Bar Harbor, Maine, August 30, 2008

Your wedding is that one day in your life when you get to celebrate your unique love story, and every moment that has brought you both to that day.

A year and a half of planning went into our wedding day, as we labored over every last detail to make sure that this one day reflected everything we were growing up, the love that we currently share, and everything we look forward to in our future as husband and wife.

Growing up, my husband and I were both fortunate enough to belong to families of travelers… We'd go up and down the East coast, hiking and camping, growing up with the woods as our backdrop, which shaped us into the avid lovers of the outdoors that we are today. When it came to our ideal wedding, we knew we had to share our love of traveling with our guests. We're from Pennsylvania, and having family in Maine has afforded us the opportunity to visit one of our favorite spots in the country fairly often. We both fell in love with Acadia when we were younger, and so the decision was made - we'd have our destination wedding in Bar Harbor, Maine.

We toured many different venues, but one really stood out to us - the Bar Harbor Inn. With a ceremony on the lawn overlooking the picturesque harbor and a reception in a gorgeous circular dining room, we knew this would be one wedding our guests would never forget.

Once that decision was made, the other details quickly began to fall into place. I picked out my "dream gown" in a light champagne with just enough detail to be glamorous, but effortless enough for an outdoor wedding. The colors came next, with the girls in sage green, the guys in charcoal gray, and flowers in vibrant pinks and greens. It was a beautiful palette of color that was perfect for the setting, and shone brightly in the afternoon sunshine.

We chose local vendors and planned everything online. As an admitted control freak, I was apprehensive about how everything would come together without meeting and testing things first, but I was absolutely blown away when each and every detail far exceeded every one of our expectations! From the lobster rehearsal dinner at Parkside the night before, to the gorgeous flowers by Queen Anne's, the delicious peanut-butter filled chocolate cake by Janice Strout, our attentive photographers from Eager Eye, the locally brewed Seadog Blueberry Ale on tap, and the wonderful Bar Harbor Inn seafood dinner, Bar Harbor truly has some really wonderful, helpful and extremely talented wedding vendors to offer.

As a graphic designer and crafter, I wanted to lend a personal touch to anthing I could. The first thing on the agenda was the save-the-date. I really wanted it to be something quirky so I attached little cards to lobster forks with ribbon and added magnet. Next the invitaions incorportated a quote from one of our favorite songs, a guide to traveling and accommoda- tions, and a little trip down memory lane of our journey from childhood through our engagement, Using the same patterned motif as the invites, I designed the programs, favor tins, table numbers, and menues. My mohter and I, who both dabble in jewelry-making, made about 50 pairs of earrings for our female guests as favors. For the guys, we picked up some local candy when we arrived in Bar Harbor. Becasue plain white linens juste wern't my style, I then sewed ten long table runners in a fun print that reflected our color scheme. I looked longand hard for a cake design, but wanted something unique so I ended up creating my own when I found some beaufiful ribbons that matched perfectly. To incorporate our love of camping, we had a s'mores dessert bar, which was a big hit. Our bridal party photos were brought to life with fun and colorful parasols. As a way to recognize and thank our dear friends and family for being ther for us over the years, we projeted a beautiful slide show of our memories. And since our love of music brought us together at a concert five years ago, we designed our own playlist for the reception and my husband even surprised me by singing the same song that we quoted in the inviations on acoustic guitar. I was the sweetest thing he has ever done for me and I 'm so glad that I will always have that memory from our wedding day

We capped off the reception by inviting our guests to join us on a 2-hour sunset cruise aboard the schooner Margaret Todd, which docks right outside the Bar Harbor Inn. We couldn't have asked for nicer weather as we sailed around the harbor at the most beautiful time of the day. We were able to mingle with guests, watch some friends raise the sails, and relax with a glass of wine while enjoying the gorgeous scenery. It was the perfect ending to our perfect wedding day.

Looking back on it, I wouldn't have done a thing differently! Our wedding was an impeccable reflection of who we are. It was a lot of work, but everything came together beautifully... It was everything we could have imagined it to be, and our guests absolutely raved about the location, and the wedding itself. The next day we were floating on clouds, saying corny things like, "That really was the best day of my life!" And since we made a weekend out of it in Maine, we were able to enjoy the rest of our little vacation checking out the boutique shops, hiking with our dog in Acadia, taking in a comedy show at Improv Acadia, and of course, eating more lobster!