A Rustic Barn Wedding with a Vintage, Nautical Twist at the Bay Head Yacht Club in Bay Head, New Jersey

For their early summer wedding in Bay Head, NJ, Kelsey Johnson (26 and a civil engineer) and Benedict (Ben) Jacobellis (35 and a security contractor) transformed their boathouse venue into a barn-style celebration with a vintage, nautical twist.

“I always wanted to get married in New Jersey, but somewhere a little more rustic 

than the traditional wedding venues in the area,” Kelsey says. “We tried to find a barn, but there aren’t many around that can hold more than 200 people.” As soon as she 
saw the boathouse, Kelsey knew it was it.

The couple’s letterpressed invitation suite was bound with belly bands made from vintage nautical maps of the East Coast, reflecting the celebration’s subtle nautical theme.

White hydrangeas, greenery and candles housed in wood boxes sat at the center of the tables, some of which were built by Kelsey’s father and stained by her mother. Small pennant flag banners served as cute table numbers that matched the burlap escort cards. 

After cocktail hour, Kelsey, Ben and their families took a boat to the dinner and dancing area. “We had the big barn-like doors open as we arrived from the river on a boat,” Kelsey says of her and Ben’s grand entrance to the reception. “It was such a fun and original way to enter—and shocked most of the guests!”