city hall wedding

March 9, 2021 Portland Maine, Weddings

Portland Maine Elopement: Michael and Yvette

Romance Romance ROMANCE yall. When I think back to Michael and Yvette’s City Hall Elopement, something about it always reminds me of a classic black and white romance film. Their styling. The City Hall location. The way they interacted the whole day. It just had that feeling you know?

We met them at the Press Hotel and then walked over to City Hall. Then, as always, the ceremony was SO FREAKIN FAST. Those city hall weddings you guys. Instant. Next, we headed over to one of our favorite spots to photograph, where they said their vows to one another. I like that they made space and time for those vows since things at City Hall tend to feel rushed. It reminded me of Dan and I and our 10 year anniversary on a cliffside in Ireland.

Venue: Press Hotel, Portland City Hall, and Two Lights State Park

Dress and Flowers: by the bride!

Any personal COVID-19 health practices used by our clients and their guests do not necessarily reflect Bethany and Dan Photography’s most current practices. To see our current practices, please see this post.

December 17, 2018 Portland Maine, Weddings

Portland Maine Wedding: Arielle and Mike

Some weddings stand out pretty intensely, and Arielle and Mike’s one of a kind wedding was one of those. There’s a lot of reasons for that too. Both Arielle and Mike are staunchly independent, confident, and radiate joy. They love each other with a fierceness that anyone in their presence can see plainly. A long and intertwined love story brought these two together, kind of like a movie if you ask me. An unexpected electric love and then a parting that they thought would be forever, and then finding the path back together again after both becoming their whole selves separately. They are ethically non-monogamous, which I admittedly had to google. Airelle has written a few articles on it if you want to dig deeper: Swedish Kissing Tradition, Kink-friendly Second Wedding, Polyamory made my marriage better. BOOM!

It was super interesting to us to witness a non-traditional wedding, considering we see weddings every weekend. My favorite thing though, of the whole day was just the two of them as human beings. Being so confident and happy is an inspiring energy to be around. Hopefully, you can see that in the images. I’m still so so honored that they chose us to be their photographers for this very special wedding.

Venue: Portland City Hall | Hair: Curl Boutique

Makeup: The Spa at Portland Regency | Officiant: Savoir Claire

December 11, 2017 Portland Maine, Same-Sex Wedding, Weddings

Portland Maine City Hall Elopement: Ellen and Lydia

Lydia & Ellen spend their last day in New England getting married! Having lived in Boston for a while, they were moving back to Chicago, but not before they became Wife and Wife. Talk about going out from New England in style!

They love hiking together and a good beer and this elopement included a teeny bit of both, (if you count the trails of Two Lights State Parks as a hike). We met them at the Press Hotel and headed across the street to Portlands beautiful City Hall, where they were married. Afterwards, we took a few portraits in the City Hall itself, even running into the Mayor! He took us up into the rarely seen Cupola which had us all stoked. The views of the city from there are so good and rare to get a chance to see.

Next, we went to Two Lights State Park and took a few photos out in the lovely Maine outdoors. The coast was looking fly as always and it was fun to show it off to Ellen and Lydia, who had not been to that park before. Lastly, we all piled into the car for a trip to Bissell Brothers where we shared a drink to celebrate. Well call it the Wedding Reception and we loved it.

March 2, 2017 Portland Maine, Weddings

Portland City Hall Wedding: Katy and Michael

For some reason, it took us 6 years to finally be asked to photograph a wedding at Portland’s beautiful city hall. I cannot tell you how excited we both were! Katy and Michael were the perfect fit for a wedding like this; both being laid back, quiet, and kind. A few of their family and friends met us at the steps of City Hall, and even fewer went in with us to the City Clerk’s Office. It was funny being in the room where we got our business liscense to in fact be working in that said business in that said room. In less than 5 minutes, with only a small delay in getting Michaels wallet out of his tight suit pocket, they were official! It’s funny how quick a wedding can happen.

We spent the next hour with the couple photographing a few portraits before we hugged goodbye and sent them on their way to their dinner reception. It was a sweet way to spend our day… thats for sure.