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 To bridal couples, the timeless beauty of Maine, it's sense of space, tradition and simple elegance, is truly a haven. Maine is where people come for the essence of what marriage means: family, commitment, loveliness.
"There's the sound of water, the smell of pine,"
says wedding planner Anne Stanley of The New England Wedding
Company (1-800-471-3446). "When you think of forming a lasting bond,
you want that connection to nature. It adds to the meaning of
the day."
Whether it's a grand wedding at a seaside inn, a small gathering
of hikers on the top of Mount Katahdin, or a spiritual moment
at the Vesper Hill Children's Chapel in Rockport (207-236-2239),
Maine is a place where wedding couples come home to essential
values.
It's also where they come when they want to elope, adds planner
Sally Bullard of A Maine Wedding (1-877-209-7240). "It's just such a beautiful place to be alone."
Maine has seen weddings on mountain summits and seaside cliffs,
on lobster boats, party boats and grand schooners, on grassy
islands, garden bowers and snowy ski slopes. But most Maine weddings
are set in inns, and many boast a striking water view.
This could be the cherished Asticou Inn of Northeast
Harbor, where both lawn and garden reach right to the ocean and
the dining room boasts its own dance floor. (1-800-258-3373). Likewise,
couples may marry beside the water at the sumptuous Black
Point Inn on Prouts Neck, but many choose the 1802 Spurwink
Church, returning to the inn for a garden party, or a more formal
their reception in a room with grand cathedral ceilings and a
warm brick fireplace (1-800-258-0003).
For intimacy, the turreted, shingle-style Grey Havens Inn,
located on its own cove in Georgetown, is as classic as Maine
gets. As in many smaller inns you'd need to rent the entire locale
for two days, so it's best to plan well in advance. (1-800-431-2316)
Maine's waterside inns are not always on the coast. At Migis
Lodge, the ceremony happens beside Sebago Lake, with the
bride arriving on a wooden Chris-Craft. Because of its popularity
as a summer resort, however, weddings are limited to the late
spring and fall. "Typically people think of a wedding weekend
with a lobster bake the night before," says Robin Hammond
who coordinates weddings for the lodge.
The wedding weekend is quite common in Maine. Everyone needs
a lobster bake, so if that's not the wedding fare, it happens
the night before, followed by a day that could include a canoe
trip, a schooner voyage or a bike ride around Maine's wooded
back roads. Then comes the wedding!
For a wedding option that's truly intimate, the Chesuncook
Lake House is as good as an island. Located in Maine's great
north woods, with striking vistas of Mount Katahdin to the south,
guests may come by plane, boat or snowmobile, but not by car.
There are no roads. Still, there is a small village and that
has an old, nondenominational chapel where many a wedding has
been consecrated. (1-207-745-5330)
While inns are convenient places to hold a wedding, wedding
planner Johanna Tutone (207-236-2254) says her ultimate
Maine wedding would be held under a tent on one of Maine's many
uninhabited islands. But such a wedding means barging everything
from silver platters to port-a-potties and this can be costly.
So Tutone often sets people up in her own field overlooking the
sailboat-trimmed port of Tenant's Harbor.
There are so many options for weddings -- including renting
a house for a week or a weekend or sailing away by the light
of a silvery moon on one of Maine's many commercial schooners
(http://www.sailmainecoast.com
or 800-807-WIND) -- that many seek the advice of planners like
Tutone. While not all Maine planners are listed on the site,
a good place to start looking for a wide range of local services
is at:
http://www.weddingstreetjournal.com.
The above article is a
Husband and wife team Paris Permenter and John Bigley have authored over 20 guidebooks and also edit the FREE Lovetripper.com, a romantic travel magazine featuring worldwide destinations. Press release is copyright 2001 to Paris Permenter and John Bigley.
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