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Home > A Breathtaking Waterside Same Sex Jewish Wedding at a Private Residence, Kittery, Maine, USA

A Breathtaking Waterside Same Sex Jewish Wedding at a Private Residence, Kittery, Maine, USA

09/02/2018 by Karen

 Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
Today we have a real treat for you because we have not one, but TWO wonderful brides whose boho-beautiful style you’re totally going to want to steal.

Samantha and Elise had their tented waterside Jewish destination wedding at a private family residence and it was absolutely rub-your-eyes-and-look-again beautiful. The natural scenery provided a spectacular backdrop for the couple’s moving, family-oriented Jewish ceremony – oh, and just how cute are those flower girls?? There’s an awesome story about them which we won’t ruin, but read on, because it will just melt your heart.

Let’s talk about the brides’ breathtaking dresses, from Willowby by Watters and Lillian West respectively – they could not have looked more perfect together, with a relaxed but oh-so-chic feel and lush lace embellishments. Serious bridal style goals!

We’re also head over heels for the foliage-covered birch wood chuppah overlooking the water – what a perfect place to say ‘I do’. Oh, and the rustic-look but clean and contemporary reception dà©cor? Sublime. 

The stunning spread of photographs was provided by Alex and Bett, who captured all the love, joy and big-day details with aplomb. We seriously can’t stop staring!

We’ll hand you over to Samantha and Elise for the full story of their perfect day. Get ready to fall in love with these two! 

 Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
How we met

Samantha and Elise, the brides: We met online, on OkCupid, before the days of dating apps.

 Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
A tented affair

We wanted a destination wedding. We live in Oakland, CA. We got married in Kittery, ME, at Samantha’s family’s private residence. The house is on the water at the end of a dead-end road surrounded by beautiful trees, foliage and grass. It was a tented affair.

Elise had never been to New England, but Samantha spent summers on the east coast with her mother being from Boston. Samantha took Elise to visit the house the fall before the wedding and Elise fell in love with the area. With some of Elise’s family being from Scotland, it was a nice halfway destination for both families. We wanted it to be a vacation for everyone.

 Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
A natural, coastal theme

Our theme was natural, coastal, elegant. Our colors were champagne and greens with highlights of plum. We did use a wedding planner, Heidi Brissette with She Luxe Weddings. She is amazing. I highly, highly recommend her.

 Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
Custom-designed invitations

We custom designed our invitation using Anticipate Invitations. We wanted people to feel the vibe of the wedding right when they opened the invitation.

 Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
Two divine dresses

Samantha’s dress was designed by Willowby by Watters, “Doyle” and purchased at The Wedding Party, in Berkeley CA.

Elise’s dress was designed by Lillian West and purchased at Paris Connection, in San Francisco, CA.

 Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
‘Something borrowed’ jewelry 

Elise wore a veil and a hair comb with succulents on it. She also wore her mother’s bracelet and earrings.

Samantha wore her mother’s diamond necklace that was made from her grandmother’s diamond ring.


Jimmy Choos

Samantha wore Jimmy Choo kitty peep toe pumps.

 Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
Bridesmaids in champagne 

We each had two bridesmaids. Elise had her two younger sisters and Samantha has her two best girl friends since she was in preschool. We told them all to pick their own dresses in the champagne color scheme. It turned out great.

 Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
A beautiful birch wood chuppah

We chose a birch chuppah with lots of greenery, created by our florist.

 Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
A moving ceremony

We each had a cousin read poem we chose and Elise’s dad said a Jewish prayer.

Two of our nieces walked down the aisle carrying little flags that said, “here come the brides.”

One of our nieces, Isla, who’s four, couldn’t understand why the officiant was calling Sam by the wrong name, Samantha, instead of, Auntie Sam. She thought it was hilarious.

   Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA    Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
All You Need Is Love

For our processional, we chose the Skye Boat Song. It’s Scottish, like Elise’s heritage, beautiful and we thought it was funny that it’s also the theme song to Outlander.
For our recessional, we chose The Beatles, All You Need Is Love.

 Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
Phenomenal floristry 

It was all about succulents and air plants! Our florist was Lynn from F as in Flowers.

 Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
Our fabulous photographers…

Out photographers were Alex and Betty. We wanted two, since there were two brides. Samantha is a video producer, so photography and video were very important to her. Alex and Betty have a great docu style vibe, that we really loved.

 Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
…and videographer

Lauren Martin was our videographer. She’s up and coming and did a fantastic job.

 Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA Sweet as pie

Instead of cake, we had an assortment of pies!

 Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
A four-piece jazz band

We had a four-piece band for the pre-ceremony and cocktail hour. They only played ’40s jazz music, which Samantha loves.

We had a DJ Mike for the dinner and dancing. Both were from C-Zone entertainment.

 Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
Food fit for foodies

The food was really important to us. We had a lobster bake rehearsal dinner with night before at Foster’s in York. For the wedding, we used Dandelion Catering. They were so amazing. We had several tastings and there was no doubt who we were going to choose.

 Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
A personalized song

One of Sam’s good friend from childhood, Lauren Blackman, happens to be an actress on Broadway, currently starting in Anastasia. Her bridesmaid and best friend Kirsten Guenther, is a musical theater writer. Kirsten wrote a personalized song for Sam and Elise and Lauren sang it during dinner.

 Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA  Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding

Take every minute in, it goes by so fast! And eat the food. I swore to myself I would eat everything and never got around to appetizers or dessert.

 Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
Samantha & Elise’s little white book

Photography – Alex and Bett
Videography – Lauren Martin
Wedding planner – She Luxe Weddings
Brides’ dresses – Willowby by Watters purchased at The Wedding Party and Lillian West purchased at Paris Connection
Brides’ shoes – Jimmy Choo
Makeup –  Making Faces Weddings
Flowers – F as in Flowers
Entertainment – C-Zone
Catering – Dandelion Catering
Invitations – Anticipate Invitations
Rehersal dinner – Foster’s

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Filed Under: Jewish Lesbian Weddings, Real Jewish Weddings, Outdoor, Jewish Destination Weddings, Jewish Rustic Weddings, Jewish Same Sex Weddings Tagged With: Green, Jimmy Choo, Watters wedding dress, Online dating success story, Alex and Betty Photography, lillian West, Maine Jewish Wedding, USA, Blue

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About Karen

Loves great design, cityscapes, berry cocktails, and the word “yes”. Founder and editor of Smashing The Glass. Follow me @SmashingTheGlass

Comments

  1. Wedding videographer says

    09/02/2018 at 10:24 am

    Lovely wedding with great venue!

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