Jessica & Dustin
November 12, 2017 // Brown Library, Maine Historical Society/Lolita //
Photography by Greta Tucker //
Both public affairs professionals, Jessica and Dustin met at Arabica. He was heading for Stanford Business School to get his MBA and she was interviewing to replace him. “We worked side-by-side for six weeks, and discovered that we shared a love for Maine, history, poetry, family, and politics,” Jessica says. They quickly became a couple, traveling between Portland and Palo Alto to see each other on weekends, and took a dream trip together in Greece. In December 2016, their daughter, Josephine, was born. The following June, Dustin graduated and moved back to Portland. They decided on a nighttime wedding in November, planning to tie in their trip to Greece and their love of books, poetry, and history. “To us, it was most important that it reflected our very different journey by being a different kind of wedding,” says Jessica. “My parents had been married only a few days earlier, 30 years before, and I was almost exactly Josephine’s age at the time.” Their intimate ceremony at the Maine Historical Society’s Brown Library was followed by a reception at Lolita, where the couple had their first dinner date. “The majority of the four-course dinner was served family style and spaced out throughout the evening,” says Jessica. “Co-owner Stella shares our love of the food and culture of Greece; she happily helped us find wines from places we had visited.”
Personal History
The Dress: Jessica found her ivory crepe gown online. “I knew I wanted something elegant and timeless that would be easy to move around the restaurant and hold Josephine in,” she says. “Dustin loves off the shoulder so that made it easy. I learned later that the collection is based on a Greek goddess— perfect for our theme.”
First Look: Fort Allen, a special spot where Dustin had proposed, was the site of the couple’s first look. “Suddenly seeing Jessica in her wedding dress at a place we had spent so much time together was striking and unforgettable,” says Dustin. “She was perfect.”
The Ceremony: “Because our group was so small, we were able to have everyone gather around us closely for the ceremony in the Brown Library,” says Jessica. “Performed by our dear friend, it was magical. My grandmother read a poem. Dustin and I read our own vows to each other with Josephine by our side.”
