Mary and Stefan’s Elegant Backyard Wedding in Gorham Maine

I met Mary and Stefan last summer when I did their engagement session photos. We had a lot of fun taking pictures around a few of my favorite places in Cape Elizabeth. I was so excited to be photographing their wedding this year. While, they originally had their wedding date set for May 24th, we worked together to come up with a new date that worked for all of us. Flexibility has been a key component of navigating weddings throughout the pandemic and I'm so grateful that I was still able to photograph Mary and Stefan's special day.

On the day of their wedding, I arrived at Mary's parents' house, where they had transformed their backyard into a beautiful wedding venue. There were so many flowers and cute little details to photograph! I loved how they live-steamed the wedding for Stefan's family in Germany and even incorporated a virtual toast into their day. Their dogs were absolutely adorable and we definitely had fun bringing them into a few of the photos. The father-daughter dance was so unique -it was evident that both Mary and her dad spent a lot of time practicing their clogging dance. It really was a great addition to their wedding! All in all, Mary and Stefan truly made the best of having to change up their wedding plans - it was such a beautiful and perfect day.

I asked Mary and Stefan for more details about their special day:

How did you two meet?

While working for a public accounting firm in Portland, ME.

When and where did you get engaged? Tell us about the proposal.

We got engaged on February 19th, 2019 in Yountville, CA (Napa Valley) while on vacation. We rented bikes and biked along the Napa Valley Bike Trail. While in Yountville, we grabbed lunch, after which we walked through a cute little park. With no one around Stefan knew it was the perfect spot. He went on one knee. Mary, very surprised, told him to get up, while saying YES. We then celebrated by visiting a local winery. We will forever remember this day.

Please describe your unique father/daughter dance.

For as long as Mary can remember, her dad was clogging. He used to belong to a local clogging group that put on shows throughout Southern Maine. At home, without music her Dad would just randomly start clogging. So when Mary began planning the wedding and thinking about the father/daughter dance, there was no question - it would be clogging! Mary had never clogged before in her life. Her dad found a song from a German country band (which is significant since Stefan is German) and began choreographing a routine. They began practicing in October 2019, an hour once a week. It was a good thing they started so early as once Covid-19 hit, they had to take a break from practicing for a couple of months. However, in April the weekly practicing resumed and it paid off, as the dance was a hit with all the guests!

Tell us about your virtual toast and the significance of including this special event.

Unfortunately Stefan's family could not be here physically due to travel restrictions (Stefan's family is from Germany). Thanks to technology we were able to stream the wedding live. Everyone who was originally coming to the wedding in May, met up at Stefan's parents' house to celebrate. Given the six hour time difference we thought it would be really nice to toast with them immediately following the ceremony. All of our guests with champagne in hand met on the dance floor in front of a camera that was streaming live to Germany. Stefan's family was able to see us, and we were able to see them. To everyone, this was really special as it allowed us to be close while being far apart.

What was your color palate, style and overall vision of your day?

Our wedding vision seemed to continuously change. However, the one thing that remained constant were the colors for the wedding: light pink and white. Having to downsize our guest list, we decided to turn our venue wedding into a small backyard wedding. As we began planning, that small backyard wedding turned into a much bigger event. We went from just lawn games to a full reception including a killer dance party! We still stayed within the 50 guest limit; however the scale of decorations and individual events evolved. This was our special day and we wanted everything that came with that.

Tell us about how your wedding was impacted by Covid-19 and how you overcame these challenges.

Our wedding was supposed to be on May 24th, 2020 in York at the Golf and Tennis Club. Unfortunately, having our wedding as planned was not feasible once the pandemic struck. While we wanted to get married in 2020, we knew we couldn't have as big of an event as originally anticipated. Without hesitation, Mary's parents opened up their home and yard, and gave us a wonderful 'Plan B' for our wedding. Family and friends helped overcome the many challenges we faced in planning this wedding and made this a special day despite Covid-19. Of course another big challenge was that Stefan's family could not travel to the USA to attend the wedding. However, thanks to technology we were able to stream the wedding live, and have a virtual toast with them, which allowed them to be part of the wedding in a unique way. We still plan to have our large reception with all family and friends next May in York - fingers crossed!!