Sperry Tents Seacoast is having a whale of a dilemma! We are ordering custom Sperry Tents ties from Vineyard Vines and we can’t choose which style we like best! Help us choose… do you like the royal blue or yellow with the full tent? Or do you like the pink or light blue with the Sperry logo? We need your help!
Every event with a Sperry Tent is beautiful and timeless. Our tents are handcrafted with rounded edges and the highest quality materials to be sure that your tent is gorgeous, no matter how (and from where) you look at it.
One of Sperry’s favorite ways to view our tents is from above. (Not that viewing our tents from ground level isn’t spectacular) but from above, Sperry Tents take on a whole new look. It’s amazing to see how we nestle our tents into your backyards, the way the lines of our tent mimic the natural movement of the land and it’s especially fun to see the wedding party crowded on the lawn!
On this chilly winter day, as we are gearing up for the 2012 season and wishing for warmer weather, I thought I would share this gorgeous warm, coastal wedding. A few years ago we had the pleasure of working with Anna from Seasons Downeast Designs and David Reinhard Events on an absolute stunner of a wedding in Rockport, ME. This 46×105 leveled-floor event offered the most spectacular views of the ocean and the opportunity to be a part of this couples’ wonderful day.
This strata beauty had the most amazing view from the tent. The boys took a break after installing the flooring and tent to take in the ocean
First we decided to view the tents from the ocean…
…. and then we took to the skies for a one-of-a-kind view from the top!
We loved the classic decor from David Reinhard Events, especially the blue glasses!
And then as the sun set and the moon rose, the guests were surrounded by the signature Sperry glow
A still sky and full moon added the perfect final touches to this gorgeous coastal wedding.
In our current society where everyone is striving towards being greener, leaving a smaller footprint and producing less waste, over-the-top weddings don’t really seem the most energy efficient. With lots of lights, plates of food and tons of paper menus, invitations, save-the-dates, wedding cards etc… weddings can produce a lot of excess. So what are some solutions for all those brides and grooms who are consciously trying to be greener and more eco-friendly? Here are a few tips on how to make your festive day a bit greener.
1) Choose a Sperry Tent of course! Our sail cloth tents, hand-crafted center poles and flooring and custom lighting are all made from eco-friendly materials locally in Rochester, MA by Sperry Fabric Architecture. And did you know that our tent and awning production is mostly powered by solar panels? They were installed last spring, and on an average day they make enough power to run the whole building! Sperry Fabric Architecture supports a recycling program re-purposing sail cloth and other materials into handbags, ice bags and even new sails! A pretty green operation all-around.
Solar Panels on our production warehouse in Rochester, MA
2) Choose local vendors for your table! Summer is the perfect time of year for eating local. With bountiful greens, grass-fed meat, blooming fruit trees and delicious locally made wine and spirits, any creative bride and groom can craft an all-localvore menu. And instead of importing roses from all over the world, select a florist who has close connections with local farmers growing native flowers and succulents for the perfect centerpiece and bouquet. Filling your eco-friendly venue with gorgeous local flowers in re-purposed vintage vases and rounding out your dinner with locally-made ice cream, makes your special day that much more unique and memorable.
3) Opt for an eco-friendly venue! Although a backyard tented wedding is ideal, sometimes a venue provides the perfect ‘destination wedding’ feel without the high cost (and large energy consumption) of extensive travel. Many venues are taking steps to create a smaller carbon footprint from using organic bedding, brewing locally-roasted coffee and heating and cooling rooms with more energy-efficient products. Green Rocks Inn in Ridgefield, CT is leading the pack in lowering their energy consumption and creating a greener world. This peaceful venue nestled in gorgeous Connecticut provides the perfect setting for your outdoor tented event, while still keeping mother nature in mind.
Green Rocks Inn in Ridgefield, CT
4) Use family heirlooms as decorations. There are so many ways to tie the past to the present and the future, such as adding an escort table filled with photos of relatives’ weddings or using a favorite book as a guest book for people to write their best wishes. Instead of purchasing pricey jewelry, you can wear vintage gems from your mother or the groom’s mother. Making sure your special day is rich in family history and happiness will not only cut the cost and decrease the waste, but it also provides a special touch making your wedding different and unique. For ideas on how to incorporate family heirlooms throughout your wedding, take a look at this wedding at the Willowdale Estate this past summer.
Photo by Birke Photography
5) Recycle and compost! Make sure to put recycling bins throughout your wedding for discarded wine bottles, empty beer bottles, used plastic containers, paper napkins and instead of trashing all the uneaten food, compost the waste! It’s amazing the see the amount of wasted food that is carted to a dumpster at the end of a wedding. Cut down on plastic bag usage and dump truck fuel costs by composting left over salads, cheeses and bread.
6) Send wedding cards to a recycling foundation! So now you’ve received 200 wedding cards with best wishes written on the inside. Are you really going to keep all of those cards?? Instead of tossing them into the trash or recycling bin, you can send the fronts of the cards to the St. Jude Ranch in Nevada. St. Jude’s Ranch for Children recycles your used greeting cards and creates new holiday and greeting cards for any occasion. Recycled cards are sold in packs of 10 for $10 to support our programs and services. The program is an entrepreneurial venture run entirely by teens providing them with the experience and confidence to embark into the job world successfully. “The program is beneficial to everyone – customers receive fun, “green” holiday cards they can feel good sending to their friends and loved ones, and the children at St. Jude’s Ranch receive payment for their work and learn about basic job skills and the importance of recycling,” says the St. Jude’s Ranch web site. How is that for giving back and staying green?
These are just a few ways to be a little more green on your wedding day. Do you have any other tips??
Sperry Tents are magical. They are these gorgeous temporary structures that are set-up and taken down within hours of your event, leaving nothing behind besides happy memories and gorgeous photos. But how do our Sperry boys actually put up a Sperry? Although magicians aren’t supposed to reveal their secrets, we think it’s ok to give you all a sneak peek behind the magic of a Sperry tent. Check out this time lapse video by Jeff Brouillet with photography by Mark Davidson that shows you how we set-up our leveled-floor Sperry Tent events.
In honor of this very lovely – and very red – day, we’re posting this gorgeous red and white wedding from the 2011 season. We are in love with these custom red pennants and red Asian lanterns!
Sperry Tents Seacoast is so proud to announce we have once again been selected to receive the prestigious WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2012! The Wedding Wire award is based on the stellar reviews of past clients and vendors, which means it was because of all of your kind words that we have been bestowed this honor 
Thank you thank you thank you!!!
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There’s no way to hide it, we love weddings. We love the joy, the happiness, the excitement, the dancing, the food etc. Everything about a wedding is exciting and fun. But what I love most about a wedding are those few moments that tug at your heart and bring tears to your eyes. It’s the father-daughter dance when the Dad gives his daughter that sly smile and a tight hug before he walks her over to her new husband and it’s the anniversary dance when the floor clears and there in the middle is one final couple, slowly swaying to a romantic classic, their discarded canes and walkers an arms reach away. It’s the exact moment when three generations of women share a laugh over a glass of wine and their eyes smile with the pleasure of reminiscing about the past, and the excitement for what the future holds.
Courtney and Adam created a truly romantic and intimate atmosphere at their wedding this summer at the Willowdale Estate in Topsfield, MA. Courtney chose to incorporate her family’s traditions throughout the wedding, wearing her mother’s dress from 1976 and carrying her grandmother’s purse and wearing her wedding band. The bride’s brother even made the adorable cake topper which will surely become another family heirloom to be treasured. Throughout the celebration, small vintage touches connected the fruitful and happy past with the hopeful and exuberant future. From the top of the Sperry Tent to the hand-sculpted gardens of Willowdale, no detail was overlooked. The classic, rustic feel of the fieldstone mansion provided the perfect setting for Courtney and Adam to embark on their new life together. Congratulations!
Wedding Photography: Lisa Rigby Photography
Wedding Venue: Willowdale Estates
Tent: Sperry Tents Seacoast
Flowers: Hamilton Gardens
Wedding Dress: Priscilla of Boston, circa 1976
Wedding Dress Alterations: Ann Hamilton of Ann Hamilton Bridal
Bride’s Wedding Band & Purse: The Bride’s Grandmother
Bride’s Necklace: Family Heirloom
Bride’s Shoes: Sam Edelman
Bride’s Hair Piece: Lo Boheme
Wedding Cake: Konditor Meister
Cake Topper: The Bride’s brother
DJ: Ari Rosenfield of Beat Train Productions
Original blog post from Style Me Pretty.
The most important component of a wedding – the reason behind the whole ordeal – is the union of two people who are madly in love. The SECOND most important component? Color. Once the guy (or girl) pops the question, and pictures of the ring are sent all over facebook, twitter, pinterest and via text, then the next crucial decision is simply, “What will my colors be??”
The number one rule of choosing colors is keep it natural. If you don’t see the color combinations in nature, then they probably won’t look that amazing as a table setting (I think Lisa Frank proved that theory back in ‘91.) But choosing colors can be a bit dizzying and overwhelming. Do you want vibrant pinks? Daring violets? Triumphant tangerines? Gracious greens? And then within each main color of the color wheel is a long-list of slightly varying hues and shades. Think you’ll go for a simple green, blue and white theme? Think again. Do you want sea-foam green or moss or clover? Blue bridesmaids dresses? I think you need to clarify if they’re navy, sky, teal or sea-glass. White… that’s simple right? White is white. But do you want cotton, ivory, cream, splashed white, floral white or the spooky and incredibly difficult to capture – ghost white?
Is the process of choosing a color causing you to use some very colorful words? (Color made even the famous master of vibrant flowing hues, Monet, angry at times exclaiming, “Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment!”) Don’t fret!
Enter Pinterest. Pinterest is that hot new social networking site that is the reason that you haven’t called your mom back and why you have piles of dirty dishes in your sink (from last Tuesday.) It’s the perfect site to decorate the mansion you can never afford, drool over photos of gorgeous photos from all over the world and collect pictures of tiny baby animals doing adorable tiny baby animal things. BUT most importantly, if you’re designing your own wedding, it is the absolute most amazing resource. Companies like Prepare to Wed provide an entire page of colorful inspiration boards, designer Kate Parker gives examples of decor and flowers and thousands of creative users post photos of DIY centerpieces, hair styles and wedding favors. And Sperry Tents provides an array of different ways to decorate the interior – however elaborate or minimal you’d like – of our sailcloth tents. If you’re planning a wedding, next to your maid of honor, Pinterest is your best friend.
(Pinterest is an invite only site, so if you’d like to be a part of the fastest growing network of beautiful and gorgeous things, let us know! We’ll send you an invite!)
It’s the time of year now where the hustle and bustle of the holidays are behind us, and we have 3 or 4 weeks of mundane life ahead of us. Just 4 weeks full of work, shoveling, de-icing and chilly winter nights. But after weeks and weeks of running around planning dinners, purchasing gifts and wrapping odd-shaped items (why do I always seem to buy the most ridiculous sized and awkwardly shaped gifts??), we also have a chance to catch our breathe and reflect on the year behind us. A full 365 days of insanity.
All of us at Sperry have a lot to reflect on and to be thankful for. We opened a new office in Greenwich, hired some amazing new employees and completed our busiest season ever! But we have all of our amazing vendors, clients and organizations to thank for our successes over the 2011 season. We also had some awesome opportunities to partner with amazing non-profits and philanthropic organizations throughout the season – some were old friendships and some new as well! We got to work with two different eco-fests, the American Independence Museum, the Kennebunk Prom, Strawbery Banke and the New Hampshire Film Fest as we have in the past, and also had the pleasure of partnering with Windrush Farms, Pink Pint Night, the Coolidge Mansion and too many more to list. At the end of our season, between donated tents, discounts and monetary donations, Sperry is proud to announce that our philanthropic efforts exceeded $28,000. Thank you all for allowing us the opportunity to further the reach and impact of your organizations! And we look forward to another incredible year of partnerships in 2012
Communities aren’t just important, they are essential. They provide a secure support system in a common situation. Whether it’s a town community, a work community or a community united over a specific cause, knowing you can lean on others makes each challenge manageable, and each celebration that much more joyful! Sperry Tents is always seeking ways to connect with our communities and since Sperry Tents Seacoast is located at Pease Tradeport, an active Airforce base, we couldn’t imagine a better way to connect with our local community than to support our active service members and their families.
The New Hampshire seacoast can be a lovely place for weddings and events, but for the spouses of military members, a move to the seacoast area can be daunting and isolating. Being apart from family and friends is hard enough, but to then also separated from their spouse? That’s a hard sacrifice for anyone to make and even harder to endure all alone. In an effort to ease the emotional stress, the families of the Pease Air Force members have built a strong supporting community of their own – the Military Spouses Club. This club meets as often as possible to complete volunteer tasks in the surrounding area (they adopted two families this holiday season), raise money to fund their own events and most importantly, provide a support system for all the men, women and children who are part of the Air Force. A young club, they are still developing a strong network and defining their role in the local area, but most importantly, they are working towards developing an extended family of wives and husbands who offer free babysitting, restaurant tips and always a shoulder to lean upon when times get tough.
In an effort to raise funds while providing a night out for husbands and wives who give so much of their lives for our country, the Military Spouses Club held the 1st Annual 64th ARS Blue Tie Dinner this past weekend at The Old Salt and Lamie Inn in Hampton, NH. Everyone showed up in their blue ties and blue gowns for the evening and enjoyed a child-free night of delicious food, fun and games, and a raffle that left one lucky attendee leaving the restaurant with a Sperry tote full of Sperry swag
If you have any questions on how you can join the club or would like to be a part of their efforts, please contact Ashlee at Ashlee718(at)gmail(dot)com and she can point you in the right direction. They have many events coming up this February, including an adorable father-daughter dance the Saturday before Valentine’s Day and even a Very,Very Valentine’s Day Dance at The Children’s Museum. Sperry was proud to help fund the 1st Annual Blue Tie Dinner and we look forward to a long-lasting partnership with the Military Spouses Club at Pease. (And for all those unmarried Military couples… we do provide military discounts on tents!)
Check out some photos of the very blue (but only in color) evening!
