Cornish Maine Wedding Photographer // Veronika & Peter // Arrowsic Private Residence

Veronika and Peter originally met in high school French class where they lived in Montana! Yep! They were high school sweet hearts! They started out as friends, but later started dating towards the end of high school.

After surviving a year of the pandemic in their tiny studio apartment in NYC, Peter decided to propose. They had a stay-at-home date night and ordered a big meal from their favorite restaurant. At the end of the meal, Peter proposed! Obviously, Veronika said yes! It was a very down-to-earth night with good food. It was absolutely perfect!

Their wedding day had arrived. I showed up a bit early, as I always do, and got the tour of the land from the groundskeeper. Now when Veronika, Peter and I had originally spoken, they had told me that his grandmother has some land in Maine and they were to get married in her “backyard”. Well, I’ve done a lot of “backyard’ weddings with tents and a certain picture comes to mind when I’m initially talking to clients about their wedding when they say these words. This backyard wedding turned out to be on 200 acres of water front fields and trees. It was breathtaking! Immediately, in my mind, I started thinking about what I could do for their pictures.

I waited for Veronika and Peter to arrive. They are literally one of the most laid back couples. I kind of figured that out during the planning process when they were both like, well, we don’t have to stick to anything on the timeline! They had been hanging out all morning together and only went their separate ways to get dressed. Peter’s sister did Veronika’s makeup. They clearly have a very special bond and having her be a bigger part of the wedding was very meaningful to them both!

The guys put on their suits and the girls got in their dresses and it was time for Veronika to put on her dress. Veronika’s mother helped her get her dress down, zipped her up and helped with the shoes. It is very hard to put on your own shoes when wearing a wedding dress! You could just see how proud her mother was of Veronika. It was very sweet!

Next, I left everyone and started my hike up to the ceremony site. Peter’s grandmother and mother were already there waiting for the first guests to arrive. I took detail shots as I anticipated the guests at any minute. This was a very small wedding and I knew that most of the guests were already there and at the house.

I made sure to photograph everyone as they got there. Being such a small wedding, I knew that every single person there was extremely important to Veronika and Peter!

All guests had arrived and the ceremony was underway. They kept it short but sweet and exchanged vows that they had written themselves. The rings were on and Peter and Veronika made their way back down the aisle. They had decided that they wanted to walk back to the reception just the two of them so they could have that special just married moment!

We all returned to the reception site. The newlyweds signed the Marriage License and we did a bunch of family formals. Peter and Veronika, because they had such a small wedding were able to be lenient with their schedule and added a bunch of pictures with their friends. They were all having such fun taking pictures and posing for the camera! It was so nice to be able to literally just be able to do whatever the couple wanted win that moment!

Dinner was served and the family started their toasts. Veronika and Peter have the sweetest, most supportive families and it really showed when they were all talking about the couple!

Then it was off for golden hour portraits and I couldn’t have been more excited. We walked the path back to the ceremony site and took advantage of everything that this property had to offer. We stopped at one of the fields because the light was hitting it just right. The grass came up to the top of my head! It was awesome! I mean, I’m only 5’4” but it was still high for me! We ended at the ceremony site, just because its obviously very important to Veronika and Peter now. We did a bunch of pictures and made our way back to the reception tent. This was my question to leave, but they partied into the night!