After photographing Lindsey and Chris’ engagement session this past winter, I was very excited when their wedding day finally came! August 18th, 2018 was the perfect day for a wedding, even with the stormy weather forecast, the rain held off the entire day.

Lindsey got ready for the wedding at The Press Hotel in downtown Portland, Maine with her mother and two sisters. After that, we shuttled down to the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum for Lindsey and Chris’ first look. The couple shared an emotional moment together seeing each other for the first time in their wedding attire.

While waiting for the train, we took the opportunity to utilize the grounds of the museum for portraits of the two of them. The old antique trains were perfect for their railroad train themed wedding. We also took photos on the docks overlooking Portland Harbor in Casco Bay, which was a lovely view.

The train arrived, picking up guests at Portland Ocean Gateway on the way to the ceremony. We rode the train all along the Eastern Promenade Trail until we reached the ceremony location at Fish Point.

After the ceremony, we took portraits at Fish Point and the train took us back into town where we walked to Rí Rá Irish Pub & Restaurant for Lindsey and Chris’ wedding reception. Once the family and couple were announced in, Lindsey’s dad started off the toasts and speeches, followed by her sisters and Chris’ brother.

At last, the dance floor opened up and everyone enjoyed the rest of the reception. Later in the evening, a hot dog station was added to the dessert table area. They even fed each other a hot dog, which was quite entertaining and had everyone laughing and cheering! All in all, it was a wonderful wedding and I’m so happy to have captured these images that will retell the day again and again.

Below, Lindsey describes her wedding in more detail:

How did you envision your wedding day — Did you have a color palate, style or vision?

We really wanted a simple wedding. We started with the idea of just a nice dinner with our families and closest friends, and then it evolved a little bit but still revolved around being intimate, sweet, and most importantly FUN! We weren't big on the over-the-top wedding. We are basically the last of our friends to be married and we just wanted a fun and simple event and really didn't stress much about colors or style, just picked things we liked.

What is your favorite moment of your wedding day?

There are too many to pick! Maybe it was when it DIDN'T rain! Otherwise, our first dance was super special, but I think we and all of our guests will agree the speeches were incredible. My dad, 2 sisters, and the Groom's brother all gave heartfelt, funny, endearing, and memorable speeches that had all of our guests in tears, laughter, and smiles from ear to ear. Another favorite was that my Dad and the Groom spent a day building a homemade Birch arbor to be married under at the ceremony.

What song did you do your first dance to?

When I Get My Hands On You - Marcus Mumford

Tell us about your flowers, your gown, your favors, your cake, etc.

Honestly, we didn't go overboard on these items, nor did either of us have a detailed vision that had to happen. Flowers were ordered in bulk and we spent a day putting together our own arrangements in some fun glassware. The gown was absolutely perfect and SIMPLE, a basic gown by Anthropologie's bridal line, BHLDN. The favors were fun - my Mom and I spent a day making homemade Maine Wild Blueberry Jam from my hometown of Cherryfield, Maine, self-declared as the wild blueberry capital of the world! Since many guests were from Massachusetts, where we live, I knew this would be a treat. We doubled the favors as the guest escort cards. We also decided to forego a big wedding cake. We did a dessert table with whoopie pies, eclairs, cookies, cannoli's, etc. But we did allow ourselves a 6" Boston Cream Cake to cut. It wasn't a ceremonial thing, we were most excited about our late night Hot Dogs! I do believe we fed each other a hot dog more ceremonially than the way we cut the cake.....

What advice would you give to couples who are currently planning their wedding?

Just do what you WANT! Don't get too caught up in the crazy wedding planning thing - the most important thing to us was good food for our guests, simple decor, and a laid back style that reflected us. We had an awesomely simple ceremony and venue, a fun wedding train (Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad - it was awesome!), and a great party. What more do you need?