This outdoor Maine wedding by David Wittig Photography, described by the couple as Great Gatsby meets a Mid Summer’s Night Dream, is just filled to the brim with personal, heart-felt touches. I am so in love with this couple, their sweet love story and their darling family that made the wedding all come together so beautifully. I am also quite enamored with the darling Bride’s hand-painted pink tulle treasure of a gown by Vera Wang. Swoon! There is a lot to love about this affair, so float on over to the full gallery of images for even more.
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From the lovely Bride…Alex and I met and became friends in the summer of 2005 when we were both living in New York. We were both students in our university’s writing program and though there was a fabulous amount of flirtation, we stayed friends and nothing more for years. There were times when we spoke everyday and times when months went by without a word. Alex left New York for Austin and later moved Santa Fe; I got a dog, Finnegan. In 2007, Alex was ready to come home to Manhattan and I offered him my couch while he looked for a more permanent home. To make the story short, and spare you awkward details, Alex moved in but never slept on the couch. He found an apartment in Chinatown, but after living there for only a few weeks, he called and said he wanted to come home. And he did. We both felt so lucky to have fallen in love with our best friend that we began discussing marriage right away. Neither one of us had ever had a great desire to be married but we were certain that we had found our partner, and with Finn, we were very much a family. Alex first mentioned getting married in his mother and stepfather’s backyard more than a year before we got engaged. I had never imagined a wedding before, never put a napkin “veil” on my head as a child, never thought of colors, or cake, or big white dresses, but as soon as Alex mentioned his mother’s lovely home I knew it was right. On May 1st, 2009, Alex proposed in the rain on Pier 54 with Finn by his side.
When it came time to plan the wedding, our ideas took shape around our location. Though we are now living in Chicago, Alex’s family are all in Maine, where he grew up, and his mother’s Holden, ME property felt nothing short of dreamy to us. We wanted a small and simple, fifty-person, homemade wedding with personal touches. We wanted the wedding to sing and radiate love and joy. We wanted laughter, family, comfort and peace. And we were lucky enough to have everything we wanted. We were also so lucky to have such giving families. Alex’s stepmother made me a gorgeous bouquet of sweet peas; his mother baked our delicious pink cake. My mother made our favors, tiny burlap bags full of wildflower seeds from Maine and Illinois, and included a little note with our “love story.”
Alex and I also knew right away we wanted nothing too traditional. White or ivory didn’t seem quite right for me, so I went with a hand-painted pale pink Vera Wang gown, with layers and layers of tulle, like elegant cotton candy. Our dress code, “Dress In Your Pleasure.” We invited the guests to come at 5:30 for cocktails and nibbles, as it was really important to us to let people know we wanted them to relax and enjoy themselves; we wanted nothing formal. We joined everyone and drank St. Germain cocktails, and snaked on figs, cheese, and fresh vegetables from Alex’s mother’s garden along with delicious bites of bacon, swordfish, and of course, lobster—it was Maine!
Our ceremony was held at 7pm, just as the sun was beginning to set. Our wedding party was comprised of our two dearest friends who walked Finn down a mowed path to the tree where Alex was waiting (Alex’s stepfather had carved our initials into the tree, an Eastern White Pine). My father and I followed shortly behind, while the Beatles’ “All You Need Is love” played through the summer breeze. And as neither Alex nor I are religious, we asked two other dear friends, Howard Skolnik and Robert Milanowski to officiate the ceremony as Alex and I so admire their relationship and their respect and love for one another.
Alex and I had been buying lanterns since we got engaged and a few days before the wedding, Alex hung all 50 of them in the branches of the tree; he would later tell me this beautiful feat was a valentine for me. We also collected vintage tablecloths, which I placed on the ten tables we scattered around the property; mason jars full of fresh flowers from the garden and more lanterns held them down against the day’s strong wind. A mix of music from Andrew Bird to Django Reinhardt echoed through the tent. As we are both writers, we wanted to write our own vows. They were full of tears and laughter, as was the entire wedding. And after a very romantic kiss, and a short breath away together, we arrived in the tent for toasts, cocktails, cake and dancing. Pure happiness. We wanted a wedding that felt like a Gatsby garden party and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, what we got was the best day of our lives.
Dress: Vera Wang / Photography: David Wittig Photography / Catering: The ChiChi Chef / Stationery: Float Paperie