Adventure Maine Elopement
This was a quintessential Maine elopement. Rylee and Brian rented out this tiny house on Hipcamp, if you haven’t heard of it you are missing out! It reminds me of the beginning years of Airbnb before it really blew up, so enjoy it now before it’s too late! Hipcamp has really unique properties that are owned privately and from my experience most of the time they are really cool homeowners who have a lot of land and want a way to share it with others and make a little extra income while doing it! This Hipcamp was north of Portland, Maine on the Androscoggin River. It sat atop of a hill overlooking the river with absolutely stunning views. You drive along a picturesque road to get there that turns into a dirt road, very quickly I might add! We approached a gate and entered a corridor of trees and as we approached the tiny house we were met with rolling hills leading down the river where the property had kayaks and canoes available to rent.
We started the day slow as elopements allow you to do and we enjoyed a cup of coffee overlooking the vista down to the river. The couple chatted over a brew that we were able to make on the propane stove provided by the adorable couple that owned the tiny house. They are nature enthusiasts and working to turn their 400 acre property into a proper Wildlife Sanctuary. The tiny house was stacked with everything from cutlery to board games. It had big picture windows overlooking the view letting in a lot of natural light that was perfect for pictures both inside and out of the home. While the tiny house sat atop the hill there were various campsites down by the river. This location would be great for a small group to share but still have their own privacy with separate campsites. Inked by Jackie crafted the stationary announcing the couple’s elopement, I highly recommend her for stationary, signs, and other custom wedding or elopement designs.
The couple helped each other get ready —with only one small snag, literally! The bride repurposed a vintage dress from a thrift store and as we were getting ready and the zipper fell off. Originally thinking this would be a minor inconvenience we realized getting it back on was not going to be as easy as we thought. The minutes ticked by and we had no luck. We perused YouTube and came across the channel Everybody Loves Zippers— yes it is a real thing and if you ever have your own zipper emergency, I highly recommend it. We burst into laughter as the narrator mentions many times that the type of zipper we were dealing with was the most difficult zipper to fix. Despsite his words not instilling confidence in us, we pushed on and followed his directions closely. Through a zipper miracle we were able to get it fixed and the elopement went on! I will include the photo of the bride’s look of pure joy as she finally fixes the zipper.
The groom holds up a vintage mirror so the bride can finish perfecting her Hollywood curls that she did herself! They finish getting ready together and then go on to fine tuning their vows. Brian wrote his inside the cabin and Rylee sat at one of the picnic tables sipping her coffee leaving remnants of her Marilyn Monroe red lipstick on the rim of the ceramic mug. This couple wanted the privacy and intimacy of reciting their vows to one another without an audience. It was quite adorable because of the large open windows they were able to still see each other and kept glancing over as they took their pens to paper in their vow books.
Once they had written their vows they shared a toast of the quintessential Allagash White beer, a Maine staple. They clinked their bottles together and relaxed a bit before we headed down the path to the river where a canoe awaited us.
They wanted to recite their vows on the water in a tranquil and private location. When it came time to decide who was going to go first they needed to settle this the fair way of course with a best 2 out of 3 game of rocks, paper, scissors. Brian went first and I could feel the love surging between them so authentically. Something I often experience when couples are able to write their vows knowing they will not have an entire audience of their friends and family is that they are always more intimate. The couple feels more free to express themselves without an audience. Even if you don’t want to celebrate your big day with just the two of you, I have still seen many couples recite vows privately even in more traditional wedding ceremonies, definitely an option to consider!
We took a few photos along the corridor of trees aligning the property and the couple shared the most genuine kisses. It was as if I wasn’t there at all. They ended this perfect day going to a local lobster joint, called Mr. Sea’s. You could not get any more Maine if you tried. The lobsters were cooked outside as the patrons watched and the couple enjoyed two lobster rolls and a basket of fries in true Maine-fashion.
