LouLou Skayhan, the founder of Peep’s Paper Products—a luxury paper products company that creates wedding invitations, stationery, playing cards, and more—was introduced to commercial real estate broker David Baker IV at her brother’s wedding on Gibson Island in the Chesapeake Bay. “At the time, I was living in San Francisco finishing up my master’s and had no interest in meeting the boy that my brother spoke so highly of,” remembers LouLou. “In 2014, I moved back East intending to spend the summer on Gibson Island and move to New York in the fall. Dave and I first saw each other again in May at an event commemorating the ceremonial start to sailing season, and in just a couple of months, Dave and I had established a relationship, and it was clear I was not heading north.”
The two attended a party at the Gibson Island boathouse, which sits on the causeway connecting the island to mainland, and sat under a flagpole chatting and sipping dark ’n’ stormies for hours, oblivious to the fact that every car entering and exiting the island was observing their budding romance. “Word spread around the island that we were an item before we had even realized it!” says LouLou, laughing.
After the summer ended, LouLou moved to Washington, D.C., to be closer to Dave, and within a year, he started asking her about engagement rings. “My parents met and were married within four months, so to my family, it seemed like the dating stage of our relationship was lasting for an eternity, but if you ask my husband, it was lightning fast,” jokes LouLou. “Because of all of the engagement ring questions and a hopeless plea from Dave that I accompany him to the Tiny Jewel Box in Washington, I knew a proposal was coming but had no clue as to when.”
Fast-forward to Thanksgiving Day 2015, LouLou and Dave were back on Gibson Island, where the community hosts a Wine Wobble Wednesday the evening before the big holiday—a friendsgiving of sorts. “Dave and I had gone on a long walk around the island to enjoy the fresh air and offset the festivities of the night,” remembers LouLou. “It was a quintessential mid-Atlantic autumn day: crisp but not cold, and clear with the leaves in full color. We were concluding our walk on the causeway when Dave asked if I wanted to sit and enjoy the view of the Chesapeake in a small area under the yacht club’s flagpole. As we arrived, Dave got down on one knee and presented a gorgeous emerald engagement ring. The words that were actually said are a blur, but I remember the tears and saying ‘yes’ more than once, and then being wrapped in his arms under the flagpole. We pass that flagpole with frequency, and it will never lose its magic to me.”
Dave’s family had invited LouLou’s parents over for Thanksgiving dinner at their place that year, and the two decided it would be best to share the news of the engagement during the meal, when both families would be together. “As I went to my parents’ house hours before dinnertime, I reluctantly took off my ring and somehow made mashed potatoes with stars in my eyes, hiding all the while that I was engaged,” says LouLou. “I tell my mother everything so this was exceedingly difficult for me, and three hours before dinner, I said that I needed to shower so I could disappear and not have to ‘act normal’ anymore. I finally made it to dinner, and Dave and I broke the news to our collective families—it was the best Thanksgiving I have ever had!”
Every two years, Dave participates in the Newport Bermuda Race, a 635-mile sailing race from Newport, Rhode Island, to Bermuda. Long before he and LouLou were even engaged, the owner and skipper of the racing boat teased the couple about their romance by laughingly suggesting that everyone should just stay in Bermuda through the weekend after the race in the off chance a wedding transpire that Saturday. “It was a funny joke before the engagement, but once betrothed, the idea sounded wonderful to me: Dave racing to the altar to meet me and then celebrating with family and a few close friends,” says LouLou. “Boats typically finish early to midweek and the rest of the week is filled with parties at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, crew dinners, rum swizzles, dark ’n’ stormies, and zooming around exploring the island on mopeds. Why not piggyback on this excitement with a small, intimate wedding?” And with that, what had been a joke suddenly became the actual plan for LouLou and Dave’s big day.
LouLou used her company to make watercolor save the dates for the couple’s 29 guests. “Dave and I wrote personalized notes on the back of each,” she says. “The watercolor—befitting of a Bermuda wedding—established the tone for the tropical, fun weekend, but also was highly personal and tailored to us.”
Seeing as paper products are her business, LouLou attempted to make each additional correspondence more exciting than the last. The invitations were oversize navy envelopes with white embossed cursive lettering and adorned with custom watercolor stamps. “My husband and I both wanted a small wedding surrounded only by those people who had been with us for our entire lives, and whom we hope will be at our sides for the remainder of our days,” says LouLou. “We ended up being joined by a party of 29: parents and siblings, godparents, teammates, and friends we had carpooled with since we were 6 years old. And we made it our goal to create a weekend that we thought would lead to memories that would forever be held dear by all who attended.”
It all kicked off with a beach barbecue hosted by Dave’s parents on Warwick Long Bay. “The setting and ambiance exceeded even my wildest expectations,” says LouLou. “Five tables covered with white linens were set up on a white sand beach with waves crashing ashore and the deep blue of the Atlantic beyond that. It was a perfect barefoot evening spent surrounded by friends and relatives.” The bride planned the actual wedding with her mother and sister’s help. “At the end of the day, the fingerprints of loved ones—be they Dave’s family, my mom and sister, or our guests—either we or people we cared about, handled every detail of our wedding weekend.”
Ever since she was a young girl, LouLou had thought about wearing her great-grandmother’s wedding gown—a family heirloom worn by three generations—on her wedding day. Sadly, given the age of the garment, it likely would not have withstood an active destination wedding in a tropical climate. “Wanting to provide something equally meaningful, my sister audaciously offered to make me a wedding dress,” says LouLou. “My vision of the dress was inspired by Oscar de la Renta, with elements of some of my favorite Alberta Ferretti dresses. My mom tracked down the most beautiful French lace, imported bobbinet for the straps from England, and found the perfect georgette to layer under the lace. As each piece came together, I was elated, and just a week before the wedding, we had my final fitting, and it was perfect. We left the edge of the lace raw on the hem as it was absolutely beautiful with the eyelashes.” For jewelry, she wore a Roberto Coin necklace that was a bridesmaid’s gift to her from one of her closest friends. “I am incredibly simple when it comes to jewelry and loved just having one little diamond around my neck,” says LouLou. “The raw edge of the lace on the bust was decorative enough for me.”
The men wore navy blue Vineyard Vines ties with the burgee of the Gibson Island Yacht Squadron on them with white shirts, khakis, and docksiders—a quintessentially nautical look. Dave and the officiant stood out from the rest as they were adorned in special St. David’s Lighthouse, Newport Bermuda Race neckties, only two of which are given to each boat that participates in the race.
The National Museum of Bermuda, an elevated site at the western side of the island that prior to being a museum had been a British naval base for about 200 years, was the setting for the ceremony. “With Great Sound and the vast Atlantic Ocean behind the officiant—a third-generation family friend and Dave’s godfather—Dave and I again found ourselves under a flagstaff, with a small crowd between us and the Commissioner’s House, a grand Georgian house constructed in the 1820s,” says LouLou. The ceremony featured a script highly tailored to the bride and the groom with two readings, one from Gabriel García Márquez and the other written by the bride and groom. The ceremony ended with a surprise from the officiant: a handcrafted teak and holly marriage board with two lines that the newlyweds tied together in a square knot. The officiant then handed them a lock and key by which to lock the loops at the end of each line together and after they did, he took the key and threw it off the cliff deep into the Atlantic Ocean. “That marriage board now sits prominently in our living room in Georgetown,” says LouLou. “A constant reminder of one of the most important and joyful moments, and the symbolic start of our mutual life together.”
The new Mr. and Mrs. Baker then traveled by sailboat to the reception venue, a nearly 350-year-old restaurant called the Waterlot Inn. “Marrying a sailor in a ceremony officiated by a sailor with a crowd largely comprised of sailors, it was only fitting that we incorporate some time on the water into our wedding celebrations,” says LouLou, laughing. Dark ’n’ stormies in hand, the 31-person wedding party boarded the boat for a 45-minute sunset cruise through the turquoise waters of Bermuda’s Great Sound.
At the Waterlot Inn, everyone was greeted with Champagne and ushered into a private dining room with whitewashed plaster walls, dimly lit sconces, and an exposed dark-wood beam ceiling. Each menu, which also served as a place card, had been hand-painted by LouLou and played on themes of the wedding. “And at the end of the night, not one menu was left on the table!” she remembers. And, of the 29 guests present, there were 27 toasts. “This includes my 7- and 9-year-old niece and nephew who, inspired by the ambiance, got up and gave impromptu speeches that to this day warm my heart,” says LouLou.
After dinner, it was time to really celebrate! “In middle school, my best friend and I argued over who would get to use Elvis Presley’s ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ as their first-dance song first at their wedding,” admits LouLou. “She won, but I still used it, and the song was perfect for our first dance, which could be better described as a three-minute-long hug with antsy feet.” Late in the evening, most of the wedding party headed back to the hotel where there was a band and a dance floor. “I changed into an off-white Chanel dress, tossed my flowers, and continued to dance with Dave—that is, until we decided to sneak off and get some rest.”