Our simple September wedding in Western Maine.
Planning my wedding was one of the most tiresome and rewarding things I have ever done. There were a few things that I knew I wanted for my wedding before Matt even proposed. The first, was to be married lake side. The second, an Ivory dress with lace. The third, to be married on our anniversary, and because we wanted a Saturday wedding, September 17, 2011 would be the big day, 6 years after our first date.
When Matt and I started looking for venues, it was fun and exciting, until about the 4th or 5th place we met with. There are so many hidden fees and requirements at a lot of these venues that really would have limited our ability to truly customize our wedding. We spent a solid 4 months searching for the perfect venue, and finally we found it. The Lakewood Inn Restaurant in Madison, Maine. The location was exactly what we were looking for and it had a charm and history that drew me in.
Once we had a date and found our venue, it was time to move on to everything else. When we first got engaged, I was set on a fall color scheme, but soon realized I would probably hate myself for it, so I decided to go with my two favorite colors, eggplant/plum purple and apple green. The colors were one of the best decisions I made for the wedding, the purple was just dark enough to tie into that fall feel, while the green kept it fun and youthful.
Bridesmaid Dresses: Jim Hjelm Occasions and Avina Valenta – Eggplant – Silky Taffeta
Bouquet done by Skowhegan Fleuriste -Skowhegan, Maine
Tuxes – After Six
Centerpieces – These were a DIY project. We chose to name our tables after our favorite books. The books were part of the centerpieces and were one of my favorite personal touches to our wedding. These were something that Matt and I worked and decided on together.
After the color scheme was decided on I moved on to The Dress. I picked the dress out in January of 2010, so about 20 months before the wedding. This was probably one of the biggest mistakes I made during wedding planning, I really wish I had waited until about a year out from the wedding. Your body can really change a lot in 2 years and I didn’t like the dress anywhere near as much on my wedding day as I did when I purchased it. Though it was still beautiful, I really wish I had waited until about a year out from the big day.
My Nana did all of the alterations to my dress, and to all of the other dresses involved in the wedding. The biggest change to the dress that she made was the addition of buttons to cover up the awful zipper, In my opinion, it gave the dress a vintage touch which I really loved! She also MADE the flower girl dress!
Next I’ll move on to some of the details and DIY projects that I did for the wedding. If you are currently planning your own wedding, just be mindful that not all DIY projects will save you money, some will even cost you more. However, I think with some projects the additional cost is worth it, as it allows you to truly personalize your wedding. Here are some of the projects that I did:
Jones Sodas: Because I love Jones Soda, I wanted to have personalized ones for our wedding, but when Jones was going to charge me $400.00 just for S&H from Seattle to Maine, I decided I could make them myself. Luckily, we had a connection that allowed us to get 96 bottles of Jones at cost! From there, I had The WorkStore (A graphic design company in Bangor, Maine) assist me in making our personalized labels. It took us forever, but eventually we got all of the old labels and gunk off of the bottles and put the new ones on.
The invites were probably my favorite DIY project! I absolutely loved how they turned out and they were something that Matt and I worked on together, which made doing them even more special. Like I always say, everything is better when you do it together!
Boutineers
Family Wedding Photos: I loved picking out the vintage frames and making the garland to pair with our parents and grandparents wedding photos.
And just a few more things that made our wedding complete.
The perfect pair of shoes.
The perfect favors, made right here in the State of Maine. Stonewall Kitchen’s Jams and Mustards!
Then there was that incredible cake made by Mike at The Bankery in Skowhegan, Maine. I made the cake stand.
And of course, we had to have a little touch of geek at our wedding, so here it is…
Super Hero Cufflinks
We got a great deal on a photo booth about a month before the wedding, I had wanted one so bad, but couldn’t justify spending the money. So when I saw the Groupon, I pulled the trigger and I am so glad I did. It was so much fun, our guests had a blast, and most of the photo props ventured out to the dance floor too!
We decided (with a lot of convincing on my behalf) to do a First Look photo shoot, to give us some quiet time together before the ceremony and to potentially capture some more intimate moments. I was so glad we did this and I highly recommend it to anyone else who might be on the fence about doing it!
We also wrote our own ceremony, with some inspiration from others.
JOP:
Welcome friends and family of Rebecca and Matthew. We are gathered here in the sight of God to ask his blessing and witness their vows as they join in Holy Matrimony.
Reading:
You never know the biggest day of your life is the biggest day. Not until it’s happening. You don’t recognize the biggest day of your life, not until you’re right in the middle of it. The day you commit to something or someone, the day you meet your soul mate, the day all your dreams come true. The day you realize there’s not enough time, because you want to live forever. Those are the biggest days. The perfect days.
JOP:
The Union
by Robert Fulghum
You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment. At some point, you decided to marry. From that moment of yes, to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making commitments in an informal way. All of those conversations that were held in a car, or over a meal, or during long walks – all those conversations that began with, “When we’re married”, and continued with “I will” and “you will” and “we will” – all those late night talks that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe” – and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding.
The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “You know all those things that we’ve promised, and hoped, and dreamed – well, I meant it all, every word.”
Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another – acquaintance, friend, companion, even teacher, for you have learned much from one another these past six years. Shortly you shall say a few words that will take you across a threshold of life, and things between you will never quite be the same.
For after today you shall say to the world – This is my husband. This is my wife.
Rebecca, will you please join hands with Matthew and repeat after me.
“I Rebecca,
take you Matthew to be my husband,
my partner in life and my one true love.
I will cherish our union
and love you more each day than the day before.
I will trust you and respect you,
laugh with you and cry with you,
loving you faithfully through good times and bad,
regardless of the obstacles we may face together.
I give you my hand, my heart, and my love,
from this day forward for as long as we both shall live.”
Matthew, please repeat after me.
“I Matthew
take you Rebecca to be my wife
my partner in life and my one true love.
I will cherish our union
and love you more each day than the day before.
I will trust you and respect you,
laugh with you and cry with you,
loving you faithfully through good times and bad,
regardless of the obstacles we may face together.
I give you my hand, my heart, and my love,
from this day forward for as long as we both shall live.”
Exchange of Rings
“Traditionally, the passage into marriage is marked by the exchange of rings. The unbroken circle represents the love freely given and received in marriage. May these rings always remind you of the vows you have taken.”
Matthew, take Rebecca’s ring and place it on her finger
I give you this ring as a sign that I choose you
To be my partner and my best friend, to the end of my days
Wear it, think of me, and know that I love you
Rebecca, take Matthew’s ring and place it on his finger
I give you this ring as a sign that I choose you
To be my partner and my best friend, to the end of my days
Wear it, think of me, and know that I love you
Pronouncement
Remember the promises you have made to each other today, carry them close in your heart, but most all live them, each and every day. Now by the power vested in me by the State of Maine, and before God and these witnesses, it gives me great pleasure to pronounce you husband and wife. Matthew, you may kiss your bride.
Friends and family, may I now introduce for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Hubbell.
Rounding things up
There are many things that were a part of my planning process that I did not touch on in this post, but plan to in the future, such as choosing a photographer. If you have any questions about any of the DIY projects or anything else about my wedding, please don’t hesitate to ask as I am more than willing to help or lend my advice.
Now every wedding has it’s hiccups and there were plenty of things that went wrong at our wedding, like the power going out for four hours, but like our photographer told me when I found out and wanted to go cry in a corner, “Just remember, this is where the stories begin”. She was right, we have so many great, crazy, and weird stories from that day that we will never forget. There was even an upside to the power being out, we literally had a candlelight dinner, and thank God we decided to do those Jones Sodas, because the soda machines and blenders were down.
Looking back, I kind of wish that I had had a videographer, at the time, I felt it was unnecessary, and in some ways, I still kind of do. But I feel like as we get older and have children, I’ll wish I had something more than pictures of that day to share with them.
It’s very important to remember that at the end of the day every detail might not be exactly as you had anticipated, but one thing went more right than you could have imagined and that is that you are married to your best friend, and they will be there to get you through that day and ever day after.
You can find more at my Wedding Planning Bio.
Photos Courtesy of Shannon Post Photography
Cori says
LOVELY! I love all the personal touches — and the colors are so fun!
Rebecca says
Thanks so much, Cori!