Rustic Winter Wedding Styled Shoot | Maine Wedding Photographers
Maybe it’s the girl in me. Or maybe I’ve been around a higher-than-normal number of weddings the past year. But I have been DYING to plan something wedding-related myself. Since I have no business planning a wedding, (yes, even that stereotypical “dream wedding” board on my Pinterest is disguised as “wedding ideas for our brides!” And yes, I do think I’m fooling people by doing that. Did it work?) how better to channel all that planning energy than into a styled wedding shoot! Our rustic winter wedding styled shoot took place in January, while I was on my first real visit home to Maine since I moved to Kansas. Being back in my old stomping grounds made choosing a location – the Aroostook State Park ski trails – so easy. I knew I wanted to feature the rustic and romantic seclusion of the Northern Maine woods in the shoot. And I wanted to feature how absolutely amazing a winter wedding or bridal session can be! Amanda and James held their own winter wedding last year, and I love how they appreciated the beauty and adventure of the season as much as I do.
In styling the rustic winter wedding I wanted to stay genuine to a simple, rustic elegance that the area has. Nothing too over-the-top. The focus had to be on Amanda and James, and their love for one another, and, of course, just a little bit of focus on the scenery of the State Park and the Northern Maine woods I grew up in. A simple cupcake and hot cocoa reception seemed to fit the rustic winter wedding theme perfectly, as well as pine needles and pine cones for decor. (Maine is the Pine Tree state after all.) Most of my purchases were from the thrift store in town, a few DIY projects, as well as collaboration with some vendors. The logs for our tablescape came straight out of my dad’s woodpile in the backyard. The mugs and mason jars I picked up while I was thrift shopping (I seriously couldn’t believe my luck. Is there such thing as perfectly mismatched mugs? Because it happened.) The blankets were leftover Christmas presents my mom had picked up for Yankee swap gifts. I whipped out the best Betty Crocker in me and made the cupcakes myself, as well as the paper cones for our birdseed throw! I have to thank Joe Geske, Cook’s Florist, and Carter’s Crafts for help with the invitations, bouquet, and hand-painted signs, respectively. Everything went so right in the planning stages of the shoot, I knew somewhere we had to hit a hiccup – and sure enough, mother nature gave us sleet and freezing rain the morning of the shoot! I’m not sure what I expected, given it is Northern Maine in January. But, I said I wanted to stay true to the charm of Northern Maine, and mother nature held me to that!
Thank you SO much to the vendors who made this shoot possible. And a special THANK YOU to Amanda and James, who drove in from Limestone in less-than-ideal conditions to model for me. I am so grateful the two of you offered to step in at the last minute!
Venue: Aroostook State Park
Models: Amanda and James West
Invitation design: Joe Geske
Florals: Cook Florist
Wood sign: Carter’s Crafts
Decor: The Cubby
Assistant: Kayla Girardin (thanks for freezing out there with me little sis!)
Without further ado, the images from our rustic winter wedding styled shoot:
