If there’s one bit of advice I could offer to every couple planning their wedding, it would be to do what’s right for your story.

Hannah and Ryan’s intimate wedding on a pond in Bethel, Maine represented their family, their values, and their unique love in a way that was so personal and intentional. Hannah got ready in her family’s home that was built in the 1800s and they said their vows in the woods by a lake. All the guests stayed in the lodge nearby. There was a candlelit dinner of tacos and wine under the stars. There was dancing under string lights and a cake covered in greenery. It felt like one big family dinner, but a little dressed up with vintage candlesticks and wildflowers. We spent the full weekend with them and captured their adventures around Maine as well as their welcome dinner and full wedding story. I love when we get to spend several days with our couples, getting to know them and their families. It always feels incredibly personal and we leave feeling like we’re part of the family.

Acadia National Park

We began the weekend with a series of flights from Denver to Portland, Maine. We met Hannah and Ryan in an Airbnb when we arrived, and the next morning we road tripped to Acadia National Park. We spent a chill afternoon exploring the park, getting doused by epic waves, and capturing Hannah and Ryan squeezing tight in anticipation for their wedding the following day.

Sunday River Covered Bridge

That evening, we met the rest of Hannah and Ryan’s family for a welcome dinner on a historic covered bridge built in 1872. The bridge sits nestled over the lazy Sunday River. We ate crab cakes and locally-sourced scallops and hiked around the area’s trails that weave through the woods and along the river.

Papoose Pond

There’s this idea of having people “come to the table” that was a central element behind Hannah and Ryan’s wedding. They wanted each of their guests to feel not only welcomed, but cherished for their presence. They wrote individual, personal letters to each guest and put them on the tables as place markers. They even wrote one for us and had us sit with their guests. We’ve never felt so warmly welcomed at a wedding, not as “vendors” but as friends.

Few people can truly say it was “love at first sight”, but Hannah and Ryan can. Their story is sweet and sappy in the best way – they wrote letters across international borders, said I love you on the first day they met, and kept a Spotify playlist to listen to when they spent time apart. When we shot their engagements, they kept talking about how awkward they are in front of a camera, but as soon as they started looking at each other they just melted into the most true versions of themselves. The way they act around each other is inspiring.

Hannah and Ryan have this way of making you feel like the most amazing person they’ve ever met. And they do this with every person in their lives. Their warmth, selflessness, and genuine care was evident in all the details they curated their wedding. I don’t think it would be an overstatement to say that each person who attended their wedding left feeling more loved than they did when they arrived. These are the kinds of stories worth capturing and sharing with the world.

Venue: Papoose Lodge
Planning: Eliza Petri
Hair/Makeup: Natasha Baxter
Flowers: Ashley Marie Floral
Catering: 302 West Smokehouse
Rentals: Showcase Rentals & One Stop Event Rentals
Invitations: Sugared Fig Paperie
Cake: Autumn Nomad
Dress Boutique: Unbridaled
Dress Designer: Kite & Butterfly

And because two of our other couples we’ve shot with were there too, we of course took a selfie with them all. Jolee & Austin on the left, Shannon & Steffan on the right.

Cedar & Pines is a traveling wedding photographer duo made up of Nate and Megan Kantor, a married couple based in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and the West. They believe in honest wedding photography, capturing the small candid moments to the epic landscape views. They travel to photograph intimate weddings and adventure elopements from the mountains of Colorado to destination weddings in California, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, Washington, Patagonia and the ends of the earth.