Hi all,
My wedding was June 6th at the Nonantum Resort in Kennebunkport, ME - that is right, I got married on the day of the tornado warnings :-) But it was lovely all the same. I got so many great ideas from here that I wanted to share my tips on local vendors and my experiences.
1) The Nonantum (ceremony and reception, Sunday evening)
I cannot say enough wonderful things about the Nonantum and Dawn our wedding coordinator. At literally every step of the process they were available, helpful, accomodating of our budget without every making us feel like it was smaller than their normal budget, and we felt like part of the family. When it was raining cats and dogs on our wedding day, they even arranged with the tent company that had put up a tent for the previous day's wedding to leave it in place at no cost so that we could have our ceremony outside as we had planned. I cannot think of another place that would go to such lengths. The food was amazing, the muddled blueberry bellini's they made as our signature drink are still being talked about, we had all Maine microbrews on tap that we chose ourselves. 5 stars. It was the best choice for us and everyone had an amazing time. Please feel free to chat with me if you are considering this place for your wedding.
2) Flour! Events (
http://www.flourevents.com/)
Autumn Poulin was our florist and I have to say that after interviewing 10 different florsits who ranged from ridiculously expensive to not at all flexible, I believe she is the best around. She listend to our budget, found ways to stretch it, and customized everything. She made us a beautiful birtch chupppah that withstood the winds, my bouquet was so beautiful and yet did not cost an arm and a leg, all the pieces were so unique and yet also timeless and elegant. Not overdone at all. And she incorporated all our wishes in with our budget which (according to the other florists) was very small for the area and the season. She also does cupcakes which I hear are excellent, but we did not have them. 5 stars!
3) Coastal Cakes (
http://www.coastalcakes.com/)
I feel like I found a real gem with Vicki of Coastal Cakes. Someone on this board recommended her and once we tasted her cakes, there was no way we were going with anyone else. Blueberry buttermilk with lemon curd filling and buttercream icing. We wanted a simple yet elegant cake without any flowers on it, so she added blueberries as decoration and made as a cake topper a lovely fondant basket with blueberries inside. A cake this beautiful and this tasty could easily cost twice as much in the area, but she keeps her prices reasonable while only using the best ingrediants. Friends are still telling us this was the best wedding cake they have ever had - because it actually tasted like a cake! and a moist one at that! 5 stars.
4) Spa at Rivers Edge (
http://www.spaatriversedge.com/)
I'll be the first to admit that I had NO IDEA how much hair and makeup could cost for a bride or how hard it would be to find somewhere where I could have both done in the same place without having to have my bridal party have theirs done too. This was a good spa which has recently broken into hair, a lovely setting, very very accomodating of their clients and it was a nice experience. I loved how they did my hair and even thought it fell out at the end of the reception (I danced A LOT) it still looked intentionally styled because of how they did it. If I had to do makeup again, I think I would just do it myself. My first trial had something off about the eyes and they (for free, which was amazing!) gave me a second trial with the eyes that I adored. I was, however, a bit nervous about the mineral makeup they used since I had heard it is not always good for wedding photography. Some test shots of my trial suggested it would be fine, but in the professional shots from my wedding there is a clear makeup line of darker makeup on my face where it meets the neck, the makeup made my face look shiney in pictures where I know I was not shiney (which I hear is a side effect of mineral makeup at times) and it just looks off. The mascara ran and was under my eyes by the end of the night, and in general the makeup both looked too overdone in the shots as well as did not have staying power. My bridesmaids who did their own makeup look flawless in all the photos, even the close ups. It is nothing that I can't live with, but overall I think it would have been better to have my hair done and just done the makeup myself.
5) DJ Jeff Rockwell - he was fantastic. Very organized, very fun to talk to, and people are still talking about how good the music was. We had very specific ideas of what we wanted to hear, and he accomodated them all seemlessly and gave us advice from his own experience. He also gave us a CD of our special requests which was a nice extra :-) The best part is that he lets the music do the talking - no cheesiness. That was a must for us. He also gave us a great rate for a Sunday wedding. I would certainly hire him again.
6) Dennis Smith Classical Guitar - Dennis' music was lovely, his pricing was great, and in the end he did everything we asked. He was, however, quite difficult to get a hold of and communicate with, which caused some stress leading up to the wedding. In the end he was exactly what we wanted and no more, which was fine.
7) In Town Trolley - We rented a Trolley to take our guests to and from the unofficial afterparty at Federal Jacks - two trips there, two trips back. They were on time, great, the guests got a kick out of them, and were very affordable (much less than a limo or a bus!)
8) Pineapple Ketch - through the Nonantum we arranged to depart our ceremony via the Pineapple Ketch sailboat which took the two of us down river to Federal Jacks to our afterparty, but before that they took us on a 30 minute cruize out in the ocean, past the bush estate, with champagne and strawberries all included. For less than half the price of a limo, we loved that this was our departure vehicle and the pictures were great!
10) Kitchen Chicks Catering (
http://www.kitchenchickscatering.com/)
We had Kitchen Chicks do a lobster bake in my parents' front yard for the rehearsal dinner and they did a great job even down to the blueberry pie. They were flexible with alcohol (we could use our own champagne, we also wanted certain beers), they were really helpful during the planning process. Great. They also do weddings.
11) Aria Dresses (Boston)
They were a great place to work with - 100% silk dresses with over 20 styles to choose from - you choose the fabric and your girls can choose the style that flatters them. I thought they were a bit pricey, so I chipped in to cover some of the cost, but the girls were satisfied.
I also used a bunch of etsy.com sellers to get deals on custom candy bags, a wedding poster in lieu of a guest book, letterpress invites for non-letterpress pricing, etc. Feel free to ask if interested.
If you have any questions and want to contact me, my e-mail is donovanlm@yahoo.com
I'll have a bunch of decoration items, centerpieces, candy containers, rustic-type signs, shells, table numbers, menu frames, etc to sell and will be posting them up here soon.
Happy planning!