Today we are just over 2 months removed from the wedding of my oldest daughter Jessica and my new son Phil. They were married on May 17th at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on the Outer Banks in the state of North Carolina.

My family has vacationed at the shore in one place or another for the last 30 years. In that time I don’t believe that we have missed a single year and most years we make two or three trips. So I was not the least surprised when Jess and Phil came and asked my wife and I if they could get married in the Outer Banks at the Hatteras Light. Without hesitation, and without any thought at all I said, “sure, let’s do it” and so, we did…!

From the time we started planning, in January of 2010, until the wedding this May, we spent about a bazillion hours researching, stressing, emailing, face booking, planning,  re-planning and re-stressing over all of the details. I am happy to say that the wedding and reception and in fact, the whole wedding week went off without a hitch. By all accounts everyone had a great time. I heard several times that this was the wedding to remember.

Brief Description:

We had about 100 guests, most of whom traveled from PA and New York to attend.  We billed our event as a “vacation/wedding week”. Most house rentals in the outer banks are week long, from Saturday to Saturday or Sunday to Sunday. Check in, in Kill Devil Hills was Saturday May, 14th. Rehearsal was Monday, with a catered dinner at the Boardwalk house.

The wedding was Tuesday at the Cape Hatteras Light House. The reception followed at Adrianna’s on the Waterfront in Manteo.

We bussed all guests 50 minutes from Kill Devil Hills to the Hatteras Light for the wedding and then 50 minutes back to Manteo for the reception. Mid way through the reception a trolley service started shuttling guests back to Kill Devil Hills. It continued until the last shuttle at 12:00PM.

On Thursday we had a catered, traditional clam bake at the Park Place house. On Saturday May, 21st everyone departed for home.

Both Jessie and Phil are very artistic and they truly collaborated on all aspects of the planning. Jess and Phil designed and made all of the centerpieces including the sand art bottles and the light boxes, and all of the photo-booth props.  Jess also designed and made the bridesmaids bouquets and their jewelry.  Phil folded the origami cranes that served as the table assignments, helped pick out all the windup toys and Lego candy for the favors.  This was their wedding plan..!!

Although the majority of the planing credit goes to Jess and Phil (Mom, Dad, Megan, Fannie, and Aunt Brenda helped too) we could not have pulled this off without the help of our vendors and service providers. So to all our vendors and service providers, Thank you all for your help and patience…!!

For all the future wedding planners out there these are the vendors and services that we used.  Some are local to the Outer Banks and some are not. I highly recommend them all.

• Outer Banks Wedding Association – We attended their Wedding Weekend & Expo. This is a must for all OBX wedding planners You get an opportunity to meet all the vendors, taste their food and talk with them about timing and pricing.
• Beach Ball Events – Beach Ball Events hosted our reception at Adrianna’s On the Waterfront. They provided a wedding coordinator who helped keep our day running as we planned, the wedding officiate Pastor Frank Lassen, reception catering and alcohol, the wedding cake, the reception photographer including a photo-booth photographer and the trolley shuttle service from Adrianna’s back to Kill Devil Hills.
• Sandy Beach Tours – Provided shuttle services from Kill Devil Hills to Cape Hatteras and back to Manteo for 100 people. Sandra Morrison is the owner/operator. She arrived on time and got everyone down and back with no problems.
• Village Realty – Provided the bridal party house, Boardwalk and the parents and family of the bride’s house, Park Place.
• Quality Inn Carolina Oceanfront – served as the base of our planning operation in January of 2010 and provided some of  guest accommodations for the wedding.
• Chili Peppers Restaurant & Bar – Provided on site catering for the rehearsal dinner that was hosted by Phil’s parents, Sandi and Mr. Phil Schadt, and a clam bake at the end of the week hosted by Robin and I. Jim Douglas is the owner. He and his staff did a wonderful job catering our dinners.
• Kirsten Lewis Photography – Kirsten provided pre-wedding, wedding and post-wedding photography services from the house at Kill Devil Hills to the Hatteras Lighthouse and back to Manteo.
• DJ Bruce I do Entertainment & DJ Service -Bruce provided DJ service at the reception venue.
• Black Tie Affair – Black Tie provided all the tuxes for the groomsmen.
• Hairoics – Made all the bridesmaids and the mother of the bride look more beautiful than they already were.
• Arlene McCann – Arlene is not a “Wedding Singer”. She is a very talented folk singer who just happens to be one of Jess’s close friends. Arlene performed during the cocktail hour. Thankx Arlene..! We love you..!
• Taylored for You Bridal Boutique – Provided the beautiful dresses for the bride, brides mother and the brides aunt.

Robin and I would like thank all of the friends and family who came and celebrated the wedding week with us. A special thanks to Sandi and Mr. Phil, who truly are great people and have such a wonderful son. 

I’ll never forget when Phil, Jess, Sandi, Mr. Phil, Robin and I were sitting in our hotel room in the Outer Banks in January. It had been a long day of visiting lighthouses up and down the coast. We were debating the merits of having the wedding at one of the other lighthouses. Jess had her mind set on Hatteras. After some conversation Mr. Phil turned to Jess and said “Kid if you want to get married at the Hatteras Lighthouse then that is where you should get married”. I think that sealed the deal in everyone’s mind.

Once again, to all our family and friends, THANKX…!!  It would not have been the same without you.

We love you Phil and Jessica Schadt….!!!

Dow Jones or Fannie Jones ???