A year and a half later, the two were planning their wedding. Having grown up attending St. Mary's Church in Portsmouth, with her parents, Jeffrey and Diane Belden, the decision to tie the knot there was easy for the bride-to-be. All eyes were on her as she approached the altar in her ivory Priscilla of Boston gown, which she chose for its resemblance to Princess Diana's dress. The wedding party celebrated at the Hotel Viking, where guests enjoyed an afternoon tea of lobster salad sandwiches, scones, fruits, truffles and petit fours, along with chocolate covered strawberries and cupcakes, instead of the traditional wedding cake. "I chose the Viking because I wanted to do an afternoon tea reception, and they were willing to expand their standard tea to accommodate our wedding," Sharon says.

Nearly every aspect of the wedding included a personalized touch. Sharon made the tiered cupcake stand, decorating the base with shells and two mini Adirondack chairs as a nod to her family home in the Adirondacks. Even the music gave guests something to talk about. Tom's brother Jason, a professional musician, played keyboard throughout the reception. "People kept asking me where I'd found him!" Sharon says. "He was Fox-TV's 'Connecticut Idol' in 2004, so we were lucky to get him, Tom's brother or not!"

After a honeymoon at a friend's house on Chesapeake Bay, the Castonguays moved to Rye, New York.-MVA