Weddingbee boards

This day had been two years in the making and it flew by in an instant.  I definitely felt "present" in the day but as the days pass little details do seem to fade away.  This makes me even more excited to see our video and pro pics when they are ready.  I was lucky enough to have multiple very talented guests who have given us great pictures of the day so far!  Hope you don't mind me sharing.  

First up are a few pictures of our venue.  It is called Ski Esta and is located in Newry, Maine with spectacular views of Sunday River Ski Mountain.  We stayed here for a week and hosted 3 nights of events for our guests (welcome cookout, rehearsal dinner, and wedding).  The venue was ah-maz-ing!  The first pic is from their website, and the rest are guest pictures.  

On Saturday we had a Lobster Bake Rehearsal Dinner on the lower patio area of the home. Our caterers were local but made the most delicious food we've ever had!  I bought these red and white check linens from BBJ Linen's online store for $15 a piece. I am definitely keeping these for future cookouts.  They worked out great!  After the rehearsal dinner we had a fire, made smores, and used the hot tubs.

My glow necklace veil that my bridesmaids made for me.

We chose Maine and September partly because it's cooler than the summer months and September is typically great weather.  We had perfect weather the first couple of days we were there, but it ended up getting hot on Saturday and Sunday was just a hot and humid mess!  It poured like I've never seen it pour, which included hail and severe lightning.  Our venue lost power for a few seconds, in which everyone held their breath.  My husband (!) and I were on our way back from pictures when the storm started so we missed the power outage and got quite a bit wet getting from our shuttle bus to the house.  The sun did come out but it was really silly hot and humid.  I ended up having to change out of my dress early because I couldn't take it any longer.  It was too hot!  And while a lot of my decorations and outdoor plans didn't happen, we didn't have a washout either. We were able to have cocktail hour outside and the deck was beautifully lit for a while before we had additional lightning storms and some sprinkles.  Overall while the weather prevented our outdoor ceremony and some ideas coming to fruition I am thankful we were able to get pictures taken outside to take advantage of the gorgeous mountain views!

Here is a picture of me and my good friend and officiant pre-ceremony.

My five flower girls making their way down the aisle.  They were unbelievably well behaved and stole the show.  

My father and I.

And these two are some of my favorites.  My husband lifted my hand with his once we were announced and the second pic shows my reaction.  It was pretty funny.

Our first dance...

And some random pics from the night.

Oh, and here's one more sweaty pic - that is me in the patterned dress with the white hair flower.  Look at what a mess my hair is!  haha!  I hated having to change but I would have passed out if I kept my dress on!  Once I changed many of our guests changed as well which I'm happy about.  I really wanted them to be comfortable and felt so badly about the heat and lack of a/c.  

I have to show a couple more pictures of my flower girls too.  They were just so sweet!  I've heard our photographers got some great shots of them (they had pictures scrolling at the reception) and I can't wait to see them!  I've included one grainy cell phone picture in here because it is my favorite picture so far - the one of me and my five girls.  They are my princesses!  BTW, I made their floral wands.  They were very simple to make and I think they came out adorable.  

And last but not least - DETAILS!!!!

Our signature drink was a watermelon blueberry mojito - it was awesome!!

And for good measure, here is a picture of the rain that one of our guests took an hour before our ceremony was slated to start.  Yikes!

And my last picture is the single sneak peak picture I've received from our photographers (Birch Blaze Studios out of NH - looooove these guys!).  My dj (Amazing DJ from Portland, ME) has been dubbed the "Dancing DJ".  He gets out there when needed and keeps the energy up.  This was no small feat considering the heat!  He also dances behind his set up the entire time too.  He was a riot and did a great job!

@Mollytov:  Our bridal party and their families stayed in the house with us, and they were about half the guests.  It has 10 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, a game room, indoor pool, movie theater room, sauna, steam room and 4 jacuzzis.  It was amazing!  The guests that stayed elsewhere did spend their free time at this house with us.  It was a lot of fun!  A lot of work since it's a private home rental, but fun!

Wow! Beautiful photos! Love the lobsters. Congrats! :)

@chrispygal: VERY NICE PHOTOS!

Thanks ladies!  I was really happy with how everything turned out.  

@merenguito:  Yes, it is Brooklyn.  I loooooooved my dress so much!

@jaguar:  Awww...thanks Jag!  I loved your look and still kind of wish I had hair flowers similar to yours!  Yes, these are just the pics our guests took and I definitely will do some recaps when the pro pics are in.  :)

wow. i freakin love your venue. i want to live there. think they'll let me buy it for 600/month?! 

so pretty!

@sorrycharlie:  haha, don't I wish!  It was a blast to stay there and definitely an experience.