{"id":52886,"date":"2019-09-30T15:16:43","date_gmt":"2019-09-30T19:16:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themainemag.com\/?p=52886"},"modified":"2022-02-03T11:51:45","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T16:51:45","slug":"erin-and-michael","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themainemag.com\/erin-and-michael\/","title":{"rendered":"A Backyard Wedding in Freedom with Friends, Family, Local Food, and an Airstream"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

A Backyard Wedding in Freedom with Friends, Family, Local Food, and an Airstream<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Erin and Michael’s celebration included personal touches from family and was was self-catered by bride, who is chef and owner of the Lost Kitchen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography by Jenny and Aaron McNulty<\/em><\/em> of Wylde Photography<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Erin and Michael met on match.com and became pen pals, writing to each other while living miles apart in two different worlds\u2014Michael in Manhattan and Erin in an old Airstream on her parents\u2019 property on a dirt road in Freedom. \u201cWe had both been married before and broken by divorce,\u201d says Erin. A month after falling in love over the phone and through letters, they met for the first time over dinner in Portland. \u201cWe never looked back,\u201d says Michael. They bought an old farmhouse in Freedom and began building a life together. Four years later as they sat in front of their stone fireplace on a quiet Sunday evening after dinner, Michael asked Erin to marry him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe just wanted to binge on oysters and ice cream with our boys and dance barefoot in the barn with our best friends.\u201d <\/p>ERIN<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Their wedding on August 24, 2018 was relaxed and freeform, a simple, backyard ceremony followed by a casual, colorful, late-summer feast self-catered by Erin\u2014the chef and owner of the Lost Kitchen in Freedom\u2014and friends. \u201cWe wanted to get married at home on a Friday afternoon with our chickens running wild and free around the yard while we sipped champagne and binged on oysters followed by hot fudge sundaes,\u201d says Erin. Her 16-year-old son, Jaim, walked her down the aisle to the ceremony in their barn, where she and Michael said the vows they wrote themselves in front of Michael\u2019s closest friend, Rev. Shawn Amos. Afterwards, guests gathered around picnic tables in the yard for the wedding feast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor us, happiness is breathing new life into old things so there was really no other place to get married than at home\u2026in the barn at our 200-year-old, simple, work-in-progress, Maine farmhouse surrounded by family, friends, and fried clam deliciousness.\u201d <\/p>MICHAEL<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Second Chances<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Menu
<\/strong>Wooden tables set out on the lawn held John\u2019s River oysters on the half shell, cheeses, charcuterie, bread, and pickles, served on vintage china. Guests also dined on fried Maine clams with frites and coleslaw, served in wooden berry baskets; heirloom tomato salads with mozzarella, basil, and marigolds; and tiny lettuce head salads. Uproot Pie Company\u2019s mobile pizza oven offered a variety of wood-fired pies. In lieu of a cake, there were peach galettes from Tinder Hearth Bakery in Brooksville, and Erin\u2019s Airstream was turned into a dairy bar serving hot fudge sundaes. Drinks included gin and tonics with cucumber and blackberries, nectarine and basil lemonade with Cold River Vodka, Lanson Champagne, and wine from the Corbi\u00e8res region in southern France. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friends & Family
<\/strong>Erin and Michael enlisted friends and family to create a deeply personal celebration. Michael\u2019s dad painted the postcard wedding invitations, which were calligraphed by the couple\u2019s friend, Nancy Buckley. \u201cWe had friends help us build out our barn and perennial gardens, and friends helped us build the tables and benches from wood that came from our friend\u2019s land,\u201d says Erin. \u201cFriends grew our flowers, made our rings, sewed our napkins, shucked the oysters, fried the clams, and foraged for ferns and moss in the woods.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drinks:<\/strong> Cold River Vodka<\/a>; Lanson Champagne<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flowers:<\/strong> Belladonna Floral<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gown:<\/strong> Laure de Sagazan<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music:<\/strong> Soulbenders<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officiant:<\/strong> The Reverend Shawn Amos<\/a> (Michael\u2019s closest friend)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peach Galettes:<\/strong> Tinder Hearth<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pizza:<\/strong> Uproot Pie Company<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stationery:<\/strong> Hand-painted postcard by Michael\u2019s dad, calligraphy by friend Nancy Buckley<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photographer:<\/strong> Wylde Photography<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n