Pre-Wedding Maine Trip (March 2013)

We recently went on one final trip to Maine before the wedding.  Josh and I took a red eye and got there Thursday morning.  I was so excited that Heather was able to make the trip up too. She finally got to meet Josh and she got a little taste of Maine and the Murphy/Boone clan. Of course she fit right in and everyone loved her. Below is a recap of the trip.

Day 1 – 3/7/13: Everyone landed in Maine (Dad a little later than expected due to weather). We checked into the Residence Inn Downtown so we would be close to everything. But first things first, naps were a necessity, red eyes just plain stink. We then went to a beer tasting at Shipyard post nap. We have our priorities; sleep and then booze. The tasting was a lot of fun and definitely something I’m going to suggest our wedding guests do. We then had a few drinks that night at a cute jazz bar called Gingko Blue and finished off the night with dinner at Rira’s. 

Day 2 – 3/8/13: We headed over to David’s Bridal to try on and finalize the bridesmaid dresses. I already had the style picked out and was originally set on turquoise, but after talking it over and seeing the dress on Heather I decided to go with the color Meadow (mint green, see below for an idea of what it looks like), much more Summer friendly. I was very relieved to have that done. I really wanted the color of the bridesmaid dresses to set the tone of the flowers and decorations. 

We then headed over to Grace for the tasting, which I think Josh was most excited for. I won’t go to in depth into all the food we tried, but what I will say is that everyone should be excited about eating this food. Everything is so delish! Another big decision we made was doing food stations. It’s very important to us that this wedding feel like a celebration and have good pacing. We felt a sit down dinner wouldn’t go with the party flow we were looking for. An added bonus to this decision is we won’t have to do a seating chart or place cards, people can eat when they are ready and can sit where they feel comfortable. We still have some final food decision to make but we felt like this meeting went very well. The DJ and possible videographer were supposed to meet us after the tasting and unfortunately both fell through. More on that later.

That evening we had a family get together to celebrate Meme’s 85^th birthday. Its always great when we can have the whole family together in one place!

Me and Me'mere

Day 3 – 3/9/13: We headed over to Joseph’s By The Sea which we were pretty sure was going to be the rehearsal dinner space. Mom and Aunt Kathy had done some scouting and fell in the love with this place. Josh and I agreed that we really liked it and we put the deposit down. Its right on the water with a private room that has a wall of windows that open up to the water front. Its going to be beautiful in June. 

I was told we were headed over to Roger’s to pick up my Aunt’s and to have a drink before lunch. Thank god I can be oblivious sometimes, because as we pulled up to Roger’s I missed the sign that told people where to park for the party. I walked up Roger’s stairs into a room full of family and friends. I had just walked into my surprise Bridal Shower! The shower was so much fun! Below are some pictures that Heather was kind enough to take.  Thankfully Dad and Josh left, more so my Dad. I don’t think he’d like seeing my Meme open up a leather whip or see his own daughter steal it in the Yankee Swap game.  Everyone was so generous and I really did feel showered with love.  My Aunt’s threw the perfect bridal shower. The only way it could have been more perfect was if Josh’s Mom, Ashley, and Kasey could have been there. 

Monique's Martini Bar

After an afternoon of consuming Monique’s strongly poured drinks we stopped by a Maine must and had some Rapid Ray’s. 

Day 4 – 3/10/13: Josh and Heather had to leave by the early afternoon, but Mom and I kept trekking on. We headed back to Portland and booked our videographer through David’s Bridal, another task completed. Have I mentioned I have the best Aunt’s ever? Well, I do and after we booked the videographer my Aunt Patty and Aunt Kathy took me jewelry shopping for my wedding present. I got a beautiful pearl bracelet and pearl earrings that I can’t wait to wear on my wedding day. I will think of them every time I wear each beautiful piece. 

We met up with our DJ that afternoon, which made my parents feel better. Our DJ is on the pricier side, but you get what you pay for. I know he is going to do a wonderful job, we are really happy with our choice. 

That evening my Mom, Dad, and I went to Grandma Murphy’s house for her famous meat pie. I made sure to text pictures to Danny to really make him jealous. 

Day 5 – 3/11/13: This was the last day to be productive for the wedding so my mom and I spread out all of our paperwork and got down to business. I don’t know how we’ve been so lucking booking vendors for the wedding, but once again a big item fell into place. I called up Heather Caron Floral design. She was highly recommended by our venue and it turns out my Mom’s best friend’s daughter just used her at her wedding. She just so happened to be able to meet us that day and just like that another big check mark!

For lunch we went to another local favorite Pizza by Alex. We definitely deserved pizza after doing hours of wedding work that morning. That night I got to watch the Bachelor finale with mom and that concluded the trip. It was a whirlwind but we were able to fit in a lot of family time, get some big items done for the wedding, and have some fun too. More wedding updates to come.