Kendra Vellante, who works for African luxury safari conservation company Singita and owns East Hampton gallery Destination Haus, and Tyler Maguire, who is a second-generation fisherman in Montauk, met at The Memory Motel through a mutual best friend. The two dated for five years, all long-distance between Montauk, New York City, and Rincón, Puerto Rico, before he proposed on Thanksgiving on Bell Island in Connecticut.
Since Tyler was born and raised in Montauk, they met there, and they now live in the town, The Crow’s Nest was the perfect place to host their beach wedding. “We celebrated our one-year anniversary there and visit the beach bar every weekend for watermelon coolers,” Kendra says. To plan their September 21st wedding, the bride and her mother organized and designed everything and had help from The Crow’s Nest’s Cara Rooney on the day-of.
To walk down the aisle, Kendra chose a Berta gown that her cousin, best friend, and mother all had enthusiastic reactions to. “It is such a tough decision, so finally, on the last day of deadline, my mom took the initiative to call the Berta showroom to place the order, while I was on a flight with no WiFi.” Bridesmaids complemented the bride well in their choice of LoveShackFancy maxi dresses, while the groom looked Montauk-chic in a Ralph Lauren white linen jacket over a Reyn Spooner Hawaiian shirt and Calvin Klein shoes.
Before the ceremony, guests were served Prosecco with edible flowers and hard watermelon coolers and then headed to find their seats along the aisle. The day had beautiful, 80-degree, sunny weather, and in a sustainable effort, the space was beautifully decorated with canvas, reusable, or dried flowers.
Their officiant was a family friend—and the father of the mutual friend who introduced them. The actual service was only 25-minutes but filled with love and warmth. At one point, one of the bridesmaids sang “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” acoustic in honor of our family and friends who had passed on.
Once announced as married, everyone made their way up the hill for cocktail hour, where they were greeted by a group of African and Brazilian drummers to kick off the party. The Crow’s Nest then had their full menu available for dinner, and the lobster tagliatelle was the biggest hit.
During dinner, Kendra’s best friend, Alison Hill, had the funniest speech. At the end, she surprised the bride with a plate full of squid to eat—Kendra doesn’t eat seafood…yet married a fisherman. “Tyler makes his biggest book of business from squid and had every wedding guest in the fishing town chanting ‘Eat The Squid!’ That night, she took her first bite of seafood ever.
The reception continued to be just as lively with drummers, saxophonists, a Motown band, a candy bar, a cold brew bar, lemon drop shots, tequila tastings, and non-stop dancing. During a calmer moment, the newlyweds had their first dance to “At Last,” before cutting the cake and heading back to the dance floor.
After the evening came to a close, the after-party began at Sel Rrose, where they hired local DJ, Greg Gould, to play a set with a saxophonist that Kendra’s mom had surprised them with.
For their honeymoon, the bride wanted her husband to experience her favorite continent firsthand. They spent two nights in South Africa’s winelands, three nights in Cape Town, three nights on the Zambezi River, followed by seven nights at Singita Serengeti at Sabora Tented Camp, Sasakwa, and Faru Faru.
