Nicole & Dan’s Waterford Inne Wedding | Waterford, Maine

Sometimes the beginning of a love story is as simple as one person walking up at a Halloween party and immediately knowing what the other person is dressed as.

Nicole and Dan met through mutual friends at a Halloween costume party. Nicole was dressed as a modern-day Snow White, and apparently, nobody had quite figured out her costume yet. Then Dan walked up, looked at her and said, “Snow White.”

Nailed it.

Those were the first words he ever said to her, and apparently that was enough to get things rolling.

Fast forward a bit, and Dan was planning a proposal. The two had rented an Airbnb in Cumberland, Maine, for Nicole’s 40th birthday, making Maine an especially meaningful place for them. Dan decided this would be the perfect opportunity to pop the question.

His plan involved lighting a bonfire and proposing beside it.

There was just one tiny issue.

It was a heat wave.

Because apparently nothing says romantic proposal quite like voluntarily standing next to a giant fire when it's already approximately the temperature of the surface of the sun.

Dan gave Nicole a beautiful speech, worked his way into the proposal, and somehow managed to keep going while Nicole took what she later admitted was way too long to realize what was happening.

But there was an especially meaningful part of the proposal that made the whole moment even more important to Nicole. Dan had gotten permission from her father before he passed away. Knowing that he had taken the time to do that made the proposal incredibly special.

And eventually, after the fire, the heat, and the delayed realization that she was actually being proposed to, they were engaged.

A Windy Wedding Day in Waterford

Their wedding day brought us to the beautiful Waterford Inn in Waterford, Maine.

And Mother Nature apparently wanted to make things interesting.

There were hurricane and high-wind warnings for the area, and we weren't entirely sure what the weather was going to do. Thankfully, Waterford is inland, so while we definitely had some wind, we weren't dealing with the full wrath of the weather system.

As always, we prepared for the worst and hoped for the best.

The day started upstairs in the beautifully decorated old farmhouse at the inn, where Nicole got ready with her friends. The farmhouse has such a great aesthetic already, and it fit Nicole perfectly.

Her entire look had a vintage feel to it. She wore her hair in short, vintage-inspired waves, paired with an old-Hollywood-style wedding dress that made the whole look feel like it belonged in another era.

There was something really fitting about it. Elegant, vintage, understated and completely her.

Once she was ready, it was time for her first look with Dan.

A First Look in the Woods

While everyone else was getting the barn ready, Nicole and Dan slipped away into the woods beside the barn for their first look.

It was quiet, intimate and just the two of them.

And because we weren't sure what the weather was going to do, we decided to take advantage of the break in the rain and get as much done as possible.

We knocked out their portraits, family formals and a bunch of the important photographs while the weather was cooperating.

It turned out to be the perfect decision.

For the moment, the rain was holding off, and we managed to get through all of the formalities before the weather decided to make another appearance.

A Little Rain Wasn't Going to Stop Them

As the ceremony approached, the drizzle started.

But Nicole and Dan weren't about to let a little rain derail the day.

Everyone headed into place, and somehow, by the time the last person made it down the aisle, the rain had stopped again.

Perfect timing.

Their ceremony was short, personal and incredibly meaningful.

They included a hand-tying ceremony, symbolically binding their lives together, and their rings were passed around to their guests so everyone could hold them and "warm" them with their good wishes before they were exchanged.

They shared personal vows, exchanged rings, and just like that, Nicole and Dan were married.

Dinner, Drinks & Keeping It Simple

After the ceremony, everyone headed inside for cocktail hour while we took some additional portraits around the old barn and farmhouse.

And then came the part of the day that really felt like Nicole and Dan.

They didn't want a huge production.

No DJ.
No packed dance floor.
No elaborate reception schedule.

They wanted a quiet dinner with the people they loved.

There were plenty of toasts, lots of laughs, bread was fed to each other because apparently even bread deserves a starring role at a wedding and they shared a special dessert.

And then they called it a night.

Simple. Personal. Exactly what they wanted.

I think that's one of my favorite things about weddings like this. There doesn't have to be a giant reception, a packed dance floor or a million traditions for a wedding to feel like a wedding.

Nicole and Dan created a day that was completely theirs.

From meeting over a Halloween costume that Dan somehow immediately recognized, to a very hot bonfire proposal in Maine, to standing together in the woods at the Waterford Inn while the weather threatened to ruin everyone's plans… they just kept rolling with it.

And in the end, the rain held off when it mattered, they got married surrounded by their favorite people, and they ended the night exactly how they wanted.

Short, sweet and very, very them.