A Style Shoot for the Launch of Just Banded, with Boston Based Photographer, Kendra Engel
VENUE: @JUST_BANDED; PHOTOGRAPHY: K ENGAL PHOTOGRAPHY; OFFICIANT: @MARIANNESEVENTYR; FLORALS: ELDEBERY FLORAL; HAIR STYLIST: FOXY LASHES
The idea of hosting elopements and micro weddings aboard my husbands lobster boat had been an idea for years. I am a wedding floral designer with my own floral business, Eldebery Floral, and my husband, Ethan, is a third generation lobsterman. We’d often thought about joining forces and include our great friend, Marianne Vold, an officiant who lives nearby. However, if you know anything about fishing and fishing vessels, they are dirty and often quite stinky. This presented a challenge as a dirty, stinky lobster boat does not sound like a great venue for such a celebration!
Over the winter of 2020 we decided that Ethan would be investing in a new lobster boat (little boy dreams coming true, yea!) and we knew with a new, pristine lobster boat, we could finally do it! It would be a couple of years before the new boat, the Miss Lindsay, was ready to put in the water and bring home, but it was time to start our new venture!
It was during this same time that COVID was disrupting our lives, and the wedding industry was looking for alternative options. Through another good friend we were connected with a Boston based photographer, Kendra Engel, who was interested in collaborating with us to bring this idea to fruition. Along with Kendra, Marianne who was doing some wedding coordination at the time, and I doing florals, had recently worked with a couple for their wedding celebration in the Mid-coast and they were thrilled to be asked to be our models. It was such a fun day for everyone!
Another difficult factor that we needed to address as a team was weather. As with all wedding planning, and especially on the coast of Maine, it is a mandatory consideration when planning events. We would be planning elopements on an open vessel on the ocean so if there was weather, be it wind, rain or worse, we needed a solid backup plan. The way we decided to handle this was to schedule a window of time (usually a few days) with our couples, so if the forecast wasn’t looking so great, we could pick the day that looked the best. We also wanted to be able to work around some milder weather conditions that, while fine on land, aren’t as safe on the water. Given that we are at the mouth of the Kennebec River, we have the advantage of boating up the river in instances that wind would be an issue. If it was going to be raining, amazingly the couples we have had thus far have embraced this. It is a true adventure.
Kathleen had her hair done by a local beauty stylist, and we planned for a floral backdrop that exceeded all of our expectations! Anchoring the floral blocks on barnacle crusted lobster traps felt like the perfect way to tie together the uniqueness of what we were doing; merging the roughness and grit of the lobstering industry with natural, beautiful florals of the wedding world.
This was a style shoot so while Kathleen and Will didn’t actually get married on the boat with us, they were actually a real life couple and Marianne had been their officiant the summer prior, and I their florist. Given that Marianne had already written their ceremony it was easy to go through the motions together for the photos!
We brought some sparkling cider aboard, in place of champagne, for the toast that typically follows a wedding ceremony. We would have loved to provide actual champagne, but our licensing doesn’t allow for it. We make sure all clients know this and that if they would like to bring their own champagne, we welcome it!
At this point in the charter we typically move to hauling, to secure the bride and groom some lobsters to take with them for dinner. They are often very interested in the process and love learning about lobsters and the industry and fortunately, Captain Ethan loves to talk about lobsters!
The elopements have become such a fun and unique way to celebrate love. While weddings can be such a fun celebration they have also become increasingly expensive and emotionally intense while navigating demanding family and friend expectations. We are so excited to be offering this unique, adventurous elopement package for those who are looking for alternative ideas. Marianne brings an invaluable amount of industry knowledge to our team, while I continue to evolve the floral and design experience for our clients, and Captain Ethan’s endless database of local history and passion for the lobstering and fishing industries with a love for the Maine coast. We love services our clients and feel full of appreciation and gratitude after each elopement we host. We hope you’ll consider us for yours!
And a special message of thanks to our wonderful couple, Kathleen and Will, who made this day possible, and our Boston-based photographer, Kendra Engel, who drove all the way to capture our vision so perfectly, we hope you’ll be joining us for many future elopement charters! An endless thank you, from our Just Banded team!