Maine

SMALL wedding. Ceremony & Reception advice?

My FI and I are planning a VERY small wedding--right now we have 33 guests, including us, if everyone we invite can come. It's intimate, and pretty much entirely immediate family, with a few select aunts and uncles and best friends included.

We started out planning the wedding at my parent's house, but I'm just not comfortable with that. I wanted it to be a little more special. The problem? Everywhere else we look for a ceremony & reception has a minimum guest list, OR is too expensive. We just want simple and not expensive....any ideas?

I THINK I would like using Fort Williams or one of the parks in the Cape Elizabeth/Portland areas. Any more information on that would be really helpful, because I just can't find anything too helpful online.

I wouldn't be opposed to having the reception at my parents home either....but I can't find any ceremony locations around Raymond! *groans*.

Re: SMALL wedding. Ceremony & Reception advice?

  • hcorr34hcorr34 member
    First Anniversary Name Dropper 5 Love Its First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I am getting married at Fort Williams next July.  We have rented the picnic shelter because I want to have chairs for everyone (100+) and you can't have that many chairs if you hold the ceremony any other place on their grounds. 

    If you don't want to reserve an area, the cost is $75 for the wedding permit and that's it.  If you want to reserve an area, and you are not a resident, it costs a LOT of money.

    http://www.capeelizabeth.com/tFort_picnic.html

    Some place else to consider is Fort Allen Park on the Eastern Prom in Portland (which happens to be in my neighborhood).  There is a gorgeous gazebo there and you can have approximately 30 chairs for a ceremony.  The view is beautiful.

    Portland information
    Wedding Permit Application for Portland


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  • edited December 2011
    Thank you very much, that is helpful information! Congratulations on your wedding--I hope it is perfect.

    Thankfully, I am a Maine resident :)
  • hcorr34hcorr34 member
    First Anniversary Name Dropper 5 Love Its First Comment
    edited December 2011
    With Fort Williams, you have to be a Cape Elizabeth resident to get the reduced fee.  Luckily, FI's sister and her boyfriend live there and were able to reserve it for us. 
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  • edited December 2011
    There is a place in Casco called Hacker's Hill off of Quaker Ridge Road.... my fiance and I went there on one of our first dates, its quite beautiful! He said he attended a wedding there a few years before I met him. You can see all of Sebago Lake and Mount Washington. Very breathtaking!
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  • schadbourneschadbourne member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I am in love with the little chapel i am getting married in. It is in saco in a beatiful cemetary (dont worry its not in the middle but you do have to drive into the cemetery). It is a cute little stone chapel and it will cost me 200 dollars.

    There is also a chapel in Portland but I am not sure what they charge.

    With a small wedding you can think outside the box, think about librarys, theaters, restaurants(--there is Josephs by the sea in OOB that has a small room in the upstairs and you could do ceremony in front o the ocean) art gallerys, art museums, public parks (i checked out some of my local ones and contacted my town office they said as long as you dont leave trash and notifiy them it is free to use)

    The picnic shelter is absolutly beatiful for a small wedding. A couple of years ago I went to a wedding there and the stone part that jets out is where they had their ceremony with the 30 or so chairs they allow. And they put tablecloths on the picnic tables under the shelter and little hurricane holders with candles, it was beatiful.

    good luck, think outside the box and ask around, there is so much inormation out there you just have to dig for it
  • edited December 2011
    Thanks guys! I had actually seriously considered Hackers Hill because I live not even 5 minutes from there, and thought that would be perfect to have a reception at my house afterwards....but are they still allowing the public to go there? I had heard a rumor that the Hall family stopped keeping it open.

    I've actually started having a really good time thinking about this! The possibilities are endless, and you guys have really helped me broaden my horizons :)
  • saphirerose76saphirerose76 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Just looking for location at the moment..Looking for a place for a small ceromony but looking for a view and cheap..Any suggestions.
  • edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_maine_small-wedding-ceremony-reception-advice?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:98Discussion:a6070c0c-01f1-4697-ad6b-7d676950fbb0Post:37d1e87b-4417-4366-bb17-61f91aaa5cb9">Re: SMALL wedding. Ceremony & Reception advice?</a>:
    [QUOTE]I am in love with the little chapel i am getting married in. It is in saco in a beatiful cemetary (dont worry its not in the middle but you do have to drive into the cemetery). It is a cute little stone chapel and it will cost me 200 dollars.....
    Posted by schadbourne[/QUOTE]



    I'm getting married at laurel hill too!! Its so beautiful!
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