Katie Harrell and Hugh McColl met as undergraduates at the University of Virginia. After graduation, they found themselves both based in New York City and began dating. Four years later, Hugh planned a trip to Florida filled with beach days and golfing. During dinner at The Colony Hotel’s Swifty’s, a bottle of Champagne was brought to the table. Before Katie could even take a sip, Hugh was down on one knee with a ring.
“Choosing to get married on Nantucket was a no-brainer for us,” Katie shares. “Hugh and I spend every summer there with our families and [it] is a special place to us as individuals and as a couple.” Even before dating, they would meet on the island as friends in the summertime between school semesters. Once they began seeing each other, however, Nantucket truly became the ultimate “happy place.” This is where they would escape the Manhattan madness on the weekends and spend the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I knew that getting married on Nantucket also meant having the ability to show people around the island that had never been there before,” Katie adds. The Nantucket Golf Club offers the most breathtaking view of the island and Sankaty Lighthouse. She and Hugh hoped to highlight the natural aesthetic of the island with a color palette of blue, green, white, and light pink. Katie dishes, “At one point I described my vision as an ‘elegant-dinner-party-in-a-garden-under-the-stars-by-the-sea.’”
David Handy from Handy & Dallaire Events planned the ambitious weekend soirée, and the couple enlisted Brian Sager to photograph the events. Cheree Berry created the wedding suite and paper products, making Katie’s hopes tangible with hand-painted wildflower and butterfly designs. Blue butterflies served as an important symbol for Katie. Each signifies beauty and luck. Party Tables and Linens actually traveled from North Carolina to attach a blue and white scalloped valence to the tent as well as drapery around the club, effectively making the tent’s atmosphere more intimate. Katie also collaborated with Winston Flowers Events on the floral décor under the reception tent and throughout the ceiling. A designated photo booth area featured lounge furniture and blue and white chinoiserie vases with hydrangeas. Another favorite section of the tent was the candy station–a nod to the groom’s sweet tooth.
Sourcing wedding weekend looks was a highlight of the entire planning process for the bride. For the Thursday welcome party, she wore an eyelet skirt and top from Carolina Herrera, white leather cork Alexandre Birman heels, and Celine sunglasses hand-picked by her mother. Katie and Hugh exchanged gifts a little early, and she couldn’t help but wear her brand-new diamond hoop earrings all weekend long.
Nicole Penizotto from Oscar de la Renta assisted with styling several other outfits. Katie donned a blue puff sleeve Oscar de la Renta dress to the garden-inspired bridal luncheon in Sconset at Chanticleer. “It felt like the custom flower painting of our save the date was transferred to my dress,” she says. Her godmother, the owner of Croghan’s Jewel Box, lent an exquisite diamond tennis necklace for the occasion. For the rehearsal dinner, Katie wore a custom floral tea-length Oscar de la Renta dress with a long silk blue bow accent on the shoulder and clutched an apropos Edie Parker Mrs. clutch.
On the morning of the wedding, Dani Wagener styled Katie’s hair and makeup look, while the bride wore a Hill House Home dress and chatted with all of her bridesmaids. Katie surprised the bridal party with “the dress” that morning–only her mother and future mother-in-law had laid eyes upon the halter-style Oscar de la Renta gown. She stepped into Manolo Blahnik pumps and put on pearl and diamond drop earrings that were gifted to her by her grandmother. Her aunt and godmother contributed to Katie’s “something borrowed” and “something blue” gems with two tennis bracelets–one in diamonds and another in sapphires. Later that night, Katie switched into a custom Oscar de la Renta dress and paired it with silver glitter platform Golden Goose sneakers. She stayed true to her island bridal couture style with a white Zimmermann dress and seashell rope belt for the next day’s farewell brunch at Galley Beach.
Just a few days before the ceremony, the couple’s priest shared that he would be unable to officiate. Hugh and Katie had to–and did–find another priest on such short notice.
Getting married at First Congregational Church was a dream for Katie. “I have always admired the beauty and elegance of this church amidst the hustle and bustle of Nantucket’s town,” she admits. On June 25, 2022, guests walked underneath a blue and white hydrangea arbor and through the church’s dark green doors for the short and sweet ceremony.
Cocktail hour followed with a raw bar, mini lobster rolls, and passed hors d’oeuvres. Hugh was definitely most excited about the food and relished the sampling process from last summer. Guests meandered to the tent and found their table assignments on custom ferry boats on the blue grasscloth escort wall.
The band immediately began playing, and guests took to the floor. “The Atlanta Showstoppers made their way from Atlanta to Nantucket for the weekend, and we were so grateful to have them there,” Katie admits. The dance floor had to be cleared to make way for the newlyweds’ first dance to The Parent Trap‘s “This Will Be” by Natalie Cole.
Katie’s father delivered a heartfelt toast before everyone enjoyed the seated dinner under the tent at Nantucket Golf Club. An awe-inspiring sunset swept across the sky just before the main course. The wedding cake was accompanied by mini espresso martinis, the couple’s go-to drink. The dancing continued at Cru. Surrounded by disco balls, DJ LayZ Boy performed until the late hours of the night.
