At Least 4 weddings on Memorial Day Weekend.

I was at the local party store booking tents and such for summer weddings and the woman that owns the store said she couldn't believe how busy Memorial Day was for her. She had 4 weddings in Camden Maine. Those were just the ones that booked from her, I bet there were more that weekend.
Other than planning the summer weddings I am starting to note what flowers are in the gardens to help advise brides as to what they can expect when they book the Camden Windward House for their wedding reception. The gardens at Windward House are so nice. The Forsythia , tulips and crocuses are the first signs of spring, early May. Late May, Lilacs are the next exciting flower to come out. Camden fills up with Lilacs. This was the first year I noticed that lilacs come in purple and white. The Windward House yard fills up with both type and smells wonderful. I am starting to see Peonies now, early June. Peonies are awesome. They don't last very long though.

My daughter Hope took this picture.

Don't let that Mountain Bike ruin your wedding.

Camden is starting to come alive again. Each spring all the flowers come out, the grass get green, the boats in the harbor get uncovered and the eel fisherman leave. The most obvious thing is the young couple in town checking out all the great locations for a wedding.
I was at a town meeting this winter, and the town was presenting a new idea for the Camden Snow Bowl (one of the wedding venue options in Camden ). One facet of this new idea for the Camden Snow Bowl was the inclusion of marketing weddings at the Snow bowl. The Camden Snow Bowl has a great ski lodge with the backdrop of mountains and a lake. It really is a beautiful place. It is the only ski area that you can see the Atlantic ocean from . When you go up on the ski lift you can see the water. It really is unique.
The Snow Bowl is a favorite of local ski bums and mountain bikers. The trails are excellent for mountain biking. Anyway, at this meeting the Town was presenting this glamorous idea of marketing weddings at the ski lodge. The audience for this meeting were the ski bums and mountain bikers. In the audience were young handsome men that had that adventurous look to them, you know that healthy Lance Armstrong look, well they were not entertained by the idea of having to share their adventure hill with a women in white and flower girls. One guy said, "what if I accidentally hit a bride with my bike?" The Town person that was presenting this wedding idea just kind of giggled and assured the guy that the Camden Snow Bowl was big enough for everyone. Some in the audience thought it fun to think of the weddings that might take place at the top of the mountain.
I haven't followed up with this marketing plan for the Camden Snow Bowl. But if you are in Camden - it definitely is worth a look - just be careful of the mountain bikers.
Camden Maine Lodging
Camden Maine Weddings

Debbie Harmon Photography

I think this is the first wedding in Camden this season. Winter Elopements -how fun and a great option.

Quoted from http://debbieharmon.bigfolioblog.com/weblog/post/32295:

Debbie Harmon Photography

Camden, Maine winter elopement

I was so excited, for two reasons, when Sophea contacted me from Mass. and asked me to cover her elopement ceremony and family portraits in Camden. First, I have never done an elopement before and second, to have any wedding work in the winter in Maine is very rare.

So off I went this past weekend to Camden to photograph Sophea and Sergio while they said their vows on a crisp leap year day! In attendance for the ceremony were Sophea's parent's, here son and two Inn keepers. It was so sweet!

Despite it being cold, they wanted their ceremony outside and were game for some outside pictures...like some snaps of them doing their first dance in the amphitheater.

Thanks Sophea and Sergio for including me in your special day!

Camden Maine Weddings

Camden Maine is becoming a destination wedding hot spot. When I bought the Camden Windward House Bed and Breakfast in 1995, my first thought was - wow this is where I would get married, but I was already married. Camden is a beautiful seaside village. I like the word village because it connotes a place of people working together all within walking distance. That's what it is. In our little village there is a post office, grocery store, shops, restaurants, library, beautiful harbor with sailing boats, opera house and even a gas station. What else do you need (well maybe you don't need the gas station). Anyway, The harbor is a great backdrop for your wedding pictures and the Windward House being so close to the Harbor, what a great place to hold a reception. When I came to meet the real Estate Agent and get the tour of Windward House, I drove in the back way to the Inn. There is an acre property so it is very grand in comparison to some In-town properties. I remember getting out of the car and just looked at the house, I stared at it trying to envision all of the possibilities. They say if you can't see any possibilities when you are buying a house or a business, move on. The first possibility I saw was hosting wedding receptions in that backyard, it seemed natural and I was curious if the Inn did that already. The woman we bought the house from remembers the day I came and says it was as if the house was talking to me. She saw me gazing at the house that day. Well, to make a long story short, we bought the house 2 weeks later. To my surprise the Inn and the town was not known for its wedding potential. I went to business meetings and asked others what they thought of the wedding business and if they thought it a possible future for Camden. Some thought it was great and they were already planning on a joint website and marketing. I was excited. The busy season came and everyone was so busy with there current business that trying to make a new wedding destination was put on hold. I was still excited and developed in my (ha-ha) spare time the Mycamdewedding.com website. I really don't know how I did it but I did. I wanted to showcase Camden as a destination wedding spot. The librarians at the Camden Public Library saw it and thanked me for pointing out to them how beautiful the town was. I guess sometimes when you live somewhere to long - you take it for granted.
Anyway, if you are thinking about getting married and want a new venue check out mycamdenwedding.com and check back here about once a week as I tell you all the Camden gossip on weddings. I have been storing up a few good ones and once you start typing, you sometimes can't stop.