Prouts Neck is about five minutes down the road from where I live.  It’s an exclusive enclave of mostly gated streets, off limits to non-residents, surrounded by stunning rocky cliffs and ocean views.  Famous for being the home of Winslow Homer, Prouts Neck was somewhat of a mystery to me.  So when Maggie and Matt called me about photographing their wedding there, I was giddy at the thought of seeing what lay beyond those gates.

Maggie grew up vacationing at her grandparents’ home on the aptly named Winslow Homer Drive.  She and Matt visited often, and one afternoon they climbed out to a rock along the cliff walk and Matt proposed (they pointed out the rock to me — I’m still not quite sure how they reached it).  Maggie and Matt are both med students and had little time to devote to wedding planning.  We did a quick walk through of the various locations a couple of days before the wedding.  I was floored.  I learned that they are ridiculously adorable and affable, and I also found myself surrounded by all the natural beauty a photographer could ask for on a wedding shoot.  As for the church, it’s a dream for anyone who loves history AND stunning light. And without a doubt, I knew the country club, with its views of the sea, was going to afford us some sweet light at the end of the day (what I didn’t know was that it would be so clear on the wedding day that we would be able to see Mount Washington from the lawn!).

It was such a treat to photograph a wedding — one that was fabulous in it’s simplicity and joy — in my home town.  That day reminded me that when I moved my business from the glitzy ballrooms of DC to natural beauty of Maine, it had been a fair trade.

A huge congratulations to Maggie and Matt whose adventurous spirit and charm helped to make an already dream job all the better.

Please enjoy some of my favorite images below and see more in this slideshow.

Getting ready:  Family Home
Wedding dress:  Maggie’s mother’s
Mantilla:  Family heirloom worn previous by all the women in her family on their wedding day
Flowers: Fleur de Lis
Church:  St. James’ Episcopal
Reception:  Prouts Neck Country Club
Catering:  Churchill Catered Events

I’m at my busiest from August through the end of November, so when bride Meghan inquired about starting the process for her wedding book, I hoped she wasn’t intent on getting it right away.  Thankfully she and her husband were not in any hurry and so they went on my back burner.  Thanksgiving came and went, and as I was gleefully ticking off other orders on my To Do List, Meghan emailed me to check in again about her book.  Would it be possible to get it for Christmas, she asked.  Feeling grateful for her patience the past month, I wanted to make it up to her by getting the book done pronto.  We were up against a TIGHT schedule — my album company’s holiday deadline was midnight the following day!  I worked all day and night on the design layout, grateful we had so many amazing images from which to choose.  Meghan loved it, picked the book finishes without much ado, and the book went off to the printers.  Whew!  I don’t think I’ve ever turned around a book order in 24 hours.  It was a fun challenge, and I’m beyond thrilled with the results so far.  Unfortunately I won’t be seeing the final product as I’m having it shipped directly to Meghan and Ross.  I’ll have to content myself with the slideshow of the design…

Weddings in Maine are often on the coast with views of the sea.  It’s stunning for sure.  But there’s something about a tent in a field of tall grasses and wildflowers that just screams romance.  Gusty and Quinn’s wedding was held at Gusty’s family home in Brunswick.  The house is a rambling historic cape perched on a hill overlooking a large tree-lined field. They had family and friends lend their talents to all aspects of the day — an old friend turned caterer, Katie Kennedy, handled the show under the tent, a friend of Gusty’s parents created the gorgeous flower arrangements and her husband officiated the ceremony (siblings added personal readings and poems — leading to many tears all around!), favors were mini bottles of maple syrup produced by Gusty’s father (he has a sugar shack behind the house), and another friend took care of the master of ceremony duties. I felt honored to be one of the few outside vendors brought in for the day!

Huge congrats to Gusty and Quinn!  Below are some images from their wonderful wedding.  To see more, check out this slideshow.

Location:  Family home
Bride’s Dress:  Custom made
Tent: Party Plus
Cake:  Two Fat Cats Bakery
Flowers:  Edie Birney
Caterer:  Katie Kennedy