This Willowdale Estate Wedding Was a Little Bit Regal and a Whole Lot Romantic

October 26, 2018
Willowdale Estate
Topsfield, Massachusetts

Photo by Catherine Threlkeld Photography

THE STORY

Jasmine FitzGerald and Thomas Tierney met as students at Providence College and quickly became good friends—but nothing more. So, when their relationship later turned romantic, “It was kind of surprising,” Jasmine says. “He asked me over for dinner and that’s kind of when our love story started. We knew we had a good bond and connection, but we didn’t think it was going to go anywhere. And then it did.” After they graduated in 2012, the couple eventually moved in together in Jamaica Plain.

On a chilly day in November 2017, Jasmine and Thomas planned to meet their parents for an early dinner at Strega restaurant in the Seaport after a hurling match at Fenway Park. At that point, Jasmine says she’d had “no idea that [Thomas] had brought the ring into Fenway.” They hopped in an Uber to go to the restaurant after the match, but instead of letting them out at Strega, the driver dropped them off on the Harborwalk. Thomas suggested they walk to the restaurant from there, and with a photographer trailing behind them, they began to stroll along the waterfront. Then, suddenly, Thomas got down on one knee. “My jaw just dropped,” Jasmine says. “I couldn’t believe he’d surprised me.”

When the couple started planning their wedding, “Getting Thomas to go visit venues was difficult,” Jasmine says. “Everything was like, ‘You can pick what you like.’” When the two went to visit Willowdale Estate, in Topsfield, though, it was a different story. “They gave us a tour and after we left he was like, ‘We have to have our wedding here.’ I obviously loved it, and that’s why I brought him there, but I was surprised he had such a big feeling about the place,” Jasmine recalls. They threw a tented reception out on the grounds, and channeled what the bride calls a “dark, moody vibe” with vibrant florals and blue-green suede tablecloths. Illuminated by string lights and black pillar candles, the dance floor was packed from the start of the evening right through to the last song. “At one point [Thomas and I] just stopped on the dance floor and said ‘Look at everybody right now. Every single person that we love is here celebrating us,’” Jasmine recalls. “That was the most amazing feeling.”

THE DETAILS

Photo by Catherine Threlkeld Photography

Jasmine’s stepfather came up with the idea to use a Rolls-Royce to transport the bride to the ceremony and, later, the couple to the reception. “I think [leaving the ceremony] was one of my favorite parts of the day,” Jasmine says. “Everyone came out and saw us driving off. It was like a movie.”

Photo by Catherine Threlkeld Photography

Jasmine wanted her bouquet to be a bit “out of the box” and requested flowers in rich jewel tones. “[The Wild Dahlia] went above and beyond and made this huge bouquet with really cool dark colors,” the bride says.

Photo by Catherine Threlkeld Photography

The bride found her Berta gown at Alexandra’s Boutique in Fall River. “It’s completely ‘princess,’ with glitter from head to toe and this gold sheen to it,” she says. “When I tried it on, I just got tears in my eyes.” Jasmine paired her gown with a long and dramatic veil. “Meghan Markle was the inspiration for that,” she says. 

Photo by Catherine Threlkeld Photography

While browsing Pinterest a week or two before the couple’s wedding, Jasmine decided to create a copper-framed escort card stand. “I went into Lowe’s and showed one of the guys there [what I wanted] to make and he actually cut and created it for me,” she says. The bride then hung the cards on hand-ripped strips of fabric.

Photo by Catherine Threlkeld Photography

“Shawna [Havenga] had made [an overhead floral installation] for another wedding, and I loved it when I saw it,” Jasmine says. “But I wanted it to feel moodier, so she added maroon [florals] and wrapped greenery around it.”

Photo by Catherine Threlkeld Photography

When Jasmine and her mom stumbled upon suede tablecloths at Peak Event Services, they knew the fabric would add the cool-factor the couple wanted to incorporate into their wedding decor. To lighten things up, they paired the tablecloths with elegant floral-print napkins.

Photo by Catherine Threlkeld Photography

The couple didn’t want the buttercream frosting on their strawberry-filled vanilla cake to be white, so the Icing on the Cake dyed it a pale shade of mauve.

Photo by Catherine Threlkeld Photography

Ahead of their wedding day, Jasmine and Thomas took lessons to prepare for their first dance. The song they chose for the big moment? “Hearts Don’t Break Around Here” by Ed Sheeran.

THE FILE

Band The Sultans
Bride’s Gown Berta, Alexandra’s Boutique
Bridesmaids’ Dresses BHLDN
Cake The Icing on the Cake
Film Lab PhotoVision
Flowers The Wild Dahlia
Hair Maura Mack Hair
Invitations Studio Tubero
Makeup Art is Beauty by Paola
Photographer Catherine Threlkeld Photography
Silk Ribbon Paperie & Silk
Stationery Pressed Flower Mart
Rentals Peak Event Services; Kadeema
Transportation A One Chauffeur Connection
Videographer Freeze Frame Productions

Getting married? Start and end your wedding planning journey with Boston Weddings' guide to the best wedding vendors in the city.