Martha Stewart Editor Greenhouse Wedding | Gabriella & Sean

High school sweethearts Gabriella Rello and Sean Duffy bonded over a love of Coldplay and a junior-year English project in 2008, and then dated for more than a decade before Sean proposed. Sean, whose family owns Stone Mill Gardens in Township of Washington, New Jersey - the couple calls the Garden’s home as well - originally planned to pop the question outside in December, surrounded by Christmas trees and lights at the garden center. "In the end," he says, "I felt like it would be more meaningful to do it inside our house while we decorated our tree and had a drink." Sean turned on a Nat King Cole Christmas record, then popped the question just as the couple finished decorating their tree. "We were alone, with our dog, in our house at our most favorite time of the year," says Gabby. "It was perfect."

Originally the couple planned on a long engagement, to ensure there’d be no stress in planning. While Sean liked the idea of getting married at their home in Stone Mill Gardens, while Gabby wanted to look at celebrating somewhere that didn’t require the couple to do just about everything. As large-scale events began being rescheduled in March 2020, and by May the couple decided to have an intimate ceremony on their original date with 26 guests at Stone Mill Gardens. The Gardens were such an important part of their story - it had been a part of Sean’s life since he was a boy, and a part of their life for 12 years. 

Gabby found her first wedding dress before trying even a single frock: She brought a picture of it to her initial boutique appointment and ordered it almost immediately. "My original wedding dress is one I always knew I'd wear," she says. "When I know, I know." Months later, in the midst of trying to decide whether to postpone or move forward with the plans, she had that same love-at-first-sight feeling again when an image of the Envy Only number from Before Sarah Seven appeared on her Instagram feed.

She messaged the company, and though the tea-length, lace dress had sold out, they were planning to release a limited number of additional dresses later that summer. The bride received it with just days to spare. "It was done totally through Instagram and email," says Gabby. "I tried it on for the first time a week before my wedding! It fit like a dream and was exactly what I wanted." 

With side cutouts, an open back, and a high slit, she says, "it's way more revealing and sexy than my original wedding dress. I think I shocked everyone by choosing it." But it also helped her envision—and get excited about—the alternate wedding plans. "I think once I saw that dress that I loved, I knew it would be possible to rethink the wedding and still have a really special day, even if it wasn't what we originally thought," she says.

See more in Martha Stewart Weddings here.

Venue Stone Mill Gardens | Catering Caffe Anello | Flowers Twisted Willow Flowers | Calligraphy Mary Fama |
Bride's gown Before by Sarah Seven | Bride's accessories Lelet NY hairpiece | Prada shoes | Hair Gina Ribando In Full Detail Hair | Makeup, Michelle Schultz Willow House Beauty