Celebrate We Will, For Life Is Short But Sweet

It's wedding week in Deer Isle, Maine!

After steadily moving for almost a week, we finally got to stay in one place for more than a night. We parked the trailer in Deer Isle and got to work setting up for the wedding. Thanks to Rose's wonderful planning and foresight, there really wasn't too much to do! I had been dreading the long hours of decorating and setting up that accompanied the other weddings that I've been to, but in comparison, this one was easy.

The first few days were somewhat relaxing, filled with family and minor chores to get everything ready. We cleared out the barn that was to be used as the dance floor, mowed the grass, prepared the walk down to the beach, and generally set up everything that we could. Everything was working out perfectly! On Wednesday night, when most of the immediate family members arrived, we went out for wedding pizza at a local pizza place.

I say pizza place, but it was really a just a barn on a hilltop where the people prepared delicious baked goods, bread, and pizza; there wasn't much of a place at all. It was a bit cold, but the wonderful food and company kept us plenty warm. Rose's mom looked great in my old dingy Carhartt jacket!

Friday was the rehearsal dinner and really the first day of chaos, if you could call it that. The tents were being delivered and set up, family was showing up left and right - even if maybe they shouldn't have - and everyone wanted to come hang out and "help." (aka. talk). We assured everyone that everything regarding the wedding was well taken care of, and that they should just enjoy the beautiful Maine scenery before heading to the restaurant that night.

I spent most of my day combing the beach for the perfect pieces of driftwood to make into the arbor. I finally found three perfect pieces and dragged them up to the shop, where I could hopefully get them to stay together and stand on their own. After a few failed attempts, I just decided to bury the posts in the sand and hope for the best. 

Corey (my best man) and I dragged the pieces back down to the beach where we attempted to dig holes to keep the posts in the ground. As most people know, sand isn't very cooperative when it comes to digging. Our holes kept collapsing and filling back in. Luckily, we got them deep enough to support the arbor. Unluckily, we knew the tide would come in and out twice before the time of the wedding. We added some supports and crossed our fingers.

Just before dinner, we held an actual rehearsal, with me wearing my finest black t-shirt. It was cold, the sky was cloudy, and it had rained all day. We all hoped it wasn't indicative of what was to come tomorrow. Despite the nasty weather, the arbor looked great and everything went off without a hitch. We were ready.

The rehearsal dinner was a blast! We rented out an entire restaurant for the night. Since we just had to do a destination wedding, we felt bad having a rehearsal dinner with only the bridal party. To solve the problem, we just invited everyone! In total, there were around 75 loud, rambunctious, excited people crammed into one space, consuming all the food and drink they desired.
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By the end of the night, there were three people on the floor (Rose first, quickly followed by Jessie and Keith- 2nd picture ) and I was shouting random nonsense from the back seat of my own truck. Needless to say, it was a good time!

The next day, Rose let me sleep in. She woke me up at the late hour of 5 a.m., although she said it could have been much worse. We got to adding the final touches on the wedding. We hung the lights in the barn, put out all the signage, and set up the speakers and sound system. Luckily, the weather was cooperating, and it had all the makings of a beautiful day.

Beach weddings are tricky; you have to work with the tide. In our case, the tide wasn't scheduled to go out until two hours before the wedding. That meant that we had to prepare the beach as the tide was leaving, hoping that we'd have enough time to get back and get ourselves ready. I went down to the beach early to see if the arbor was still standing. It was about half underwater, but it was still there!

The next couple hours went by in a flash. Everything was set up, the decorations looked great and people started arriving. Several of us worked on the beach until the last possible minute, but it all worked out. We couldn't have done it without the help of so many wonderful people! 

My favorite story from the day of the wedding, aside from getting married of course, comes from the videographer. As I was getting dressed, a car sped right through the middle of the reception area and stopped in front of me. The window rolled down the man shouted, "I'm the videographer!" and kept driving down the lane. I didn't even have time to react. The lane didn't go anywhere, so I figured he'd be back. Even though I knew better, he really seemed like he knew where he was going, so I wasn't about to get in the way with my knowledge! He eventually found us, but it was certainly a strange way to meet someone.

​Then we got married!

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The last of the guests left the reception around midnight, after hours of vigorous dancing and partying. Some where in better condition than others, but everyone had fun. The next day and a half was spent cleaning up and saying goodbyes to everyone who came to celebrate with us. The entire week was a blast, and we couldn't have asked for anything better. Thank you to all the wonderful guests in the photos below who traveled to be a part of our amazing day!

Special Thanks: 
Joe Bruno aka Grandpa- Beautiful scenery of Deer Isle
Randy Ripley- Officiant
Mary Dugan- Bridal Party hair 
Lorraine Jones- Wedding Photographer
Wendy Swanson- Planner/ setup/ all around MVP
James Stiles- Videographer
Affectionate Confections- Wedding cake & cupcakes
Wallace Events- Tents, tables, chairs
Jeffs Catering- Delicious Food

Once the weekend hit, we were back to Canada for the honeymoon. Next stop: Nova Scotia!