You’re going to marry each other. And then the crazy chaos and stress of planning a wedding begins!
A beautiful bride prior to her elopement at the Berry Manor Inn.
The guest list, the seating chart, the colors of the seat covers, the music, the caterer, the money – ugh! With a scheduled elopement in Maine, the days leading up to your wedding day can be made a lot less stressful and so can your wedding day itself. When it is just the two of you at your intimate ceremony, alone, in a beautiful Victorian inn near the coast, stress need not be part of your wedding memories!
The Berry Manor Inn invites all couples to enjoy an uncomplicated approach to your wedding day with one of our Maine Elopement Packages. We will arrange the wedding officiate, the flowers, the cake, witnesses and a professional wedding photographer. You choose the setting – in front of the fire in the drawing room, by the beds of roses in the garden, on the front porch beneath the ferns or on the grand staircase in the Front Hall. If you want to have the ceremony by the water we can help with that also.
Following the ceremony, celebrate your elopement with a delicious meal at your choice of participating downtown restaurants with a dinner voucher for $100 valid at a number of participating local restaurants (cab fare included). Return from dinner to a turndown service of rose petals, chocolate-dipped strawberries and chilled champagne waiting for you in your room.
Our inclusive package includes luxury accommodations that feature hand-crafted beds draped in swags of silk where you can lay and watch the flames from the fireplace dance across the room and enjoy candlelight and bath oils in your own private bath featuring an oversized whirlpool tub for two and a custom two-person body jet shower. Let the honeymoon begin……………..
Once you decide a date for your scheduled elopement at our Rockland bed and breakfast, we will confirm with the photographer and the weddings officiate and lock the date in for you. Once the advanced deposit is processed, we will send you a brief Elopement Questionnaire for you to complete. This is where you can let us know about what colors or specific flowers you may like in your bridal bouquet(s) or boutonnière(s); the flavor cake you would like and where you would like to have dinner. Additionally, you can let us know if you want to have the ceremony and pictures at the Berry Manor Inn or if would like to have pictures or the ceremony at the water’s edge, at a lighthouse or on top of a mountain. Do you want to add a limousine or a horse and carriage ride to take you to dinner? Do you want us to arrange hair and make-up services for the morning of the ceremony or a couples massage in the afternoon after the ceremony? Let us know what you would like and we will work with you to make it happen.
Elopements are all about the bride and groom!
We will also send you out instructions for getting your marriage license and an introduction to the wedding officiate so that the three of you can discuss what vows you would like to use. We start with a few samples and then you can add or delete as you like. You may choose to totally write your own vows, add a sand ceremony or a unity candle – it is yours to choose. That is about all of the decisions you need to worry about. We take all of your information and coordinate everything for you. We confirm we have everything you want in place prior to your arrival and then once you are on premise if you have chosen to hold the ceremony at the inn, we will walk you through the options and you can let us know. Although our Maine Elopement Packages are based on just having only the wedding couple in attendance, we can accommodate up to 6 additional people for an additional fee. Likewise there will be an additional cost if you prefer to hold the ceremony offsite or request photographs at a nearby 2nd location. The Berry Manor Inn welcomes all couples to elope at the inn.
The morning of the ceremony, you start your day enjoying a wonderful breakfast and either go off to have your hair and make-up done or enjoy our local wedding specialist coming on site for the appointment. Your fiancé can enjoy walking downtown, the TransportationMuseum or hanging for a few hours in another area of the inn or in our “man cave” until the time of the ceremony. Typically we hold our on site Elopement ceremonies at 1pm so that it is after check outs and before check ins. This way you do not have strangers charging in to the inn in the middle of the ceremony.
Beautiful white horse and carriage for the bride and groom.
When the photographer and the wedding officiate and witnesses arrive on premise we will start the music, call over to your room and when you are ready we will start. If you decide you want to make the grand entrance down the grand staircase of the inn we will set things up, arrange your train and make sure we get some great shots! The photographer will take mostly candid shots throughout the ceremony and then afterwards will take posed shots of both the two of you together and of both of you alone. Typically (weather dependent), if the ceremony was inside the inn we take shots in the gardens or on the porch of the property also. If you decide that you really want some water shots we can arrange that in advance also and can head to the lighthouse or the rocky beaches to take more pictures. The best part is it is your day and with only the two of you involved you can do whatever you like – if you start laughing in the middle of the ceremony that is fine, if you need to take a moment to compose yourself before you read your vows – no problem. If you want some shots of your cowboy boots or lime green sneakers from under your gown that is all good! The day is truly all about the two of you!
After the ceremony, you can enjoy the cake cutting and champagne toast and a few hours of reflection with just the two of you. Some couples opt to go for a 2 hour sail, others walk the beach or you can just hang at the inn. Some choose to send out a wedding picture to all of their family and friends and then shut off their phones for the day to enjoy the quiet. Really – anything goes. A few hours later your cab will arrive or perhaps the horse and carriage with the “Just Married” sign hanging off of the white carriage or an antique limo with chauffeur to take you to your intimate, romantic dinner for two. You will return from dinner to enjoy a romantic turndown in your room with the stage set with dimmed lights, soft music, rose petals scattered across the bed, a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and a chilled bottle of bubbly to celebrate your first night together as a married couple.
The next morning the photographer will deliver a CD to you with 50 to 75 or more pictures from the celebration. You have all rights to all photographs. You can copy, email, enlarge, photo shop or do with them as you please. If you decided to add a few nights to the package and are staying on at the inn then the honeymoon officially begins with another delicious breakfast. Otherwise after breakfast service, we will send you off as another happily married couple with a gift voucher for a discounted stay for your 1st anniversary celebration!
The happy couple riding off in their horse and carriage…….
You can design how you would like your bouquet to look.