Jessica Soffer and Alex Forden’s Wedding Cruise

I'd like to say that there was an elegant, leisurely primping process but there wasn't. A friend did my eyeliner, I did everything else. Alex loves black suits, the sleek simplicity of them. But when he tried on J.Crew’s white tuxedo, he couldn’t fight it. A good look is a good look. And this good look is so good. As we were getting ready, Alex checked my teeth for lipstick and I checked his tuxedo jacket for lint. We were together every step of the way, which was exactly how we wanted it. We couldn’t decide on a venue. One day, a friend suggested a boat because we are boat people, water people. Later that day, I saw the Mariner III docked in Sag Harbor and overheard the captain talking about charters. Sometimes, fate intervenes. The boat was a surprise for our friends. We told them: black-tie, our house, 4:00 p.m. sharp. That’s it. Everyone loaded onto a bus and off we went. When we pulled up to the dock and saw the Mariner III, the crew, poised and elegant in their uniforms, they went nuts. I went nuts. There is excitement and then there is knowing that you will spend the next five hours in the most beautiful place on the most beautiful boat with the people you love the most in the world, looking their most beautiful. The Mariner III is a 1920s wooden yacht, beautifully restored. It needed very little fluffing. But our friend and event planner, McKenna Young, is a stickler for details. She picked the flowers from our local farm, Amber Waves, and put candles in hurricanes on every surface she could find. She made something amazing even more so. Alex and I didn’t want to pose for photos. We wanted everything candid. But our brilliant photographer, Sasha Israel, put her foot down. “One photo,” she said. This was part of that series. There is a time, as it turns out, to listen to the pros. Sasha is never not right. We loved the vintage feel of the boat and all its detail. Alex’s father restored wooden boats for a living, and Alex is more concerned with the quality and construction of things than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s his job but also his joy. The Mariner III, in certain ways, felt like a celebration of that. There were beautiful inside spaces, but the weather was so incredible, the sunset so captivating, that we barely left the upstairs deck. We didn’t want to miss a moment of that syrupy light. We were all so merry and blithe that when someone asked, hours in, who was driving the boat, there was a moment of panic, ridiculous panic, before we came to our senses. But that was the feeling throughout: the opposite of worry—complete and utter abandon and joy. I loved my Hervé Léger outfit, but it wasn’t until I saw it in a photo—how it played off the boat and Alex’s outfit and felt so much like me—that I really understood how right it was for the occasion. And I fell in love with it even more. I have these Illesteva glasses in three colors. They are the best. But the white and silver were made for this night, this outfit, this celebration. The water was flat calm, which made all the ladies and their stilettos very grateful. Alex wore Rod Lavers and would have been fine in a hurricane, but I was glad it didn’t come to that. There wasn’t a wave in sight. Alex keeps his boat in Montauk and offshore fishes every chance he gets. It’s a big part of our life: the fish, the water. These Elizabeth Cole earrings are a jewelry homage to that and are equal parts elegance and fun. Because we got married nearly a year before the party, we didn’t say vows or have a ceremony on the boat. Instead, we each gave toasts as much to each other as to everyone onboard. Our friends are a huge part of our happiness and success as a couple, and we wanted to celebrate that—celebrate them—too. I’m sure everyone says that their special day is the most beautiful. But I have never, ever seen a sunset like that in my life. There was insane rain the day before and morning of and day after, but for the hours that we were on the boat, the sky got all gussied up for the occasion and we were blown away, and so deeply grateful. This shot wasn’t staged or premeditated. Someone shook a bottle of Sparkling Pointe, gave it to Alex, and somehow Sasha Israel got it and nailed it. This feels like the essence of the night: wild, effusive, unbridled joy. And lots and lots of bubbly. After the boat, we strolled (barefoot!) through Sag Harbor to one of my favorite bookstores, Harbor Books, where the owner, Taylor Berry, had lined the windows with copies of my first novel (Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots) and Alex’s favorite of all, Hemingway. Many of my friends are authors, and so we had an impromptu signing. And Alex, bless him, kept my shoes on his person at all times. A group shot seems cheesy in the moment, but I can’t stop looking at ours. These are the people I love the most on the day I loved the most. Why on earth would I ever look at anything else? A group shot is the opposite of cheesy. It’s a treasured gift.