When Maggie Lydecker, Interior Design Manager at Wayfair, first met her future husband, Garrett Kanter, a product launch manager at New Balance, she mistakenly believed he wasn’t interested in her. During the 2013 World Series, Maggie and a girlfriend had stopped by Garrett’s place in Boston to watch one of the games. “I remember when I walked in, he was buried in a business school text book and I thought he really wasn’t into the company,” she remembers. Thankfully, they all ended up getting dinner nearby, and the two were seated next to each other. “We quickly became distracted from the fact that the Red Sox were winning and instead got to know each other,” she says. A few weeks later, they met up again and he asked for her number.
Three years later, Maggie was getting ready to go to New York for the weekend, when she woke up to a note from Garrett that instructed her to get on an afternoon ferry to Nantucket. “Pack your bags, don’t ask questions and try to go with the flow,” the note read. “I instantly burst into tears because I knew that a proposal was going to happen, since he had always said he would love to propose in Nantucket,” Maggie explains. After getting on the ferry and landing in Nantucket, Maggie arrived at her hotel and found another note that asked her to be ready by 6:30 p.m. At that time, a driver picked her up and took her to Madaket Beach, where Garrett was waiting. When he finally got down on one knee to propose, Maggie was so excited, she flung her arms up and hit the ring box, which sent her engagement ring flying into the sand. “That made for a hilarious and slightly nerve wracking two minutes!” she says.
After getting engaged, the Boston-based couple started discussing their wedding location and both agreed they wanted something by the water. “I have always loved the New England charm of Marblehead, which is where Garrett is from,” she says. They settled on the Eastern Yacht Club and enlisted planner Kate Dawson to help execute the blue and white chinoiserie-inspired scheme Maggie had always envisioned for her big day.
When looking for her dress, the bride initially found something quickly. But when she went to have her first fitting months later, the dress was not right and she was forced to find a new one with only two months to go until the wedding. Luckily she found just what she was looking for in a Christian Siriano dress. “When I slipped it on it felt like silk, and when I looked in the mirror I burst into tears!” Maggie recalls. “I never cried when I tried my first dress on, so I knew this was meant to be.” For shoes, she went with a pair of Sophia Webster satin slingback heels with a rhinestone heel, and a pair of pearl and diamond studs her mother wore to her wedding to Maggie’s stepfather.
As for Garrett, he had always wanted to wear a white dinner jacket to his wedding. He chose a custom made Jiwani suit, with a shirt and cummerbund from Ralph Lauren. “I loved that he accessorized his watch with a Strike Out ALS rubber bracelet, which he wears in honor of his friend and groomsman Pete Frates, who is battling the disease,” Maggie explains.
The day of the wedding, Maggie and Garrett’s ceremony was officiated by her brother, and including readings by both of their siblings. “We then recited our own vows in front of all of our guests,” says Maggie. “It was by far my favorite moment of our wedding; hearing Garrett’s words and getting through mine without sobbing was truly a moment I will never ever forget.”
After they were declared husband and wife, it was time for the reception, which started off with cocktails and a raw bar. Then came dinner and dessert, which included a coconut liqueur cake with a raspberry center and coconut buttercream, and toasts from Maggie’s stepdad, her maid of honor, and Garrett’s two brothers, whose speech made everyone tear up.
Once people finished eating, the newylweds took to the dance floor to “Nothing Can Change This Love” by Sam Cooke, and were later joined by their guests as the Sultans of Swing, a ten piece band, provided the music. “They surprised me at the end with one of my favorite songs, “Blame It On the Boogie” by Michael Jackson,” Maggie shares. “They brought us on stage at the end to sing and dance with them.”
After the reception, the couple was bid farewell with a sparkler sendoff to their boat. Garrett and Maggie drove off into the night, and then came back for their after party at the yacht club. “We had tons of pizzas and bowls of fries waiting for us,” she says. “Perfect fuel for dancing all night.”
