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Six seasons in, the shocked look on someone's face who has just learned what I do and the demographics of my clientele never gets old.
This happened most recently last week, while lunching with the other entreverge winners (there are five of us total and no, we didn't all bring our electric guitars), a now monthly appointment. In the typical getting-to-know-you early conversation, my fellow entrepreneurs spoke of their customers who are mostly local (or regional at best). Mine? Tho I love them and feel as tho I know them like neighbors, most are married in Maine but live elsewhere. And get this, I usually don't lay eyes on them until their actual wedding day.
Thankfully my virtual studio, aka my website, includes anything and everything an inquiring bride might want to learn about me including a video that showcases my Portland studio, happy clients and me! Seeing and hearing someone is bounds more effective than just reading the usual narrative text or client quote. Add phone calls, emails and regular Twitter and Facebook interactions, and far away couples all feel comfortable booking me and greet like we're old friends with excited hugs on their wedding day.
And while I've known this to be the case- most clients marrying local who are not local- since moving my business to Maine five (gulp! That went by fast!!) years ago, I've never really known how much most is exactly. I ran some numbers and put together some graphs and pie charts to show you. Because, really, who doesn't love pie (Two Fat Cats, for the record and for those of you out-of-towners seeking Portland's best, has my vote for best blueberry this time of year).
In 2009, emilie inc. booked 50 weddings. One was canceled and one was postponed, so that leaves us with 48. Of those couples:
- 83% live out of state, 17% live in Maine.
- 58% married in Maine, 21% in New Hampshire, 15% at destination locations (Mexico, St. John, Costa Rica, etc), 6% in Massachusetts. For those marrying in Maine who do not live here, most grew up vacationing here, perhaps went to college here or some have never been at all and picked it from browsing online!
Emily's family has been vacationing in Maine from Virginia since 1990. Now living in Chicago, Emily and Zak chose to exchange their I Do's in Hancock Point, the sweet village where her family has a summer camp. Combing elements of their Catholic and Jewish backgrounds, Emily and Zak wrote their own ceremony and exclaimed their giddy love in front of nearly 200 guests.
How they met, in Emily's words:
Zak and I met at a New Year's Eve party in Chicago. I had just moved and only new one person- Mia Clark (from sailing school in Maine)- who happened to go to Kenyon College with Zak in Ohio. She invited me to the party at Zak's house. We were friends for 6 months and then started getting romantic!
On to the photos…
What a sweet scene. The family's Model A, which every woman in the family has used on their wedding day.
Sharon and Josh were fortunate to find each other thanks to the matchmaking skills of a mutual friend. I often wonder when I hear these blind date stories how couples adequately thank the person who has made such a significant impact on the course of their lives. I'd be inclined to name my first born after this angel in disguise!
On to the photos as there are a lot of them!
Sharon got dressed at her future in-law's beautiful home. This clean, brightly lit room is exactly the sort of room I love to photograph the preparations.
Alison is an interior designer. Sasha is an astronomer. At one point in the afternoon, I exclaimed out loud: I am in love with your wedding!! Read Alison's description of her wedding from her initial inquiry form and you'll know exactly why:
I grew up spending half of every year in Maine with my dad, and my fiance Sasha and I have spent lots of time there over our eight years together. Simply put, Maine is our favorite spot on earth. We especially love the less-developed rural parts of the midcoast region where the landscape is embedded with so much history. The area around the St. George Peninsula where we'll be married was originally settled by English, Scottish and Scandinavian immigrants and that just happens to reflect my fiance's & my ethnic heritage. As an interior designer based in New York, I've loved seeing the revival of Scandinavian-inspired fabrics that have swept through the design community in the last few years. The look of our wedding is going to be inspired by the design traditions of our ancestors–Scandinavian folk embroideries meets Liberty of London meets Marimekko. The ceremony will be held in a tiny shingled cottage in the woods, the reception will be in a field overlooking the ocean, followed by a wedding dance at the wonderful Ocean View Grange. For our food, we're hoping to emphasize seasonal, locally grown ingredients, with masses of farmer's market and farm grown flowers. If we're fortunate enough to have good weather, we may cap off the evening with stargazing with a telescope set up outside, courtesy of my fiance, who is an astronomer and astrophysicist.
So the foggy day didn't allow for any stargazing, but everything else came to beautiful fruition on their wedding day as Alison had hoped. I adored her attention to detail and the variety of locations provided an amazing experience for their guests and a visual Candy Land (as I gushed via Twitter at the wedding) for me!
How they met, in Alison's words:
Sash and I met through mutual friends in New York in 2001. Sasha was sitting on my couch (he was an old college friend of my roommate) watching “Moonstruck” the first time I saw him, which seems pretty appropriate for an astrophysicist. I fell head over heels for him pretty quickly. We've had 8 blissfully happy years every since!
Together with their families, they spent the week at Saltwater Farm, appropriately situated on Mosquito Head Road.
I became fast friends with Kelsie and Reg the moment we met. Having all grown up in New Hampshire, we were shocked to discover that my aunt was Reg's high school English teacher and my cousin baby-sat for him! Such a small world. We stayed in close touch after our initial meeting, and since they live in Portland I have been lucky to get to know this pair (mostly around eating- Reg is an amazing cook!).
On their wedding day, therefore, I felt so much more like a guest than their photographer. I got choked up a number of times myself, and felt the weighty emotion of every minute of the day. Their wedding was one that was filled with such joy and a love that I cannot put into words. I can only share that witnessing in and being a part of their planning and wedding day inspired J and I to finally put pen to paper and start our own wedding plans!
Kelsie got ready in a suite at the Inn on Peaks.
Read more…
Holy Cross sweethearts, Whitney and Brian, have been planning their wedding thousands of miles apart since graduating two years ago. Whitney was in London obtaining a master's degree, and Brian was in Japan serving in the US Navy. So their wedding day was a rare occasion to be together with all of their friends and family back in Whitney's hometown. In December, Brian and Whitney will be relocating- together- to Hawaii!
Meet Whitney, the face of calm under pressure.
Formerly of Vail and now living in New York City, Lauren and Kirk know how to throw a party! When Kirk phoned to check my availability last year for their Lake Wentworth, New Hampshire wedding, I nearly fell off my chair. Not only did I grow up summering on Lake Wentworth as a child, but I can see their wedding location from my grandparent's beach (that's their tent in the bottom right)!!
When I was already booked for their date (for a wedding that was unfortunately, but fortunately, postponed. The bride's mother has since had a successful heart transplant), Katie and Patrick snagged Whitney early for this popular Saturday- even before I had posted a portfolio of Whitney's work online!
Katie and Patrick live in Chicago but Katie has family from the Concord, New Hampshire, area. She spent many weeks there as a child and always wanted to get married there. As a couple they wanted to have a wedding reception in a barn in the country, and The Brass Heart Inn fit the bill to host their traveling guests.
How they met, in their own words:
Patrick and Katie met in college at the University of Chicago. Katie is one year ahead of Patrick and was a Dormitory Orientation Aid for the class below her. She spied Patrick on his first day at the University. After a few outings with the dorm, they were dating. Both say it was love at first sight! They have been together for just under 8 years!
On to their images…
The ceremony site.
Nearly four years ago I photographed Sheri's sister's wedding in Baltimore. It was beyond fun to reunite with such a fun family to photograph Sheri's elegant nuptials to Seth in Boston.
A few weeks before meeting Sheri, Seth ate a cookie with this fortune tucked inside which he saved. Soon after, he met Sheri and he waited to reveal its message until their rehearsal dinner, presented in a Tiffany locket.
photographers: Emilie, Whitney and Christina
venue: Whitney's Inn Jackson NH
officiant: Rev. Mary E. Powers
flowers: Kate Parker Weddings
tent: Sperry Tents
dj: Ryan Parker
cake: Sugarmaker Bakery Glen, NH
hair/make-up: Debony Hair Salon Jackson, NH
gown: Bridal Galleria San Diego, CA
invitations: Oblation Papers & Press at Arthur Printing Cape Coral, FL
honeymoon: Vinalhaven, Maine
August 4th was a Tuesday. Yup, a Tuesday.
When you hear Tuesday wedding, I'm sure your imagination conjures up all sorts of imagery… back yard bbq? Shotgun ceremony? Neither. This was a fantastically classy wedding, with an enthusiastic guest list that put some of my comparatively less non-traditional Friday or Sunday weddings to shame. Christine and Jon, both pilots from Florida, met while working for American Eagle Airlines and simply decided to have their wedding on the exact date of their first date, two years prior.
Their second date was actually in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and so seemed the ideal setting for their wedding. They chose Whitney's Inn in Jackson (which, yes, did get a tad humorous as associate Whitney was photographing with me that day), and didn't skimp on any of the details that made for a most beautiful lawn ceremony and tented reception. Whitney's is owned by the super kind Don Bilger, who also owns the Inn at Jackson, my favorite place to spend New Year's Eve.
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Emilie Sommer, Portland, Maine
Vendor: Photographer
Website: Emilie Inc.
About Me: Emilie earned a degree in photojournalism from Syracuse University and worked at USA Today and The Washington Post in Washington, DC, before opening her wedding photography studio, emilie inc, in Portland, Maine. She loves all the intricate details involved in planning, the warm fuzzy feeling about two people in love and freezing those moments in time in a photograph. It’s a contagious dancing-through-daisies kind of good feeling. She also started the Roots Workshop, the directory News Wedding Photographers and the non-profit Pink Initiative
