Amanda and Matt were married at the YMCA camp in Winthrop on the lake. The skies were beautiful and the grounds were a perfect place for a DIY rustic wedding. Matt kept everyone laughing and Amanda’s smile put everyone at ease. One of Amanda’s talented bridesmaids Hannah Mode www.hannahpmode.com created the invitations, the dress was from Madelines Daughter and the designer is Watters & Watters. Amanda’s family owns a greenhouse and they did all of the florals (Gingerbread Farm Perennials). The cake was by Allegra Norton of Wayne, Maine and the pizza buffet was catered by Harvest Moon Pizza http://www.harvestmoonpizza.com/mobile-pizza-catering/ I love lakeside weddings–summer camps are so awesome because people can stay in the cabins onsite which makes for a great carefree party! The rustic DIY chalkboards for the ceremony site, love story, and dessert bar were awesome! The guests enjoyed lawn games, swimming, and tennis before the wedding. I loved the pink Badgley Mischka bridal shoes, and adored the green J.Crew bridesmaid dresses. I love that the preppy formal J.Crew inspired lakeside wedding brand makes for the perfect rustic lakeside wedding! One of my favorite moments was when the bridesmaids gave Amanda a box filled with letters they wrote to her–and inside that box at the bottom was also a note from Matt–a long heart felt note.
How did you two meet?
Matthew moved to Maine after graduating from high school in California. He just happened to move to the same town that i grew up in. We met in youth group at the church,and then he went off to bootcamp for the air national guard and i went to college in Massachusetts. About a year later we met again at the Christmas eve service in church, and started dating soon after.
How did he propose?
We had been together for about 4 years and dating long distance nearly the entire time. I went to college, and he had already been deployed once to Iraq. He was on another deployment to Afghanistan. While he was gone he sent me an envelope every day, each with one post-it note in it. Every post-it note had a sentence on it, and over the 7 months we were apart it made one loooong letter. It was a beautiful letter. When he was scheduled to come back, i was waiting anxiously in the Portland Jetport, excited and emotional to see him again. When he got off the plane his father went up first and hugged him (little did i know he was also slipping the engagement right Matt had ordered into Matt’s pocket). When i went to hug him, he handed me an envelope and asked me to read the post-it. It was asking me to marry him and he was on one knee in the middle of the airport. Everyone at home, coming off the plane, and his entire unit had known it was coming and had crowded around us. He had even gotten a photographer to come to the Jetport to capture the moment. Needless to say i was overwhelmed.
What is your favorite part of wedding planning? All of the DIY projects! I had a blast putting everything together.
What is the most important to you about your wedding? That we will be surrounded by the people we love most, who have supported and loved us through it all.
What is your favorite thing about your fiancée? Amanda: I love that Matt can make me feel so loved and safe, and no matter what he can make me laugh. Matt: She makes me a better person.