Portland Maine Beach Wedding Photography by Alyssa Parker Photography

Share your love story:

“Jon and I met about 5 years ago in May of 2015! I was living and working in Boston with friends, and Jon was living in Hopkinton, MA, where we are both from. We didn't know each other growing up, because Jon went to the technical High School in a surrounding town, where he got is license as an electrician. However, my younger brother and Jon's younger brother both went to the same tech high school and are best friends, so my brother has known Jon for 10+ years! Anyways, one day my mom calls me and says "wow Colleen, you need to meet Jon! " Kevin (my brother) referred him to do electrical work at my parents house and after he left my mom would not stop raving about him. "You need to call him up and ask him on a date now!! He has such a good head on his shoulders!" Those were her exact words. I was eager to meet the right person and figured, what did I have to lose, so I sent him a message on social media, which we still go back to and read and laugh about! Within the next 3 years time, Jon took me on so many special dates- campgrounds, Harley rides, concerts, so many adventurous and fun memories, and we quickly fell in love. We both moved home with our parents to save money and buy a house, and adopt a pup- Olive! After living in our house for a year and a half, I came home one day from my sweaty spinning class to Olive wearing a sparkly collar and Jon standing in the background saying look at her collar she has something to show you. I knew this was the moment and started getting emotional, Olive was so excited jumping around it took a few minutes to get the ring off of her collar! Jon asked me to marry him and here we are- The Stewarts!”

Tell us about you wedding!

“We planned our wedding around December 2018 for June 2020. We went back and forth in the beginning about what we wanted : traditional venue, elope, destination, etc. and decided that we definitely knew we wanted a specific location: Scarborough, Maine. Maine holds some of our favorite and best memories as a couple and with our families. We ended up picking a more traditional venue, a Barn that we happened to drive by often when camping in and visiting the area. However, in March of 2020 COVID-19 pandemic hit and every plan we made had to change. We were devastated and spent the next few months going back and forth on how we should proceed. Ultimately, we knew we still wanted to get married on June 20, 2020, no matter who, where, what, etc. About a month before our date we decided that we still wanted to get married in Scarborough, Maine, and had our marriage license already ready to go for there, so we started brainstorming ideas of how we can make this day possible. Our families are big into camping and we knew our immediate families would all be a part of our special day, so we ended up all booking to stay at Bayley's Camping resort. The rest came together pretty much within 20 days with the help of all of our closest family and friends. We got married on our favorite beach, Pine Point, and our wedding day turned out even better than our wildest dreams, despite the hurdles to overcome due to the pandemic.

We wanted a rustic, outdoorsy, and laid back venue and theme. I love color and wanted to incorporate all shades of blue and soft touches of pink, and even though we had a change of venue we were still able to incorporate our vision at the campground and beach. We were able use many of the items we had purchased and made before the venue plans changed. Almost all of the decor was DIY. My mom and I made signs at a "paint night," we had family photos printed, and many of the candles, backdrops, etc. were items handed down to us from other close friends weddings. Our tent, tables, chairs, lights, and bar were all borrowed from my Aunt and Uncle- it was a true team effort and everyone that was a part of our day helped bring the decor together. My Aunt and Uncle put together the gorgeous flowers and arbor for the beach for us (Our flowers were one of the absolute highlights of our wedding.) We brought our own paint buckets for beach seating - a last minute easy and funny idea that ended up working out!! We did purchase custom Olive (our dog) koozies, napkins, and plates through Etsy (Yippee Daisy). Our rental items- table cloths, napkins, flatware are from One Stop event rental.

Overall we feel our entire wedding had many personalized special elements given the intimate setting of everything. It was at our favorite campground, with our favorite people, our favorite foods, and Olive was able to be a part of the entire day! Bayley’s campground was so kind and welcoming to our guests and event, it was more perfect than we could have ever planned. We especially loved the delicious appetizers our close friend made for everyone, and buzzing around in golf carts all weekend. When we talk about our favorite moments of our wedding, it's so hard to just pick one but we loved our ceremony, it was so us. A special reading "How Falling in Love is like Owning a Dog" was read by a close friend, we exchanged personalized vows, it was at our favorite beach, we played some of our favorite songs, and officiated by a close family member.”

What advice would you give to couples planning their wedding?

“Keep it simple-Stay true to yourselves and your personalities. Although we originally planned a traditional wedding with 130+ people, it ended up being with 30 of our closest friends and family, which was truly special, and more us (and honestly less stressful). The beach and the campground are so us, we were in our element, and got to share that with everyone that could be there. Of course we missed so many other special people, but we know that we will be able to celebrate with everyone in the future, and it all happened this way for a reason. All of the details of our wedding were created and set up by our family and friends, which couldn't have been more meaningful.”