Southern Weddings

Kate + Cormac’s reception was basically a DIY smorgasbord. We made everything from the bunting to the buffet signage, the wooden directional signs to the drink stirrers, the fork bundles to the guest book circles. We did have some help: the tent and rentals were from Party Fundamentals in Camden, the no-utensils-required spread was by Maine Coast Catering, and the delicious, so-good-people-were-raving-about-it-for-weeks cake buffet was by Sweet Sensations. Jenna Cole and Meredith of & Unlimited outdid themselves on the photo coverage — we can’t recommend them highly enough. The bouquets and boutonnieres were from Boothbay Region Greenhouses, but my family made all of the centerpieces ourselves. A labor of love? Yes, most definitely. Completely worth it? Also, most definitely. Read on for a few words from Kate, and check back later this afternoon for the film John and I put together from the weekend!

See all the photos from Kate + Cormac’s wedding in their Real Wedding Gallery!

We set up croquet, bocce, and cornhole for guests to enjoy throughout the reception.

In an effort to reduce costs and do something different, we chose a mix of saltwater taffy, striped candy sticks, river rocks, pinwheels, and a few last-minute bunches of hydrangea for the centerpieces. There was no assigned seating, and guests swapped in and out of the tables throughout the afternoon.

Oh the cakes… quite possibly the best part of the reception, and definitely the most delicious!

Finally, a little more from the bride herself…

Describe your wedding flowers: The bridesmaids and I had white hydrangeas with yellow zinnias, dahlias, freesia, spray roses, and snapdragons. My bouquet also had dark blue delphiniums. The boutonnieres were freesia wound through a rope knot.
Describe your wedding cake: Which one? We had 10! It would have been way too hard to transport a large cake by boat, so we had 10 smaller ones in a bunch of flavors: chocolate with raspberry filling, white cake with fresh berries, yellow cake with lemon filling, carrot cake, and chocolate cake with chocolate mousse. They were absolutely delicious, but we had way too much! We couldn’t even give away all the leftovers at church the next day!
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? The hardest parts were being so far away (planning a Maine wedding from Minnesota, especially when my wedding planner was in North Carolina!) and also explaining to vendors that everything would have to travel by boat.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? The toast that my dad gave at the reception perfectly captured our joy at having our many disparate groups of family and friends all in one place to celebrate with us. That, and when our ringbearer fist-bumped the groomsman after dropping the rings off with him during the ceremony.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? I have two more years of grad school to go – then maybe we’ll finally go on a honeymoon!
Favorite inspirational blogs or sites: Peach and Pearl, & unlimited, Southern Weddings

Written with love by Emily