So happy to share this beautiful day when Jesse and Hazel got married at the Barn at Flanagan Farm in Buxton Maine. Their day was filled with love, family, friends, good food, traditions, wildflowers, Egyptian lanterns, Arabic music, and dancing…. oh boy was is filled with dancing. I loved all of the elements of family traditions in the ceremony and sprinkled throughout dinner. Hazel’s mother and aunt of Your Cake Sisters made their stunning wedding cake! I had such a wonderful time watching them set up the cake during the day. Their ceremony was my favorite part of their day, specifically when their grandparents crowned them. Dinner was filled with good food from Fire and Co, and meaningful speeches from the couple and their brothers. Lani Toscano’s design elements and beautiful color block floral arrangements were elegant and added the perfect touch of color to add to the beauty of the day. The night ended with an insanely fun dance party kicked off with the couples first dance and the father-daughter dance which was an epic swing dance. I had so much fun listening and dancing to the amazing Arabic dance music by George Maalouf and John Maalouf. Thank you so much for asking me to capture your beautiful day.
Love & Joy
Siobhan
VENDORS:
Photography: Maine Tinker Photography
Venue: The Barn at Flanagan Farm
Wedding planning and floral: Lani Toscano Designs
Hair & makeup: Melissa Paulhus
Cake: Your Cake Sister
Catering: Fire and Co
Gelato: Gorgeous Gelato
Lighting: Griffin and Griffin
Rentals: One Stop Event Rentals
Egyptian lanterns: the winding, bustling streets of Cairo, Egypt’s largest market – Khan Al-Khalili!
Arabic musical accompaniment & DJ: George Maalouf and John Maalouf
Groom’s suit: Ahmed Hamdy Design (Egypt)
Groom’s accessories: Knotted Handcrafted Bowties
Bride’s gown: Salah Barka (Tunisia)
Bride’s party dress: Derailed Boutique (Kingston, NH!)
Her ring: Capucinne (Slovenia)
His ring: Northwood Rings (Canada)
Tunisian tile table numbers from Nabeul, Tunisia (lovingly transported in the bride’s carry on luggage…)
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Jesse: Looking at Hazel during the ceremony and looking out at our friends and family gathered to join in our celebration. Also, coming down the aisle with Hazel after the ceremony to the cheers of our friends and family.
Hazel: Walking down the aisle with both my parents to an oud (the Middle Eastern lute) version of “Despacito,” seeing all the amazing humans in our life, feeling my parents’ pride and joy, and, finally, smiling at my favorite human at the end of the aisle! Also, tearing up the dance floor with friends and family from all eras of our lives. Too many memories to choose from!
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That crazy foreign service life! We met in Cairo, Egypt while we were both working at the U.S. Embassy (despite having lived within a few blocks of each other in Washington, DC for several years!).
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Take deep breaths, talk it out, determine what’s important to you and don’t sweat the other details (unapologetically cut out the traditions that mean nothing to you!). Most importantly, make sure to pause and soak in the love of your family and friends.
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Take the fantastic local Maine beer we selected and our awesome tray of appetizers to the middle of cocktail hour and eat them there, surrounded by absolutely everyone, instead of on the sidelines!
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NYE 2016 in Prague, after Swiss Christmas skiing. After an unbelievable meal, fantastic little cocktail bar, and rowdy fireworks along the Vltava river, Jesse knelt in the turret of our palatial hotel with the city behind him and popped the question!
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Creating a ceremony that perfectly reflected our heritages and world view, and an aesthetic that blended our Middle East experiences with love for New England and the outdoors / Planning from two different foreign countries, and winnowing the invite list!
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Jesse: I thought the “first look” would be forced and silly – but I actually got quite excited and nervous to see Hazel for the first time in her wedding dress (that was one tradition we kept). It was an amazing moment. Absolutely giddy.
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YES – Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor! With so much time over the past two years of distance spent on planes while traveling to see each other, we opted to avoid another airport and enjoy the great outdoors – summer on the Maine coast can’t be beat.
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Maine Tinker was supportive, always smiling, had ga reat vision for shots, was well organized, and most importantly took brilliant photos. We couldn’t be happier.
