It was New Year’s Eve on the Brooklyn Bridge and 10 minutes to ball drop. A German studying in Canada and visiting New York City for the evening’s merriment and a Rhode Islander living in New York and showing her under-21 cousins a night in the big city find each other. The next fall she heads to grad school in London, he to grad school in Austria, which puts them on the same continent and close enough for love.

Jessica Scholl, 30, and  Christian Bews, 29, were married September 13 at the Sullivan House before 140 guests. Having grown up in Rhode Island, Jessica had visited Block Island often and brought Christian here first chance she got. On a subsequent trip to the island, he proposed.

The couple lives in Munich now but wanted to show their guests, who came from Europe, Australia, Africa, Canada and across the United States, “a unique part of the U.S. We really enjoyed being able to spend the whole weekend on the island with friends and family. We loved riding our bikes down Corn Neck Road or into town and always passing or bumping into our guests. The atmosphere is so unique that it makes everything special,” says Jessica.

Their advice for others planning a wedding on Block Island:

1. Hire local vendors. 

2. Get a group discount rate for bike rentals for your guests.  It’s the best way to see the island.

3. Make a weekend out of it!  We had a welcome party at Ballard’s Inn the day before the wedding when most of the guests started arriving on the ferry. This way they were able to throw their bags in a van we had parked and come straight to meet us.  

4. A minor but important detail: Be prepared for poor internet speed. The virtual remoteness of Block Island is certainly one of the island’s charms, but has its drawbacks too.  

5. We wish we had gotten a videographer. As the bride and groom, you are absent for so much of your guests’ experience. We thought we could delegate this task to guests, but they were too busy dancing and having a good time to take on this responsibility. 

We are still talking about…

… how fast it went by!