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The day before our wedding we had the rehearsal. The rehearsal ceremony was at 5pm at St. Mary’s Church, Rochester, NH and was followed the rehearsal dinner at Warrens Lobster House in Kittery, ME. The food at Warrens was fantastic and a good time was had by all. After the rehearsal everyone returned to their homes and hotels to rest for the early start tomorrow!

The weather for our wedding day was less than perfect but the heavy rain certainly didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits.

Our day started at the beautiful Dockside Guest Quarters where we had two rooms booked for the night before and after the wedding. The rooms had adjoining doors and both had patio doors out to our private balcony. I took a video clip the morning of the wedding which shows the balcony and view (or lack there of on this day!). Underneath are some pictures I took 3 days earlier of the Dockside which show the beautiful location.

The wedding ceremony was held at St. Mary’s Church in Rochester, NH at 10am, a 40 minute drive from the Dockside. My brother drove me to the church and my fiancée went with her bridesmaids in the limousine. The ceremony was beautiful and lasted an hour. There were around 60 people in attendance and we met and thanked everyone at the end of the ceremony. Father Pierre did a fantastic job with the marriage service as did Donna Flanagan with the music.

Following the ceremony my wife and I went by limousine for our formal photos at the Nubble Lighthouse and Short Sands Beach Gazebo. The rain held up well while we had our photos taken although the visibility was far from perfect!

Once our formals had been done we made our way to the Dockside for the reception. Upon arrival we were announced by the DJ and started proceedings with the first dance. The song we danced to was “You’re Still You” by Josh Groban.

While the weather was holding up, family formals followed the first dance. Once they were done we had the meal. The food was exceptional. While the guests waited for our arrival hors d’oeuvres were served consisting of scallops wrapped in bacon sweet chili sauce, spinach souffle served on toasted pita, mini crab cake garlic aioli, honey sesame chicken, basil brushetta. The meal started with lobster bisque with a spinach salad with raisins, candied walnuts and poppy seed dressing. The entrée was a choice of either haddock harris island which consisted of fresh filets wrapped around Maine shrimp stuffing, lobster volute sauce, roasted potatoes and fresh vegetable medley or harvest chicken consisting of braised chicken stuffed with apple and walnut stuffing, apple cider demi glace.

To see the full menu click here.

After the meal we completed the formals with shots of the bridal party on the decking. When everyone was done eating the dancing started. We had a married couple’s dance where couples were called off according to how long they had been married. Unsurprisingly my wife and I were called off first as we fell into the “those married less than 24 hours category”! A bottle of champagne went to the winning couple, the maid of honours grand parents.

The day ended at 4:30pm.

We would like to extend a thank you to all of our guests. It was lovely to see you all and you all made the day extra special. The wedding gifts were all greatly appreciated; we were overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone who gave. The money we received will pay for the rest of the items on the gift registry and the remainder has been put in our joint savings account and will go towards the deposit on a house.

We would also like to thank the following:

Rehearsal Dinner – Warrens Lobster House
Church – St. Mary’s Church
Officiant – Priest Father Pierre Baker
Pianist – Donna Flanagan
Reception – Dockside Restaurant and Guest Quarters
DJ – James McNally from Fred Pappalardo Disc Jockeys
Photographer – Maggie Burns from Burnsbright Photography
Cake – Carla Rollins
Florist – Kate Henderson from Katherine’s Garden

Most of all we would like to thank our parents for getting us to where we are today.