We've been busy over the past six months building out our brand new eight foot rustic farm tables. The tables are hand-built by Joel and are made from pine with 8' planked tabletops and tapered legs. These tables comfortably seat 8-10 guests per table (utilizing the heads). We currently have 22 tables and a matching sweetheart table and can now accommodate wedding with up to 200 guests!

We had basically just wrapped up putting together the finishing touches on our new vintage window backdrop when my sister-in-law and her fiancé called to let us know they were planning a beach vacation in New Jersey. Anyone with family on the other side of the country knows that this type of news is always exciting. We eagerly asked our future brother-in-law, Peter, an LA based location manager and photographer, to bring along his camera so we could snap some photos of our newest rental item. What resulted was some amazing pictures of this structure and our family.

For the second year in a row, we were happy to coordinate and style a Lobster Bake at a Loveladies, NJ oceanfront residence. While last year's party consisted of the classic red and white gingham décor, this year we went with a navy and white, nautical inspired theme. Vintage Sailor Boy oyster tins were used as centerpieces on each table. The beautiful flower arrangements were supplied by MDS Floral Designs and each guest had an amazing watercolor illustrated place card on 'How to Eat a Lobster' by artist Jackie Maloney (purchased here). We also designed Lobster Dinner Survival Kits with our own stickers, galvanized tins, lobster crackers, seafood picks, wet ones and lobster bibs. These went over so well last year we just had to do them again.

It's Spring. It doesn't feel like it but we're optimistic that perfect wedding weather is ahead. We had a busy Fall and Winter season, not only growing our family but our business as well. Our daughter, Haven Mar was born on October 9th. While we've taken some time to thoroughly enjoy all that is to enjoy with a newborn we also got busy expanding our inventory choices for the 2015 Wedding Season (particularly our beach/outdoor ceremony items).

In the next few weeks we'll be working on updating the inventory section of our website but in the meantime here is some awesome stuff to look forward to: driftwood arbor, birch arbor, boardwalk aisle runners, reclaimed lumber raw bar cart, antique flower cart, rentable handmade wedding signs and we even have lawn games (like corn hole and ring toss) available for sale. You can see some of this stuff in action on Sunday, April 19th at the LBI Wedding Road Show. We will be setup at Brant Beach Yacht Club and will feature an arbor, boardwalk runners, signature drink wine barrel bar and some other goodies. Additionally, we will have some lawn games and custom signage available for sale. The same goes for Sunday, April 26th. We will be heading south and making our debut at Found: The Wedding Market at Congress Hall in Cape May. We look forward to seeing all you lovely brides-to-be there!

Before we even had a website Shannon & Scott were one of the very first couples to reach out to Rustic Drift (thank you Instagram). In terms of their wedding day concept and design, they had a clear idea of exactly what they were looking for. Our rental items seemed to aligned perfectly with their vision and their venue, 101 Centre Street. 101 Centre Street is a beautifully restored three story Victorian Home nestled in the heart of Beach Haven, NJ on Long Beach Island. The wrap around porch and wonderfully landscaped yard were perfect for cocktail hour. We made sure several special detail items that Shannon + Scott wanted to incorporate into their wedding were clear and visible during cocktail hour for everyone to see. Here's just a little taste of what these details included:

I think starting a boutique rental company it was safe to assume that one day event planning would somehow make its way into our business plan. Well for us it happened instantly. My love for planning parties probably started with my first slumber birthday party; carefully laying out what movies we would watch, what games we would play and which New Kids on the Block sleeping bag I would showcase. I threw parties in high school and somehow managed to get everyone in and out and the house cleaned by the time my parents returned from their monthly Saturday night church outings (sorry Mom and Dad!). This was the extent of my party planning before this business began but one goal has always remained. Make sure everyone is talking about the party the next day.

About a month ago our good friends from Mud City Crab House who catered the event, asked us to jump on board and help plan a 60th Lobster Bake Birthday in Loveladies. Last weekend it all went down. The weather was perfect, food was out of this world and the oceanfront setting was quite the backdrop for this red & white themed lobster party.

I remember sitting down with Sarah + Chad at The Arlington in the very beginning of February to discuss the details of their May wedding. I couldn't help but walk away from our meeting thinking, "Wow, now that's an awesome couple I would love to have had a drink with." But the only thing that was brewing for me was baby #2 in my belly. So I politely, without mentioning, made my own rain check to share a cocktail with this couple later in the year.

After flipping through our inventory, Sarah + Chad knew exactly which Rustic Drift items would fit perfectly into what they envisioned for their big day at 101 Centre Street in Beach Haven. We started with laying out the ceremony which included our cedar post arbor, two rows of church pews and chairs. The 5th Street Pavilion beach that the couple picked as the location to exchange vows was amazing. Low-tide provided plenty of room for our setup and several guests chose to watch the couple get married with a birds eye view from the pier. Everything was perfect.

We all know that May can be a little iffy when it comes to "wedding weather" but Saturday, May 3rd, couldn't have been a more perfect day for a Spring wedding at the beach. This date also marked Rustic Drift's first two weddings ever. What better way to kick off our very first year in business than a double-header.

One of our couples, Erica and Jon picked Brant Beach Yacht Club as their bayside venue. Our rental items for this wedding included our Schwinn Twinn Bicycle and our 1940 Navy Blue Cadillac. What says a LBI wedding better than a beach cruiser and a classic car with nautical colors? Yes, that's right.. nothing.

I remember the first time I asked Joel to go to church with me and his response was, "the ocean is my church." While I rolled my eyes at this witty remark from this avid surfer, this response has grown on me since. I am not one to push you out of bed on a Sunday morning to get to mass, or judge you when you don't attend church not even on Christmas Eve and I do not care about your beliefs but I do think it is important to believe. For Joel, being out on the ocean on a surfboard provides him time to think, relax and reflect. The same as some of us may do while taking a walk, going for a run, casting a line or maybe even going to church.

While penciling ideas for Rustic Drift about a year ago, when we were working on fine tuning potential rental items for ceremonies, I brought up church pews. Although this idea seemed slightly bogus to my husband at first, Joel was much more receptive than I had anticipated. When we came across the opportunity to purchases old pews from a church down in Mays Landing, we jumped right on it.

The logistics of refinishing ten church pews and transporting them to the beach for a wedding is no easy task but one that we both find rewarding in this business. For me, church pews on a beach symbolize faith while the ocean symbolizes opportunity. And what could be more truthful for a wedding day.

We have to remember as well that marriage is about compromise. If I can't get Joel to always go to my church at least I can now bring my church to him and vice versa.

There seems to be a pattern going on here. The snow is always chasing us and we're always racing against the clock. But what does that matter. When you're able to snap amazing photos like Ann Coen under the constraints of time, weather and God knows what else everything else falls to the wayside.

On another snowy January day we were able to squeeze in a styled shoot with School of Vintage, Ann Coen Photography and MDS Floral Designs right as the first snowflakes started falling from the sky. Our 1932 Cadillac and wine barrels made their modeling debuts at this shoot. I couldn't be happier with the results. Big things ahead for the little LBI wedding power team we're forming.

Photography: Ann Coen Photography // Vintage Wedding Dress, Coat and Accessories: School of Vintage // Flowers: MDS Floral Designs // Vintage Rentals: Rustic Drift

On December 7th we had the awesome opportunity to host our very own VIP Launch Party @ Black-Eyed Susans in Harvey Cedars, NJ. Our good friends and co-owners Ashley Pellegrino and Chris Sanchez were kind enough to open their doors in the off-season to help host our event. We invited local wedding professionals, vendors and venues to attend our launch party, snack on some delicious hors d'oeuvres, drink some craft beers, listening to the acoustic rhythms of local musician, Ryan Zimmerman and take a gander at the rental items we would be offering for the 2014 season. Some items we featured included our 10’ and 5’ farm tables, mismatched china, wine barrel high tops, wine barrel cooler, reclaimed lumber bar cart, ice cream cart and both our Edison and lantern string lights. We packed the house and received amazing feedback and recognition from the peers among us in the industry. We couldn’t be happier with the turn out, not to mention the wonderful write up we received from the Sandpaper.

As we broke down the event the next day we were hit with the very first (of what seems like 200+) snowstorm of the season. Moving everything in a couple inches of powder was no easy feat but after the night before nothing could break our spirit. We want to thank all of our attendees. The support from the LBI community, our family and friends has been commendable beyond our belief.