On November 2nd this past year, in front of the best group of family and friends a gal could ask for, I married an amazing man. I haven’t shared many details about our wedding planning, our weekend or about all the talented vendors that put it all together. It just felt too personal and sacred to talk about it all before it actually happened. The truth is that that day and today, after it has all come and gone I could just explode with gratitude for all the people that came together to make our wedding weekend what it was.
Some of you might have seen our wedding film from Meg Simone or checked out the post wedding blog post from our wedding photographer Michelle Gardella. They are both amazing. Scratch that… they are perfection! They both understood Scott and I to the core (helps that Meg and I met years ago!). But what you don’t get from the photos and film are my own words, as a bride, on just how greatful I am to all our wedding vendors and how fabulous they all were to work with.
Everyone talks about how quickly your wedding day will go by and how you should carve out a bit of time to step back and let it all soak in; they are so very very right. It felt like it was all over in an instance. How is that even possible? How did I not get to have a conversation with every guest? How did I not get a bite of those tasty late night sliders? I don’t even remember what our JP said during our ceremony?! Being a wedding photographer I am familiar with the rhythm of a wedding day; the getting ready flows right into the first look and into portraits to the ceremony and so on. I knew what we had ahead of us and I still felt like it was a fleeting moment. This is exactly why it was so very important to have people I trust there to capture it all. Every last moment in either a still or moving image will forever be a gift that simple thank you’s just don’t seem to cover. I will cherish them for a lifetime.
The months and weeks leading up to our wedding were so fun! I kept saying I felt like I was planning an elaborate inspiration shoot even though I was going to end up being the one in the dress. I had a dream team of wedding professionals, but it was so much more than that. These pros are my colleauges and friends, one I’ve even known since elementary school! Reuben is one part of the two man team that is Blue Elephant Catering. I have known Reuben most of my life and reconnected with him as we both entered into the Maine wedding market. To say their food is delicious really doesn’t do it justice. Hands down the first thing people said to me was how absolutely over the top their meals were. They offered great meal options and ideas from the passed lobster salads in martini glasses to our late night sliders and mini grilled cheese with tomato soup! YUM! Not only was the food enjoyable but their level of professionalism and team approach to making dinner service efficient did not go unnoticed.
Working with Gail at The Barn at Flanagan Farm was such a treat. I love her properties and after a tour of the newly renovated house I knew that Scott and I would be right at home celebrating with our family and friends; plus I absolutely fell in LOVE with the outdoor sanctuary. Being married outside was a top priority (especially so our Corgi Milo could be a part of it all!) and it felt so natural for us be nestled in the pine trees.
Planning a wedding at a venue like this takes some skill; you need to bring in every fork, table, chair and linen and knowing how to make sense of it all is NOT my area of expertise. Early on my dear friend Meagan from Maine Seasons Events came on board to help with all the logistics that go into a wedding weekend. Everything from rental check-in to floor plans to how to heat the hot cider station at the ceremony spot were all handled with ease by Meagan and her associate Charli. I seriously could never have done this without them!! It’s like muscle memory for them and they were prepared with a van load of tricks up their sleeve to make it all happen with ease.
I have been lucky to see some seriously amazing flowers and decor at the weddings I photograph. It was so hard to decide who was the right fit for our style; but after seeing the earthy glam creations of Kate Martin from Beautiful Days I knew she would be the one for our wedding day. She just “got us” right from the beginning and I felt truly at ease knowing that whatever she did was going to be gorgeous! What I wasn’t prepared for was how she would transform this dark wooded barn into a glowing and inviting space with a sparkly light installation and a crazy amount of candles. To walk through the curtain of lights to meet our guests as husband and wife was right out of a movie! She really understood what we had in mind and took it to a whole new level!
One promise that I made to my now husband, Scott is that I would put my camera down for the weekend and be just a bride, as present as possible. It was hard! I admittedly did a bit of Instagram shooting/sharing of the behind the scenes moments both leading up to and during our weekend. I shared a few just for fun at the bottom of this, very long, blog post.
Getting married provided me with such a fresh perspective on weddings. I take away a new appreciation for the emotion and excitement a couple feels on their day and just how fleeting those moments can be. One of my most favorite moments of our day was hearing the cheers of family and friends right after we were announced husband and wife. It’s the image we used on our first holiday card together and now hangs on the wall of our home. (You can see the shot our photographer Michelle Gardella captured below)
Don’t forget to head over to Michelle’s blog post to see more wedding images here and watch our wedding film shot by Meg Simone, here.
Venue: The Barn at Flanagan Farm
Planning: Maine Seasons Events
Florals & Lighting: Beautiful Days
Catering: Blue Elephant Catering
Tent & Rentals: One Stop Party Rentals
Photographer: Michelle Gardella
Filmmaker: Meg Simone Wedding Films
Invitations & Paper Products: Griffin-vites
Linens: Be Our Guest
Music: My Bluegrass Romance (ceremony & cocktail hour) & DJ Jon (reception)
Cake: Wild Orchid Bakery
Hair: Hair that Moves
Make-up: Joya Beauty
Bride & Bridesmaids Earrings: Dee Ruel
Dress: Blush by Hayley Paige from Spoil Me
Bridesmaids Shawls: Custom made from handarbete on etsy
Custom Koozies from LiveME
Mini Cider Doughnuts from Pie Tree Orchard in Sweden, ME
2 Comments
Oh Brea-how lovely, how delicious to relive your beautiful day again! I had so much fun planning and working with you and to have the honor of being a guest and experience your wedding with you, not as a wedding planner, but as your friend, will always be a special memory for me. You are a rare gem and I loved reading your perspective on such a milestone and personal event in your life.
XO Meagan
Thank you for sharing your day with us Brea and Scott 🙂 It was an honor to be chosen to document this for you. I can’t believe how fast the dance party went – I think we could have all rallied for a few more hours! I wish we could do it all again. Thank you for treating us like royalty on YOUR occasion. I’m so happy for you both and can’t wait for many more adventures with you guys 🙂 PS Dream Team – so fun to work with everyone you had on board. Felt like old home week 🙂