Weddings

This Couple’s Love for Travel Inspired Their Outdoor Celebration

Check out this travel-themed wedding at Brittland Manor for all kinds of decor ideas.

Jessyca Byssainthe and Christopher McCarl married at the Brittland Manor in Chestertown, Maryland where they invited over 150 guests from all over the world to attend a gorgeous travel-inspired celebration. The couple both share a passion for jet setting, they even got engaged overseas!, so naturally they wanted to incorporate their love for travel into their wedding-day theme. Mini paper planes served as escort cards, handmade by the bride and groom, ‘Pilot’ and ‘Copilot’ signage hung on the backs of the newlyweds’ chairs at the reception, and the bride’s Haitian roots were showcased in the wedding-day menu and drink selections. Check out their big day below where you can navigate through all of the couple’s unique travel-themed details and touches. 

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The Paper Plane Escort Cards

To add an extra special touch to their travel-inspired wedding theme, the couple’s wedding planner, Elizabet Gopal, came up with the idea to have paper planes double as escort cards. So, Jess and Chris spent one Sunday before their wedding folding over 150 paper planes together. “It was exhausting to say the least, but it was such a beautiful masterpiece in the end,” explains the couple.

 

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How the Couple Met

The couple thank Match.com for introducing them. “Jess made the first move,” explains Chris by using the ‘wink’ feature.  “As soon as I saw that, I sent her a message [and] Jess responded right away,” says Chris. The two then exchanged messages back and forth, which then led to emailing, and emailing turned into writing novels to one another. “Our emails would take 3 hours to write, [and] we quickly found out we had a lot in common and could hold very meaningful conversations,” says the couple. After a month of emailing, the couple met in person at a restaurant and have been together ever since. 

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The Couple’s Favorite Wedding Detail

Both Jess and Chris say that their favorite detail from their travel-inspired wedding was Jess’ driving up to the ceremony in a luxe Rolls Royce with her mother. “While I was standing up front, waiting for Jess to walk down the aisle, in the distance I saw a [Rolls Royce] driving down the hill toward the ceremony space,” says Chris, adding that Jess kept that as a surprise for him and he was totally blown away when she stepped out of the car with her mother. 

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The Wedding Menu

For their wedding-day menu, the couple served a variety of personalized dishes. “We wanted to give our guests a taste of the Caribbean to incorporate Jess’ Haitian roots, while also giving our guests, many of whom traveled from far, an opportunity to try some Maryland delicacies,” explains the couple. During cocktail hour, appetizers included Jamaican beef patties along with mini Maryland crab cakes. They also had several travel-themed signature drinks, one even which featured a Haitian rum punch with rum imported from Haiti. 

As for dinner, they served Jerk chicken with house-made jerk bbq, broiled salmon topped with pineapple salsa, and Rasta Pasta. “We really wanted to offer our guest a weekend of fun,” explains the couple. So for dessert they had a self-serve doughnut wall and a liquid nitrogen bar. 

The Details:

Photographer: Jenna Leigh Photography | Venue:  Brittland Manor | Planning & Design: East Made Co. | Florist: Loblolly Farm | Invitations: Minted | Catering: Talk of Di Town II Hair Stylist: DolledbyNueye | Makeup Artist: Flawless Beaute | Bride’s Attire: Pronovias from Bridal Beginning | Groom & Groomsmen Attire: Men’s Wearhouse | Music/Entertainment: Two Rivers Chamber Music (ceremony); DJ Max Powers (reception) Transportation:  Jor-Lin Tour & Charter | Videographer: Olea Films | Rentals: Eastern Shore Tents and Events | Calligraphy: Judith Browne Calligraphy | Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Bar: Frost 321 |Donut Wall: Little Village Bakery

 

jacqueline-tynes
Assistant Editor, Washingtonian Weddings

Jacqueline comes to Washingtonian with close to five years of digital content experience and SEO best practices. She previously was a senior editorial associate at WeddingWire, specializing in wedding fashion, and before that, an assistant at Vow Bride. Originally from Norfolk, Virginia, she now lives in Columbia Heights.