I feel so blessed to have been able to get to know Erick and Lauren, their friends, and their families. They are truly incredibly warm and caring people. Lauren did an amazing job planning this wedding, and it was everything that represents the two families coming together as one. Everyone helped and everyone had a fantastic memorable time. Erick and Lauren are beginning their journey together and it is sure to be a long and wonderful one! The DIY yellow, gray, and blue elements that Lauren came up with were perfect! Complete with a custom DIY wedding alter or ceremony table, multiple DIY wedding signs, and fantastic table decorations. They also wrote their own vows which is so special and these were eloquent and emotional I loved every second of them!
How they met: “Erick and I went to the same college and we met through mutual friends. I didn’t like him right away. The first time we met I actually walked away from him! Our paths first crossed at a school dance but that night I wasn’t in the mood for flirting and wasn’t too keen on him and his friends so I left shortly after they tried initiating conversation. Fortunately one of my roommates was enamored with Erick’s friend so she stayed to chat with them set the stage for our next encounter. A short time later my roommate had planned to go rock climbing with Erick and his friend. She needed a buddy to go along with her while she tested the waters with this new guy she was interested in. It seemed fun so I agreed to go. Little did I know I was being set up for a double date! It was that day that Erick won me over by showing off his hiking and climbing skills and letting me drive his brand new “baby” Honda Accord coup. He must have really wanted to impress me because I was the only person he had ever allowed to drive it. I was attracted to his subtle humor and quiet confidence, our personalities were very complimentary, and we discovered we had a lot in common so after that day we couldn’t stay away from each other. And the rest is history!”
How he proposed “Erick contrived this elaborate plan where he had his sister privately contact me and convince me she was throwing a surprise birthday party for him. Well it turns out the surprise was for me! At the time I was attending school in Pittsburgh, so I had to fly up to Boston where his sister lives for the weekend for the supposed party. When she picked me up from the airport that evening she took me to a park. She got me to the park by telling me that her husband had taken Erick night fishing to occupy him until we arrived. It sounds strange but it sounded exactly like something they would do! When we got to the park, her husband came to meet us at the car. He told us he’d made up an excuse to sneak away from Erick so he could meet up with us and take us down to where they were “fishing.” They took me down a path in the woods that opened up into a clearing. They then told me that I had to walk across the clearing by myself so that I could run up and surprise Erick. It was really dark and I couldn’t see anything but a bright light out in the distance but they told me to walk towards it to find Erick. I timidly began to walk towards it unsure what to expect. As I got closer I started to see a pathway lit up with candles and realized I wasn’t surprising anybody! I got to the end of the candle lit pathway where I found Erick standing there waiting for me. He then confided that he knew all along that I had been coming for his “surprise birthday party” which of course by that time I had figured out! Then he asked me to marry him and I said yes! After the proposal we sat out on the park benches by the water and enjoyed the view of the bay. Afterwards he took me to a restaurant where he surprised me with both of our families waiting for us with an engagement party and dinner. It was a perfect weekend!”
Brides favorite moment: “Walking down the aisle with my dad to see Erick smiling waiting for me at the end of the aisle and my two bridesmaids both sniffling at me through eyes brimming with tears. I felt so surrounded by love. It was such a touching moment because my processional was so personal. I walked down the aisle to “Your Love is Strong” by Jon Foreman. I knew right away that I wanted to walk down the aisle to a Jon Foreman song because when Erick and I first started dating we would always listen to his cd. “Your Love is Strong” is a song about God’s powerful love for us but for my wedding day was interpreted as not only the strength of God’s love but of the love of the two strong men in my life: my dad and my new husband. I told my dad about this and he said that when he was walking me down the aisle he would think about the significance of the moment as him passing me from one strong man (my dad) into the arms of another strong man (Erick). What made the song even more meaningful for me was that it was played on the guitar by my big brother. I really look up to my brother and and I grew up listening to him sing. I have always been so proud of him whenever I’ve seen him perform so it made it even more special that he was the one singing the song for us. Walking down the aisle was such a beautiful moment because it represented our faith, our history together, and the love of everyone involved in the day.”
Advice to future brides: “Your wedding is most meaningful when it’s personal. Every element of our wedding had some kind of underlying meaning or significance to us either because it represented our family and our history or because we were involved in creating it. You don’t need an extravagant venue, fancy linens, or gourmet food to make a great wedding. We had a simple lobster bake wedding on a pier and made all of the decorations and it was beautiful! Surround yourself with the things and the people that are most important to you, pick a meaningful location, and make it fun! And get your family involved! One of the most amazing things about my wedding was seeing how my whole family contributed to the day and it was so cool on my wedding day to see that everything I was surrounded by was a reflection of my and my family member’s talents. You would be amazed at the things you can do when you pool everyone skills. I initially decided to have a DIY wedding because of budget, but I think that everyone should incorporate at least a few DIY details in your wedding because the things that you make are the ones that will have the most meaning to you. It is so satisfying to be able to look around the room on your wedding day and think to yourself “Wow, I did this.””
“I am glad that…..We had our wedding in Maine! Not only was the weather in Maine perfect and the landscape beautiful, but the fact that we had to travel for the wedding completely changed the dynamic of the wedding weekend in an awesome way. Even though planning a destination wedding was frustrating at times, the experiences I was able to have because I made that decision were invaluable and I would definitely do it again! Forcing everyone to travel to the wedding, stay in one place, and unplug in the secluded location (its really hard to get internet or phone service there!) really allowed Erick and I to have some quality time with our friends and family. The time we spent with everyone in New Harbor leading up to the wedding was just as special and meaningful to us as our wedding day. And it allowed me to have a few days of much needed relaxation before the wedding! We were married by the rocky shore at the Pemaquid Point lighthouse and whisked away on a beautiful white lobster boat to our reception on the dock of the Contented Sole. There we had a delicious lobster bake and ended the night with a gorgeous sunset over the bay. After the wedding we spent our mini-moon traveling around in the convertible we had rented through Rockport, Camden, and Monhegan Island. Since Erick is in the military we only had a few days between the wedding and the time he had to be at his next duty station so it was perfect that we were already in a beautiful location because wouldn’t have had time to honeymoon in another destination. Having our mini destination wedding in Maine was the best decision that I made in the wedding planning process because it allowed us to have all of those wonderful experiences!”