The sun shone bright on John and Katie’s wedding day in late September on the coast of southern Maine. From the lawn of the Union Bluff Hotel, rays of late afternoon light glistened off the rolling surf to form a picture-perfect backdrop to their their seaside ceremony. A bagpiper playing a traditional processional guided the wedding party down an aisle adorned with white flower petals. The deep sound of the Atlantic surf as it met the shore was punctuated by the bagpipe’s reedy tones. The bridesmaids wore matching dresses in seafoam green, and the groomsmen were dashing in navy blue suits with green ties. The bride’s gown was exquisitely designed with elegant, clean lines. Her bouquet was comprised of white roses.
The ceremony included heartfelt readings and vows that were chosen individually by the couple and revealed to each other for the first time, creating heightened moments of drama and romance. After the conclusion of the ceremony, the wedding party disbanded and received guests at the outdoor cocktail reception across the grounds of the hotel. Waiters passed around trays featuring traditional New England seafood bites: bacon-wrapped scallops and tuna ceviche. Guests sipped spiked Maine-blueberry lemonade and whisky-ciders. The hotel’s reception venue was conveniently adjacent to the outdoor patio that hosted guests for the cocktail hour. This is where John and Katie decided to have their SpeechBooth setup.
At the top of the evening, the SpeechBooth captured elated guests on the patio as the sun set. After dinner, SpeechBooth was moved into the hall to capture the fun, energy, and dancing of the evening.
As a unique spin on a written guestbook, the couple decided to incorporated an antique typewriter that had belonged to the groom’s grandfather for guests to write messages to the couple. They used special stationary emblazoned with the seal of the wedding ceremony. The guests, many of whom had never used a typewriter before, enjoyed experimenting with the paper loader, while their parents shook their heads in bemusement.
For dinner, guests had their choice of steak and twice-baked potato, salmon wrapped with prosciutto and risotto, or a red pepper polenta with squash salad. For dessert, the couple opted to go with an alternative to the standard wedding cake and provided a variety of superior doughnuts from local legend Congdan’s Doughnuts. The round pastries were decoratively hung on a peg board for guests to easily pluck off their selection. After several hours of dancing and chatting, wedding guests had regained their appetites and mozzarella sticks and beef sliders appeared for an encore to dinner.
The SpeechBooth captured the guests’ moods throughout the evening. With the assistance of regular announcements by the DJ, the booth received many well wishes and inside jokes throughout the night. The resulting highlight reel not only shares their messages, but also captures the energy of the event, from the sunset reception to the late-night dancing.
Soon, the evening was over, and everyone was climbing into bed for a few hours of sleep before a buffet style breakfast send-off the following morning–a delicious end to a beautiful wedding weekend.