stand-ins, and arranged for a local movie theater to play it after a lineup of three real film trailers. Sid and Sara sat down for the show, while their family and friends snuck in behind them, and a surprised Sara watched the proposal unfold on the big screen. Check out the trailer and a detailed account by Sid here.

Most heart-stopping: Matt Cawley had arranged to propose to his girlfriend, Stacey Scanlon, on a jetty overlooking the water in Cape Cod, but his romantic plan went horribly, unexpectedly awry. The $9,000 diamond ring he’d purchased for Sara came loose as she picked up a sand dollar he’d tied it to, and tumbled into the surf below. Four frantic hours of searching were fruitless, and Matt and Sara headed home. But here’s the happy ending: Matt proposed in the car, Sara said yes, and they later discovered that Matt’s pragmatic mother had insured the ring in full. And mothers-in-law get such a bad rap.

Modern couples aren’t afraid to go DIY with their weddings, from printing their own invitations to gathering up bridesmaids to create homemade favors. And with the help of a hip Boston clothier, grooms can even design their duds for the big day.

Meet 9Tailors, a custom clothing company known for its impeccably made but affordably priced men’s dress shirts and suits. Combining old-world tailoring with a modern look, 9Tailors is all about the perfect fit. Design a garment with them and you’ll go way beyond sizes small, medium, and large to a collar-to-cuff fitting process that involves more than a dozen measurement points. After they’ve got your numbers, the customization process begins. Every aspect of a suit or garment can be personalized, from the fabric right down to the lapels and buttons. 9Tailors even offers an astounding 35 collar options!

To help your man sort through them all, book an appointment with a 9Tailors style consultant, who will walk you through all of the options according to your needs, style and budget. Can’t make it to their Beantown studio? Set up a virtual appointment for fitting and design help via webcam.

9Tailors knows how to fit your budget, too. Dress shirts start at $79 and suit separates at $150. Men’s suiting separates start at $150.00.

Credits (clockwise from top middle): Jes Switaj, The Wedding Chicks, Jackie Wonders, zazzle, Martha Stewart Weddings, Paper Source, Juri Zaech, The Wedding Chicks, emilie inc.

Home furnishings designer Angela Adams is perhaps best known for her distinctive, patterned rugs. Her work, thoroughly modern and inspired by the natural landscapes of Maine, has graced the pages of Better Homes and Gardens, Dwell, Architectural Digest and numerous other national publications. But now, the Portland designer has set her sights on a new medium, one meant to be worn instead of walked on.

Adams’ new Treasure line features handcrafted necklaces — statement pieces threaded and tied with colorful beads, clustered fabric and unexpected details. One of them, an arresting white necklace of vintage beads and jeweled yarn, Adams envisions adorning the necklines of brides-to-be. She sat down with Love & Lobster to tell us all about her new venture.

L&L: Why did you decide to embark on the Treasure line?

AA: Treasure is the name of a new series of collaborations with artists, designers and craftspeople. This was project 1, a collaboration with a very talented friend, Kat Manock Alexander. She lives on the island where I grew up and I’m a big fan of her work. She has many skills including sewing, beading, drawing… She was very easy to work with and we both had a clear shared vision for the goals and the pieces. I was familiar with Kat’s work and shared with her some vintage beads, buttons and fabrics from my collection and we brainstormed about themes, then we both ran off and made necklaces, emailing and calling each other throughout the process.

L&L: What form will the other collaborations you’ve planned throughout the year take?

AA: That’s a big secret. We have a few lined up already and plan to introduce them every couple of months. I’m very excited about the next one, so keep an eye out for the announcement. We will always work with a wide range of materials and trades. It’s a lot of fun.

L&L: What kind of fashion aesthetic do you feel the necklaces represent?

AA: I see them as very textural and earthy. Not earthy in a color sense, but in a textural sense. Some truly feel like barnacles, glittering moonlit waves or mossy forest cushions.

L&L: Tell us about the Cloud necklace that you envision for brides. What kind of dress/ensemble do you see brides wearing it with?

AA: This piece was Kat’s creation and I think it’s very ethereal and magical. Like something a snow princess would wear. Or a floating dreamy angel or something. The materials are Austrian crystal yarn, vintage rhinestone ribbon, vintage beads and buckles, angela adams linen fabric, vintage fabric, grosgrain ribbon, and leather.

For the dress, I think a long, simple, drapey gown would be perfect. A strapless, straight silhouette would be very elegant.

L&L: Will the collection be available online?

AA: We do plan to have them online soon. They are all one-of-a-kind pieces and many have sold, so we need to create more. For now, it’s just necklaces, but we are cooking up some more goodies.

L&L: Finally, tell us about your own wedding, to furniture designer Sherwood Hamill, which we hear you kept very secret right up until the last minute!

AA: It was very casual and low key. We only invited our moms and our friend who married us. Our cats were the wedding party and we were married at home. After a simple wedding, we had a fun party and ate scallops caught by my uncles and other delicious Maine foods. It was my favorite wedding of all time.

Stepping back in time is all the rage for weddings these days, with couples adding vintage details straight out of the 1940s and 50s to their styles and surroundings. But one couple we know reached back even further into history — try 150 years — for unique portraits to capture their special day.

Audra Bayette, a wedding photographer based in Scarborough, Maine, was convinced by her now-husband Matt to have a tintype artist join the couple’s traditional photographer at their December reception, held at Portland’s retro bowling alley Bayside Bowl. At first unsure about the art form — popularized during the Civil War for images of stiff, sullen soldiers — Audra was won over by her sweetie’s enthusiasm. What is marriage if not a compromise, right?

The couple hired the team behind Wearex, a fashion and design team based on Peaks Island, for the shoot. As photographer Cole Caswell explains, the process involves creating an image on a sheet of dark, coated metal (no tin is actually used), which becomes much like a piece of film through a collodion process. Then, following a bath in silver nitrate, the sheet is quickly exposed before it dries. Basically, the negative image of you and your honey appears as a positive image when viewed against the dark surface of the metal. Cole totes along a portable darkroom to location shoots to further process the images after exposure.

He often asks subjects to steady themselves against a wall or other object while posing, since getting a shot can take several minutes. “You’re typically having to stand still for a fair amount of time,” he says, hence those stilted, stone-faced Civil War soldiers. Smiling, however, is allowed, provided you can hold a grin. The grim-looking men and women pictured in tintypes from the 1800s were more worried about giving off the wrong impression, as it turns out. “It was timing and a funny misconception that if you smiled, you potentially looked like a crazy person,” Cole says. Shouldn’t be a problem for some family members, no?

After subjects strike a pose, each image takes another 10 minutes or so to process, so “you don’t want your whole wedding party standing around,” Cole says. Then, the images are ready for viewing — sort of the Civil War era version of a Polaroid — but Cole typically takes another day to wash and prepare the plates. He’s seen the tintypes presented in a variety of ways, from framed and hung to stored in traditional cases to simply leaning against a mantle.

The plates come in three sizes: 2×3 inches, 4×5 inches and 8×10 inches, and digital versions are available for printing and emailing. One caveat (besides the distinctive look of the images, which isn’t for everyone): The process requires daylight, so evening receptions are out.

But, as Cole says, “These are really one-of-a-kind objects.” Perfect for one-of-a-kind weddings.