Love and Lobster Coastal New England Weddings

8.20.2011 ~ Emily + Wes

Newagen Seaside Inn ~ Southport, Maine

Wes and I met in high school. He was the senior I had a crush on, I was a freshman. 4 years later, after high school we saw each other again, and started dating. Wes and I had been together for a little over 6 years when he proposed. He had a bit of a dilemma, because he really wanted me to help him design the perfect ring that I would love forever, but I love surprises!

Wes asked me to help design a ring in August 2009, and didn’t mention it again. On my birthday he came home with a dozen roses and proposed! I was taken completely by surprise! When he walked in, I said “awww, I love you!” and he replied “Do you love me enough to marry me?” and pulled out the ring. I was ecstatic! He then took me to dinner for my birthday to celebrate, and told me that it was important for him to surprise me, by proposing on my birthday (he knew I wouldn’t expect that) and to do it in our first home together.  It was absolutely perfect.

Wes and I really knew that we wanted to have our wedding on August 20th, from the start. We both love Maine in August, and it was exactly 7.5 years after our first date. Both our parents were married in late summer in 1973, and have been married for 38 years. It was the perfect day for us to get married. We also knew that we wanted to be able to see the ocean on our wedding day. We really wanted to stay in the Mid-coast area, and that limited our search.

We chose the Newagen, because start to finish, they were amazing. When I first visited the Newagen to see the venue, Jason (innkeeper and event planner) gave us a very detailed tour and really took the time to answer all of our questions. We spent about 2 hours there, and never felt rushed. This feeling of complete comfort with the Newagen carried through our entire planning process. We went there for a tasting, and the food was incredible. Once we found the Newagen, it became a very easy choice,  it was truly a perfect location. One of our favorite things about the Inn was that it was only our guests there, we had the whole place! It was wonderful to go walking around the grounds and run into your family and friends.

Our day was incredible! I woke up and it was VERY foggy out, and I was a bit sad. The view at the Newagen is spectacular, so I was really hoping it would clear up before the wedding started. All day while getting ready I was nervous and hoping the fog would clear. I have to say, although we have been together for over 7 years, I was still incredibly nervous! When Deb brought me down to see Wes for the first time, I was shaking like it was our first date. As soon as I saw him, my nerves were completely calmed. It was the perfect way to prep for a day that can be stressful and go by too quickly. Seeing him, and being with him for that time before the ceremony relaxed me, and helped me enjoy the day more… I realized I had nothing to be nervous about!

One of my favorite parts of the day was completely surprising Wes when I arrived on a Marine Patrol Boat. He is very astute and pays attention to detail, so I was thrilled that I could pull it off without him knowing. I’ve heard the look on his face was priceless when he figured out what was going on, I wish I had seen it! And, by the time our ceremony started, the fog had completely cleared, and it was the most perfect beautiful day.

I have heard stories since our wedding day that when I didn’t immediately appear after the last bridesmaid (I had to be quite far away to arrive by boat), people were quite concerned. I heard there was a bit of a ‘nervous giggle’ that went around the group, as people started to worry I wasn’t going to show up. I asked Wes about it later and he said, “I knew you would be there.”

I also really cherish the memories of our first dance; we took many many dance lessons, and still managed to mess up our choreography… Regardless of that, we had a great laugh, and so much fun dancing and trying to remember what we were supposed to do!

All in all, I wouldn’t change a thing about our wedding day, other than to make it longer! It was perfection, and we have such fond memories of that day!

Photography:  Deborah Zoe Photo
Hair:  Bonnie’s A Cut Above
Venue:  Newagen Seaside Inn
Gown:  Allure – Andrea’s Bridal in Portland, Maine
Menswear: Men’s Wearhouse
Wedding bands: Emily – GM Pollack & Sons, Wes – Cross Jewelers
DJ:  Direct Effect Entertainment Productions
Makeup Artist:  From This Day Forward
Bakery:  Fields of Cake
Catering: Newagen Seaside Inn
Stationery (all paper products): Hullabaloo Studios
Florist: Always & Forever Florist
Tent: Marshall Tent
Photo booth: Portland Photo Booth Company