Maine Weddings

Coastal Maine is high on my list of favorite places in the world, and this sweet couple felt the same. They rounded up their nearest and dearest for a dreamy seaside wedding with an unexpected touch of glamour, dressing bridesmaids in sparkly metallic shades to set the tone. Emily Delamater captured all the fun now at your fingertips in The Vault.

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From the Bride…We truly wanted a wedding for people to remember. From the unbelievable venue, to the band, food and decor. Picking the right vendors and people to help us was key, and made everything easy! People left saying it was the best wedding they had ever attended. We really focused on the “big white wedding” color scheme, we wanted to have a plush, luxurious feel with pops of navy and metallic champagne golds.

What was really important to us, was the immediate “wow” our guests would have when walking into the tent. We wanted to make a statement with swaging, drapery and beautiful lighting to accentuate the incredible coastline view of Maine outside the tent.

Our favorite moments were the last few hours of dancing, there have been so many weddings we have been to where there is only a few people on the dance floor. We had 100% participation of the entire wedding, moving and grooving on the dance floor having a great time!

The flowers were a large part of the elegant feeling we wanted for the tent, from the little roses tucked into napkins on the place setting, to the large lush center pieces on each round table…our flowers were incredible. Plus, our bouquets were stunning, we had little pops of blue with the anemone flower, clustered with roses and mini calla lilies. Our ceremony was held overlooking the water at 3 pm and knew that we could have some reflection off the water so we gave all of our guests some fun sunglasses favors, with our colors (navy and white), with the quote of the side saying “don’t be blinded by our love” with out names and wedding date. They were a hit and people wore them all day and night, and I am still getting pictures of people using them in their everyday lives. My gown was one of the easiest parts of the wedding. I wanted something a little sexy, but elegant and comfortable. I feel as though I am a little sassy, so the slit was perfect for that, as well as the comfort…it allowed me to move and even keep me a bit cooler on that hot Fourth of July weekend day.

I would tell any bride-to-be to start planning early. If you have the time, use it…because most people (so I have heard) are stressed the week before their wedding, even into the day of their wedding. I had none of that, I enjoyed every minute because I made sure to space out every single piece of planning, and I could not have done it alone. My partner through the whole process was Heidi from SHE Luxe Weddings was so on top of everything, so the schedule we made together kept us on track and stress free.

Photography: Emily Delamater Photography | Event Planning: SHE Luxe Weddings & Design | Floral Design: Emily Carter Floral Designs | Bride's Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Catering: Trillium Caterers | Makeup: Jessica Candage | Band: Groovin You Band | Venue: French's Point | Lighting + Draping: Maine Event Design & Decor | Rentals: Peterson Party Center | Sationery: Julie Hanan Design

This Style Me Pretty-loving Bride and her Groom have one of the cutest love stories you’ve ever heard. She, a college student working part-time helped him, a handsome customer, pick out a tie at the local Vineyard Vines store…and the rest is history. They settled on a destination wedding in Maine, and brought on Emily Blake to tell the story of their day. Watch it all unfold in The Vault.

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From The Bride… I fell in love with Josh at first sight. I was working part time at the Prudential Center Vineyard Vines store when I was a senior at BU, and he came in to buy a tie – the rest is history. We knew from the first moment we would be together forever.

When it came time to plan our wedding, we knew that we wanted a destination wedding, as neither of us is particularly connected to our hometown. We had traveled to Maine a few times together as a couple, and both felt totally at peace there – the state motto is “Vacationland,” and it’s the perfect way to describe the feeling of Maine! We found French’s Point through Style Me Pretty, and immediately knew it would be the perfect venue for our wedding. All of our vendors were truly the best of the best, and we couldn’t be happier with the way things turned out.

The vision for the wedding really began with one key element: our crest. We worked with the amazing Kearsley Lloyd to have our custom watercolor crest made, and it really defined the rest of the look and feel for the wedding itself. The color palette was made up of gray, cream, and green, all of which looked so beautiful with the natural landscape around us. Based on Kearsley’s design, I actually designed and needlepointed Josh’s belt myself!

The day of the wedding, the weather was absolutely perfect – not a cloud in the sky. The ceremony was set on the green lawn, overlooking Penobscot Bay with 180 degree ocean views. I walked down the aisle to a beautiful acoustic version of Train’s “Marry Me,” and I was in tears from the first note. The ceremony was so meaningful and full of so much love – our rabbi told us afterwards that she couldn’t believe how present we were.

The reception was also held at French’s Point, inside the tent. The wedding party, as well as Josh and I, walked into the reception wearing foam Vineyard Vines whale hats as a fun nod to where we got our start. It was the perfect, easy, relaxed evening we had hoped for – guests ate, drank, and danced the night away.

Josh and I put so much love into every detail of our wedding, and it turned out to be the perfect celebration for us.

Photography: Emily Blake Photography | Event Planning: Vineyard Vines | Event Planning: French's Point | Floral Design: Beautiful Days | Wedding Dress: Reem Acra | Bride's Shoes: Badgley Mischka | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Joanna August | Catering: Bar Harbor Catering Company | Makeup Artist: From This Day Forward | Calligraphy: Le Petit Prints | Band: Wavelength | Groom's Attire: Blank Label | Groomsmen Attire: Banana Republic | Venue: French's Point | Bridal Boutique: L'elite Boston | Linen Rentals: Wallace | Paper Design: Moo | Printing: Moo | Watercolor Crest Design: Kearsley Lloyd Designs

Tucked away along the coastline of Maine lies a wedding where contemporary coastal glamour reigned supreme. Beginning with the lobster rehearsal dinner, this French’s Point affair is filled with hundreds of gold sequins, oyster shells, rain drops and a whole lot of love. Flora Fauna worked their blossoming magic, and I think you’ll agree Rebecca Arthurs captured every sweet moment beautifully.

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From Rebecca Arthurs… Julie & Bryan’s wedding was a magical day filled with hundreds of gold sequins, oyster shells, rain drops and a whole lot of love. Maine has always held a special place in both Julie & Bryan’s hearts. Who wouldn’t love the beauty, serenity, and close proximity to fresh, delicious lobster! As a long-time oyster lover and blogger, Julie designed the wedding day to be evocative of “Manhattan meets Maine.” Where contemporary, big city glamour meshes with charming, pastoral coastal living. When you see the photos I think you’ll agree Julie pulled it off perfectly with the help of Meagan from Maine Seasons Events & Rentals! Judy of Flora Fauna crafted amazing florals and Chavelii from Key and Quoin rocked out the cute signs you’ll see.

Even though the rain wasn’t part of the wedding plan, Julie & Bryan handled the surprises thrown at them with grace and enjoyed every moment of their amazing day. French’s Point, the wedding venue is on the tip of Maine’s beautiful coast, tucked away from the local hustle and bustle. The day before the wedding Julie & Bryan invited all their wedding guests to a lobster rehearsal dinner in a classic lobster pound.

Photography: Rebecca Arthurs | Videography: Zach Boyce | Event Design & Planning: Maine Seasons Events | Floral Design: Flora Fauna | Wedding Dress: Rivini | Cake: Sweet Sensations | Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Makeup: Hale Koa phineas Estate | Hair: Kim Doll | Calligraphy: Chavelli | DJ: Remixologists | Location: French's Point | Oyster Growers & Shuckers: Frank & Tonyia Peasley - Little Island Oyster Co. | Vendor: In A Half Shell

Smitten doesn’t even begin to describe how we feel about this seriously gorg photo shoot curated by a team of wedding geniuses. With Corbin Gurkin behind the lens, Maine Seasons Events dreaming up the design, Gus & Ruby Letterpress crafting up the paper perfection and Flora Fauna making flower MAGIC happen – the result is pure, inspiration-filled gorgeousness. The full gallery feels like you are lost in the prettiest of dreams, and we wouldn’t blame you one little bit if you lingered there for more than a moment or two this Thursday morning – you’ll probably find us in there too!

Click here for the FULL photo shoot!

From Meagan of Maine Seasons Events… Inspired by the texture and feeling of a Swiss dot wedding dress, this design started with a palette of robin’s egg blue, pale peach, raw muslin and gold. When collecting elements and props, old gold framed mirrors, cake stands and plates, the look came together with yards and yards of pale blue and raw muslin, which Maine Seasons Events sewed into fluffy ruffles to adorn the tables. Against an heirloom estate backdrop, gold ballroom chairs, a crystal chandelier and crystal stemware added glamour and sophistication to the table scape. Luscious flower arrangements and bouquets by Flora Fauna included the spring’s best picks of tulips, anemones, David Austin roses and delphinium, arranged in an eclectic mix of gold and pale blue glass containers. Custom letterpress stationery from Gus & Ruby Letterpress adorned with hand painted edges and tulle posies from Paper Posy Designs, along with a ruffled tiered cake from Nothing Bakes Like a Parrott, completed the glamorous look. 

Photography: Corbin Gurkin Photography / Location: French’s Point in Stockton Springs, Maine / Design + Concept: Maine Seasons Events + Flora Fauna / Floral Design: Flora Fauna / Custom Table Ruffles: Maine Seasons Events / Cake: Nothing Bakes Like a Parrott / Stationery: Gus & Ruby Letterpress / Calligraphy: Neither Snow / Tulle Posies, Dessert Table Buds + Place Cards: Paper Posy Designs / Hair + Makeup: Lisa Nichols Salon / Dresses: Lula Kate / Rentals: One Stop Party Shoppe

Today we have featured the wedding of two filmmakers who made it their business to bring to life the journey of three senior citizens who serve as the official Troop Greeters of Maine’s Bangor International Airport. After hearing the incredible story about the film and the time, money and energy that was pored into its making, a group of Maine wedding professionals decided to gift this generous couple a wedding as their own way of thanking them for bringing such an important and touching story to the world.

Here is a quick look at the Brunch Farewell that the wedding vendors designed just for this lovely couple…

Thank you so much to the following vendors for sharing this incredible adventure here with us today. Real Weddings Maine Director, Jessika Brooks / Venue by Retreat at French’s Point / Event Design by Flora Fauna Designs and coordination by The Sweetest Thing Weddings / Photography by David Murray Weddings / Stacey Kane / Michelle Turner / Audra Photography / Catering by Silver Tureen / Tent by Sperry Tent / Cake by Let Them Eat Cake / Henna by Genevieve Levin of Blackbird Studios

And for those of you that missed it, here is a clip of the film that will air tonight on PBS…

A little snippet from Real Weddings Maine, the organization behind this wedding…

Bangor International Airport in Maine is a very common refueling point for flights coming and going to the Middle East. Therefore, a vast majority of service people headed to or fro pass through BIA. This group of Troop Greeters organized during Dessert Storm to ensure that no troop coming or going from war felt forgotten and to be sure they would feel appreciated for their sacrifices and service. The Troop Greeters are veterans, spouses of veterans, current servicemen and women, and supportive community members from all walks of life and all ages. The film documents the story of the Troop Greeters today, the lives of the three subjects, and all of the issues these three are coping with in their personal (now public) lives such as the emotional anguish of sending loved-ones off to war, loss, aging, physical pain, financial distress, and loneliness. It is also a movie about patriotism, love, and hope in a time when these things are needed most in this country.

Click here for the official The Way We Get By website.

The wedding industry is so unique. It’s filled to the brim with the most creative professionals you can imagine, those who are so good at what they do, it’s almost hard to believe. And yet it’s those same insanely talented people that happen to be the most giving, generous and kind people on the planet…as is the case with today’s featured affair. Some of Maine’s top luxury wedding vendors came together to give the gift of a lifetime to a couple that has committed themselves to bringing an incredible Veteran’s Day story to the world. And the result was a perfect combination of love, energy, excitement and pure gorgeousness.

To see the whole story from the beginning, click right here! We have the amazingly lovely Brunch Farewell coming up next…filled with the most picture perfect details a girl could EVER want!

The Vendors: Real Weddings Maine Director, Jessika Brooks / Venue by Retreat at French’s Point / Event Design by Flora Fauna Designs and coordination by The Sweetest Thing Weddings / Photography by David Murray Weddings / Stacey Kane / Michelle Turner / Audra Photography / Catering by Silver Tureen / Tent by Sperry Tent / Cake by Let Them Eat Cake / Henna by Genevieve Levin of Blackbird Studios

We are all about Veteran’s Day here on SMP…celebrating the insanely gracious men and women that are out there right now, fighting for our country, fighting to keep this world a better place. And we’re putting our love on two film makers that have made it their mission to share the story of three senior citizens who, over the course of three years, have greeted over 800,000 troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. To thank these filmmakers for telling the world such an incredible story, a group of Maine’s most talented vendors (see below for a complete list) came together and gifted them the ultimate…a wedding!

The Poppy was a design focal point as a nod to the national symbol of remembrance and the flowers that are given out in recognition of Veteran’s Day. Not to mention, it’s an adorable stem and makes for a pretty awesome design element!

Here are a few more behind the scene details…

For linens, we used silver fortuny full length table cloths and fuchsia napkin with a black and gold tassel detail. There were (hand made) fuchsia chair pad covers and orange dupioni silk table clothes. We had three unique table designs. The first had three different sized square black metal vases contained compact masses of one type of flower tucked in each vase. The second featured a large manzitia branch that we spray painted gold. And the third table had one large black square metal vase with a base of carnations in a lush mass, with a large gold manzanita branch coming out of it. We draped the manzanita in garlands of marigold mini-poms (to represent the garlands that are traditional Indian wedding decor).

We have a bit more coming up in just a bit, including a look at the simple and completely sweet farewell brunch!

The vendors that participated in this incredible wedding are: Real Weddings Maine Director, Jessika Brooks / Venue by Retreat at French’s Point / Event Design by Flora Fauna Designs and coordination by The Sweetest Thing Weddings / Photography by David Murray Weddings / Stacey Kane / Michelle Turner / Audra Photography / Catering by Silver Tureen / Tent by Sperry Tent / Cake by Let Them Eat Cake / Henna by Genevieve Levin of Blackbird Studios

For those of you that are just joining us…we are featuring the COOLEST wedding ever. A group of luxury vendors got together to gift two amazing filmmakers with a complete wedding…from the rehearsal dinner to the farewell shower and we’re debuting here today. The film that is garnering so much acclaim (and that has left me a big ball of mush) follows three senior citizens who have made it their mission to ensure every soldier a proper homecoming welcome. Their incredible story touched these vendors (see the complete list below) so much, that they wanted to give the story tellers something really, really special. A wedding.

About the incredible design concept…

This was our chance to bring in the rich Indian culture to represent Gita, while celebrating the couple’s future too…their apartment in New York and their contemporary edge. So we came up with a design that included all of that and so much more. The table cloth was picked first. Judy, at Flora Fauna, found this silver fortuny table cloth that represented the elephant. The crinkle effect on it was magnificent. We then decided to use rich gold manzitia branches as an accent and brightly colored flowers. To bring in a contemporary edge we used black square metal vases to contain all flowers, red votives and candles were also used throughout the design.

The color palette was fuchsia, poppy red, marigold, silver, orange and black. We used mokara orchids, john story orchids, dendrobian orchids, garden roses, mini poms, carnations, dahlias, billy balls and roses…an eclectic but stunning collection of flowers to acheive our look. For the ceremony, we draped curtains at the entrance of the gazebo using a rich red silk fabric lined with garlands of carnations…….on either side of the entrance we placed black square bases, smaller aqua paisley metallic fabric wrapped boxes, red carnation garlands with a white elephant and massive mix of orchids coming out of it’s back (one elephant was blown over by the wind and broke just before the ceremony). The aisle (promenade) was lined with copper lanterns that had red candles in them with red/yellow rose petals clustered around them…..we used fruitwood chivari chairs with fuchsia chair pad covers.

The AMAZING gown was provided by Pronovias from Madeleine’s Daughter and the gorgeous yellow bolero was gifted by Sandi McKeen Couture. LOVE! We have so much more to come but in the meantime, if you haven’t already, make sure to take a peek at the film that inspired this entire wedding events, The Way We Get By.

The Vendors: Real Weddings Maine Director, Jessika Brooks / Venue by Retreat at French’s Point / Event Design by Flora Fauna Designs and coordination by The Sweetest Thing Weddings / Photography by David Murray Weddings / Stacey Kane / Michelle Turner / Audra Photography / Catering by Silver Tureen / Tent by Sperry Tent / Cake by Let Them Eat Cake / Henna by Genevieve Levin of Blackbird Studios

We are celebrating Veteran’s Day on SMP today…with a wedding story that is so incredibly unique, so incredibly touching. The filmmakers behind the film The Way We Get By, which follows three senior citizens who greet troops on their way home, were gifted an entire wedding by some of our favorite wedding vendors. Starting with the rehearsal dinner, these super talented vendors held nothing back…from incredible design to photography that is ridiculously gorgeous, every element of the wedding weekend was thoughtfully produced, lovingly designed.

The vendors that participated in this incredible wedding are: Real Weddings Maine Director, Jessika Brooks / Venue by Retreat at French’s Point / Event Design by Flora Fauna Designs and coordination by The Sweetest Thing Weddings / Photography by David Murray Weddings / Stacey Kane / Michelle Turner / Audra Photography / Catering by Silver Tureen / Tent by Sperry Tent / Cake by Let Them Eat Cake / Henna by Genevieve Levin of Blackbird Studios

From Flora Fauna Designs …

We wanted to play off of the fact that Aron and Gita were filmmakers therefore we incorporated vintage cameras and film reels into the mix, the driftwood was a nod to the beaches of Maine, the flower color was a nod to Gita’s Indian heritage and the rocks were the gray of the elephant: symbolic to Gita’s family who had elephants in India. Gita said that she had ridden elephants, and that the color marigold and elephants were very important to her so we tried to incorporate those colors throughout the design.

The color scheme was chocolate brown, ivory, gray, mustard yellow with an emphasis on Coastal Elegance meets Old Hollywood. We used chocolate brown full length linen with a runner of brocade lobster fabric. Ivory napkins were folded to mimic the shutter of a camera. We used Cymbidium Orchids, Sunflowers, Roses, Mini-Poms and Yellow Wax Flowers in our centerpieces. A wooden lantern with a cascade of yellow flowers and surrounded by driftwood, rocks and vintage cameras were used on some tables.

THE drift wood was collected by florist Judy of Flora and Fauna after a big hurricane this summer from Popham beach with her two sons Malcolm and Simon. She collected the rocks also over the course of the summer from the many beaches they go to in Maine.

More to come!

Today is hugely special. It’s Veteran’s Day…a day that we should all feel so incredibly grateful to celebrate. Because, if it weren’t for those amazing men and women that are out there fighting for our country, well, let’s just say life wouldn’t be quite as sweet for all of us. And to help do our teeny tiny part in such a grand cause, I thought that we would share one of the most incredible stories that I have heard to date. Before I go into details though, I want to say a HUGE thank you to all of the Maine Luxury Vendors (including a big handful of our Little Black Book members) for choosing Style Me Pretty to share the brilliant story…

Gita and Aron, the gorgeous Bride and Groom behind today’s affair, are the filmmakers of the acclaimed and award winning documentary How We Get By. The film follows three Maine senior citizens and their tireless efforts to greet American troops returning from overseas conflict. With homemade signs in hand, the trio has greeted nearly 1 million troops from their tiny airport in Maine, demonstrating just how deep the word “community” goes at a time when America needs it most.

The Way We Get By – Trailer from The Way We Get By on Vimeo.

The insanely talented Maine Vendors that we know and love got together to gift this talented couple a pro bono wedding, to give back to the pair that is reminding us of just how important our Veterans are, just how good it feels to give back to total strangers. And today, we are taking you through every part of their amazing wedding story…from the rehearsal dinner through the farewell brunch. It’s a great, great day on SMP.

The Way We Get By won the Special Jury Award at the South by Southwest Film Festival. AMAZING. We have so much gorgeousness coming up for you today! Stay tuned!