Cornish Maine Wedding Photographer // Kelsey & AJ // Portland City Hall

Sometimes life doesn’t go 100% as planned and it turns out for the best. That was the case with Kelsey and AJ’s wedding. Their original wedding was scheduled for May of 2023, but…… Kelsey found out she was expecting!! They were going to have a baby boy and needed to move up their wedding to December. The venue had also changed. They had settled on Portland City Hall, which is the most beautiful place to town hall to have a wedding.

The day had come and, just like any other December day here in Maine, it was a brisk and windy day. Luckily, for us, most of the festivities were going to be inside. Kelsey had finished up at the salon and her and her crew arrived at city hall. They went upstairs to the state room to set up the flowers and check out how the ceremony site looked. Everything looked perfect! After the flowers had been set up, it was time to go to the room where the girls were getting ready. Kelsey unpacked her flowers along with the rings, shoes and some vintage pearls that belonged to her grandmother. Detail shots were done while Kelsey’s girls perfected her makeup and hair.

Next it was off to where AJ and his family were getting ready. Being a guy, of course, he was dressed in no time. I had him slow it down just a bit to get some of those ever so important pictures. AJ’s stepfather stepped in and helped him with his tie, while his mother put on his boutonnière. His best friend helped with his jacket. Literally a 10 minute process. He dressed so quickly!

Then it was back to the girls. It was time for the dress to go on! Kelsey requested the assistance of her mom and grandmother to put on her dress. They had her zipped up in no time. Her girls helped fix the details of her dress and it was off to the ceremony!

We all walked down the hall to the ceremony. Everyone was already seated and waiting for the festivities to begin.

The guests watched as Kelsey made her way down the aisle and ceremony had begun. The ceremony was only about 10 minutes. The happy couple recited their vows and exchanged the rings. The officiant told AJ to kiss his bride and he dipped her! Then it was back down the aisle as a married couple!

We made our way down to the very impressive staircase to do some of the wedding party pictures. For the family formals, we went outside in the cold to shoot these. We jammed through the list making sure that we didn’t miss a single grouping.

Then we sent the guests to Biddeford to where the reception was to take place. Kelsey and AJ hung back to do their wedding formals. We started inside so that they could both thaw out a bit. Once the noses were no longer red, we started in the state room and made our way through Portland City Hall. We spent the most time at the impressive marble staircase. The couple tolerated me as I had them walk while staring at each other and giving each other nose kisses.

We headed outside for the last bit of formals. Then it was off to Biddeford for the dances and donuts!

We arrived and Kelsey and AJ jumped right into their first dance. Then right into the parent dances. Kelsey and AJ decided to do both of the parent dances at the same time. It was so sweet!

Instead of a wedding cake, the couple decided to do donuts. AJ was very excited about the donuts. The couple brought a table to the middle of the dance floor where they fed each other donuts. That’s how they ended their festivities for the day and what a great way to end it!