It takes a village of amazing vendors to execute a wedding vision just right. We’re lucky to have a hub of great vendors near us at Crooked Steeple Hall. 

As a wedding venue in Maine with an onsite concierge, we have plenty of experience with wedding vendors and suppliers. You can see our full list of preferred vendors here. 

But today on the blog, we’re highlighting three awesome vendors - a wedding planner, a florist, and a baker. These three smart, talented ladies will help you to execute your unique wedding vision for an event you and your guests will always remember. 

Wedding Planning: E Grace Designs

Look no further than the lovely Elishia Townsend, owner of E Grace Designs. E Grace Designs is Crooked Steeple’s exclusive wedding planner. Elishia is graceful and creative, with an eye for design. She and her team bring your wedding vision to life. 

The E Grace team takes care of all the details of your big day, while you focus on celebrating your big day. 

In addition to wedding planning, E Grace also does elegant floral design and cake design. 

Florist: Jennfier Neal

Jennifer Neal Floral Designs is a top floral designer based in Maine. She is creative and attentive and loves helping brides bring their ideas to life. Whether it’s a floral backdrop concept for photos, floral accents, or your bouquet, Jennifer’s eye for design will reflect exactly the theme you envision.

E Grace Design

Cakes: Ahimsa Custom Cakes

Ahimsa Custom Cakes by Kristi is one of Maine’s finest cake artists. But the most interesting thing about Ahmisa’s is that all their cakes are vegan… but don’t let the vegan label fool you. 

Ahimsa’s cakes are award-winning and loved by non-vegans and vegans alike. 

Skeptical? The proof is in the pudding... Ahimsa won Wedding Wire’s Bride & Couples Choice Awards in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2017. 

We are currently booking weddings for 2022 and can not wait to start working with our favorite vendors again. When you book your wedding with us, you get exclusive use of the venue from Thursday - Sunday along with an on-site venue manager and a travel concierge for you and your guests. Connect with us to learn more about how we can help you plan the perfect Maine wedding.

We'll see you in 2022!

Be Our Guest

Learn more about our lodging options here

Weddings

Learn about our wedding packages here

Big wedding celebration or small, intimate affair? It’s one of the first things a couple decides on when they’re planning their wedding. There are benefits and drawbacks to both larger and smaller weddings but whatever a couple decides is ultimately the best decision for their special day. 

Somehow, whether it’s 300 of your closest friends and family or 30 of them, the guest list always seems to pose a challenge, so while that’s not a benefit of having a smaller wedding, there are still plenty of reasons to choose a more intimate event. 

Here are five benefits of hosting a smaller wedding. 

Budget Flexible of Budget-Friendly Wedding

You can go one of two routes with a smaller wedding… either reduce cost or increase value. 

A smaller wedding can cost less, and savings can be more wisely spent on something else like a downpayment for a home or other major investment. 

On the other hand, a smaller wedding allows you to splurge on other things like a gourmet menu and top-shelf bar, high-end band, decor, videography, and photography that you may not have been able to do to the same extent with a larger wedding. 

More Intimate

Micro weddings are growing in popularity and for good reason! A smaller wedding helps couples to evaluate their relationships as they have to think about those persons with whom they would most appreciate sharing this special event.

Because the guest list is smaller, you and your guests have the opportunity to spend more quality time with each other rather than worrying about making your rounds to see everyone or whether your guests are having a good time.

Since your small wedding will only have your closest friends and relatives, you might even be able to involve them in some aspects of the wedding, like a scripture reading or other activity that plays to their strengths. 

Less Stress

Coordinating an event for smaller numbers is definitely less stressful than for larger numbers of people. For one thing, it’s a lot less stressful to worm RSVPs out of a few people than hundreds of them. 

Not to mention... you’ll be virtually eliminating seating chart drama. The avoidance of this headache alone is worth the decision to choose a smaller celebration. 

Additionally, if you have to make a change to an order or cut your losses on an expense, it’s much easier to do so for 30 people than 10 times that amount. 

DIY Made Easy

You won’t have to worry about having bags under your eyes on your wedding day if you go the DIY route for your wedding favors or decor for a smaller wedding. 

A smaller wedding might even encourage you to do more DIY because the numbers are a lot less daunting and a lot less work.

Destination Wedding

Been dreaming of having your wedding somewhere across the country or abroad?

By choosing a destination wedding, your guest list whittles down considerably because only those closest to you might be willing to stand the expense of travel. 

We love to host weddings at Crooked Steeple Hall for couples from out of state. In fact, we can host micro-weddings both at Crooked Steeple Hall and at Pierce House, which can double as accommodation for up to twenty guests. 

A smaller wedding may not be everyone’s cup of hot chocolate and that’s okay. But for those who’ve been contemplating it or on the fence about a smaller wedding, we say go for it! A beautifully executed, intimate wedding will, without a doubt, create memorable moments to last a lifetime.

Connect with us to learn. more about how Crooked Steeple Hall can host your micro wedding.

We love Winter Wedding season here at the Crooked Steeple Hall, especially since we are in the center of the country’s ultimate winter wonderland here in Winterport, Maine. 

We love to observe how trends change over seasons. Some we see stick around for just one season, others repeat over a few seasons and still, others become staples of the winter wonderland wedding. 

Although COVID-19 put a major damper on Winter Wedding Season 2020/1, we’ve still been keeping an eye on new trends emerging and older trends making a return. 

Hot Cocoa and Coffee Bar

I think this might be my favorite winter wedding trend and I hope it’s here to stay. A hot cocoa and coffee bar is just the thing to keep guests warm and toasty during your ceremony and reception.

Offering various milk options to satisfy diverse dietary preferences, and offering lots of gourmet flavors and toppings to choose from are great ideas.

Adding a variety of teas to the mix will also take things up a notch for the non-coffee drinkers and the tea-loving guests.

Decorate with Lights

Winter and lights go together. It might be because we have more dark hours than we have daylight but either way, lights have the power to really transform an atmosphere and add a little magic to the ambiance of a room. 

Whether it’s candle-lit centerpieces, fairy lights around a framed picture of the newlyweds, creative hanging lights, or a kick-ass lit up backdrop for stunning photos, we love this trend. 

Nature-Inspired Decor

Along with lights, we’ve also been noticing a trend favoring winter-themed, nature-inspired decor like leaves, pine cones, cinnamon sticks, and wood. 

The plus about this trend is that these decor items can be an easy DIY to keep your costs down as you challenge your creativity. 

Simple Cakes

Move over fondant and elaborate cakes! Simpler wedding cakes are in and we adore this minimalist, naked cake trend. Naked wedding cakes have multiple tiers but are minimally frosted, leaving parts of the actual cake exposed. 

Naked cakes lend a shabby-chic esthetic to your decor. Elevate the look with some extra pizzazz from winter-themed decorative pieces like pine cones, eucalyptus leaves or other greenery, dried fruit, and flowers. 

Jewel-Toned Colors

Jewel tones are always popular with winter weddings and we love that it continues to trend. 

Jewel tones are flattering to most skin types so your wedding party is guaranteed to look stunning along with your invitations and decor. Some of our favorite jewel-toned winter wedding colors for this season are burgundy, emerald green, and silver-gray. 

Blanket Favors for Guests

This has to be the perfect winter wedding favor… both beautiful and functional. Guest will always recall the warm, loving memories from your special day when they see your monogrammed names as they snuggle under your blanket favor on cold winter nights. 

Did we miss any winter wedding trends? Which ones are your favorites?

P.S. Are you planning a winter wedding? Crooked Steeple Hall is currently taking reservations for Winter 2021/2022 and beyond. We would love to discuss your winter wonderland wedding plans with you!

Maine is full of historic sites and natural beauty. When you choose a Maine wedding venue like Crooked Steeple Hall, you and your guests will experience a beautiful and unique event. One of the best ways to make your event shine is to embrace all that Maine has to offer. You can do this by using locally grown wedding flowers from a community supported farm here in Maine. Maine flower farms cover the state and choosing one is part of your own wedding journey. As you dream about and plan your wedding, there are many wonderful Maine flower farms and local florists who can make your design reality.  Right here in Winterport, you and your wedding planner can choose from a wide variety of unique, organically grown flowers from Winterport's own Fisher Farm.

Maine Wedding Flower Farms

1. Fisher Farm- local, organic flowers - 177 Coles Corner Rd Winterport ME, 04496 - (207) 478 - 4803

2. East of Eden Flower Farm, 637 Browns Point Road, Bowdoinham, ME 04008 - (207) 319-6318

3. Little River Flower Farm, 160 Turkey Lane, Buxton, ME - (207)929-3967

Local Maine Wedding Florists

1. Chapel Hill Floral - 453 Hammond St, Bangor, ME 04401 - (207) 942-7386 - Chapel Hill has done some of the biggest, most outrageous arrangements in town! For unique and innovative designs - this is who we recommend!

2. Hampden Floral - 60 Main Rd N Ste E, Hampden, ME 04444 - (207) 862-3018 - Hampden Floral never fails to deliver a beautiful, timeless product. They are fast and efficient and as a bonus are the closest floral shop to us!

3. Bangor Floral - 332 Harlow St, Bangor, ME 04401 - (207) 947-4569

4. Lougee & Frederick's - 345 State St, Bangor, ME 04401 - (207) 947-4521 - a staple in the Bangor community!

We're looking forward to hosting your Maine Destination Wedding. Contact us today to learn more.