After All the Rain, Finally A Day of Sunshine for Ally and Bill’s Intimate Maine Elopement
VENUE: @JUST_BANDED; PHOTOGRAPHY: @KatelynMalletPhotography; OFFICIANT: @MARIANNESEVENTYR; FLORALS: @eldeberyfloral
Ally and Bill live in Massachusettes and were looking for adventure elopement options on the east coast. They both aren’t crazy for crowds and Bill, having grown up hiking and biking with his parents in Acadia and throughout Maine with family experiences in Wells and Camden, and Ally having grown up visiting family in a cabin outside of Augusta, they both decided Maine was the place to cement their love. Somehow they imagined us just as we were building our business as they even googled “lobster boat elopement” and VOILA, we existed!
Finally on the Miss Lindsay, steaming to our ceremony spot at Seguin Island
They weren’t yet officially engaged so they decided to do a surprise elopement and let their families think they were getting engaged on the boat and have them all show up to celebrate the engagement once back to Fort Popham… a big surprise!!
So it was planned, they were coming out with us to get married, while their family was going to meet them at the Fort at Popham Beach when they returned thinking they would be celebrating their engagement, when actually they would be celebrating their getting married! To follow would be a small, family reception dinner at Spinney’s Restaurant, a favorite among the locals in Phippsburg.
And just as we discuss with all our bride and grooms, the weather can be anything, so we need to be prepared. They however, weren’t afraid of the rain. They were ready to adventure with us, rain or shine! And with an exceptionally rainy summer season in Maine, the chances that the sun came out for these two was as slim as any, but they ended up with one of the best summer days we had all year. I swear the water sparkled a little brighter.
We pulled up to a mooring at the cove at Seguin Island, a favorite spot of ours for ceremony’s. The flowers were all grown in our garden and for these two we used all the color the season had to offer us.
Here you can see a photo of Ally and Bill immediately following their vows, a moment when our team likes to do a petal toss, which they weren’t at all expecting. The beautiful blush and pink dahlia petals flying in the air around them, their photographer captured it perfectly!
The petal toss, a favorite moment after the “I do’s”
They secured a local talent and good vendor friend of Just Banded for the photography, Katelyn Mallet, and planned to do some wedding photos before and after the boat ride to help document their adventure elopement story. They had recently spent some time in Iceland and had bought their own Grundens oil skins which ended up being a brilliant highlight for their time hauling lobsters on the boat.
Off to catch some lobster and enjoy a first dance!
By this point, we really didn’t think there was anything else that could make this day any better, until Ally told us they were going to do a first dance. UMMMMMMM YES PLEASE! One of the things I love about being part of these intimate elopements is that we get to share in and feel a little bit of the magic. We were out at sea, in the open ocean somewhere in the middle of Seguin Island, Popham Beach and Georgetown. The sun was shining like it hadn’t all summer while the colors of the garden and the ocean were all around us, the floor bouncing up and down as we tried to stabilize ourselves so not to loose our balance and they were dancing. And while the pictures are amazing and looking at them allows us to remember that moment over and over, there is nothing like being in the moment. The waves that crash against the boat and roll towards land are only that shape for a fleeting moment before they morph into a new wave, and the ephemeral nature of wedding flowers are their brightest only then, in that moment before they start to loose their vibrancy, and of course the salt, ocean air that breezes by our bodies, tickling our noses and eyelashes and blows our hair in front of us and behind us… there is nothing like living in that moment. The moment couldn’t have been anymore perfect.
Signing the marriage certificate as a witness
Captain Ethan clearing florals off the roof of the lobster boat
Riding back in to Fort Popham to meet the surprised guests awaiting them.
Thank you to Ally and Bill for trusting us with their wedding and choosing our little adventure elopement offering to celebrate their love. We are so grateful to their creative, out of the box thinking that lead them to typing into Google, “lobster boat elopement”. Sending our best wishes to you two and lots of love!!!