Laudholm Farm at Wells Reserve Wedding :: LeeAnne + Josh

Good morning! A bright and early start to the day as I attempt to host and cook for 25+ Maine wedding photographers, present "Finance 101 for photographers" and deal with a sick puppy.

Enough about me and my glamorous life, let's enjoy LeeAnne & Josh's amazing wedding at historic Laudholm Farm. I was SO excited for this wedding - I remember getting the first inquiry email from LeeAnne and crossing my fingers that I'd get to shoot it.

Regular blog readers will know that we split our time 50:50 between Maine and New Hampshire but most of the weddings I shoot are Boston/North Shore. So it's a rare treat for me to get to photograph a Maine wedding and an even bigger treat when the location is as beautiful as Laudholm Farm at Wells Reserve.


I had the ever-amazing Audrey shooting alongside me; Audrey started her day with Josh. Josh is not only the groom but also the chef/owner of Joshua's restaurant in Wells, Maine. During the wedding planning process LeeAnne and Josh looked at a number of different catering companies before Josh realized he couldn't imagine anyone else preparing and cooking the food at their wedding. So even though Joshua's restaurant doesn't usually do catering they made an exception and wow - did they do an amazing job! More on that later, but here are some of Audrey's pictures of Josh getting ready and the prep happening in the kitchen:

Back at Laudholm Farm, wedding preparations were well underway.

LeeAnne's dress was Claire Pettibone from Bella Bridal and it was beautiful. I can't say enough good things about Claire Pettibone designs - so delicate, feminine and romantic. Love!

Time to get dressed. Loving LeeAnne's excitement and her Mom Joanne's reaction:

LeeAnne and Josh decided not to see each other before the ceremony so to enable them to enjoy part of cocktail hour we did some of the formal pictures separately prior to the ceremony. Love LeeAnne's reaction seeing her brother and his family arrive: Josh's dad Mort was a hoot!

LeeAnne & Josh really wanted their guests to have an amazing time and they put a lot of thought into little touches like trolley transportation from the hotels, ice cold cocktails on arrival at Laudholm Farm and delicious pre-ceremony hors d'oeuvres:

If you're looking for an outdoor wedding ceremony location with a beautiful rustic barn for your reception in Maine then look no further than Laudholm Farm!

Josh waited to see LeeAnne with a smile on his face. As proud father Bill walked LeeAnne down the aisle it all got quite emotional

These are Audrey's images:

Beautiful and happy wedding ceremony:

I could have photographed the newlyweds all afternoon but we had cocktail hour to get to!

Cocktail hour as seen from the barn. Toasts took place outdoors too with happy wishes from the dads, the gift of a "best friend" sash for LeeAnne and funny words from friends and family

As guests entered the barn they were met by handmade signs pointing the way to various Maine landmarks, rustic flower centerpieces, champagne, the most amazing food ever AND a handmade boat (a gift from Josh & LeeAnne's friend) filled with fresh Maine seafood (I have it on good authority that over 600 oysters and 200 lobster tails were enjoyed!). Note the garlic scapes in the flower arrangement ;)

LeeAnne and Josh wanted an informal and relaxed wedding so they skipped a lot of the "formalities" like introductions and cake cutting. It made for a super fun and relaxed evening:

They did do a first dance though :) followed by very energetic parent dances

Dan Sky was the DJ/singer for the wedding and the dance floor was well and truly opened:

All of that dancing can be tiring so guests enjoyed milk and homemade chocolate chip cookies along with gourmet chocolates to refuel:

LeeAnne and Josh snuck outside for a few minutes. This might be one of my favorite pictures of the day:

LeeAnne and Josh mentioned they'd like pictures of the Joshua's team and I was all "Oh, like behind the scenes?" and they said "No, they're family!" So here's some of the Joshua's crew [family] enjoying 4 of the 600 oysters they shucked :)

The dancing continued late into the night:

LeeAnne & Josh - thank you, thank you, thank you! I enjoyed getting to know you both so much! LeeAnne - who knew that wedding timeline planning could be so much fun when you combine it with wine and sushi? :)  Josh - in six years I've eaten a lot of food at weddings, nothing has come close to the short ribs and lobster tail I ate at your wedding. Sublime. You two are such a perfect match and it was an honor to document your day. Congratulations!!!!

Vendor information:
Laudholm Farm Wedding Photographer: Leah Haydock Photography
Rings – Summer Wind, Portsmouth, NH
Dress – Claire Pettibone at Bella Bridal, Amesbury, MA
Flower Girls – Olivia Cape Couture (Etsy)
Stationery – The Find Sac (Etsy)
Flowers – Fleurant, Kennebunk
Hair – Grace Salon, Kittery
Makeup – Ginger Coggins
Trolleys – Ogunquit Trolley
Catering – Joshua's Restaurant (if you're in Maine you must, must, must make reservations and go for dinner!)
DJ/Band – Dan Sky
Ceremony Music – Jim Wiggin
Chocolates – Byrne & Carlson

2 comments

  1. Beautiful pictures of a beautiful event. So glad we were there!

    Chris and Bob Pike

    ReplyDelete