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About Me
| A wedding is a lot like a theatrical production. Both are made up of multiple parts, require a great deal of advance planning prior to the big day, usually entail rehearsals of a type, and are ultimately presented to an audience. If you stage a play, you need a director, one individual who will look after every last detail and make sure all the players are reading from the same script. Many newlyweds would argue that a wedding needs the same sort of person- especially when it's a Maine wedding. Enter Sally Bullard. |
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Based in the Boothbay area, Sally is a wedding consultant, one of a half dozen or so to have set up shop in Maine in the past decade. For the last ten years, she has helped plan an increasing number of weddings each year with her company, A MAINE WEDDING, making all the arrangements so that, as she says, "people can be guests at their own wedding." She will orchestrate a celebration from the photographer down to the types of champagne glasses. She has a background in theatre, and notes that there are indeed similarities between nuptials and drama. |
"I've done a little of everything in the past- catering, hostessing in a restaurant, selling real estate, and I've done a lot of producing and directing of community theatre and events" she says. "When you think about it, my job is to make sure everyone makes their entrances and exits on time. I carry around a list of everything that should happen, a breakdown of the day, minute by minute-that's my script."
Each of those matrimonial productions is a custom job, and Sally generally spends months working with a couple, presenting the couple with an array of choices, doing all the research and legwork so that the decisions are easy and well-informed. "I can help you find services that will fit your budget. I know the good caterers. Ditto for the videographers and the bands. You name it, and I can get it for you." |
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Once the Mr.-And-Mrs.-to-be identify what they want, Sally gets to work, making all the arrangements and serving as a manager on the day of the wedding. That's the typical picture. She's also available to work with couples for as little as an hour. "If you're on a tight budget, I can sit down with you for an hour, and I can give you a lot of information in that hour."
Sally began A MAINE WEDDING in 1996, and she orchestrated a single event that year. Her business has blossomed in the past few years to where she worked with over 40 brides during the 2006 season, and she attributes her success to the growing trend among couples from away to get married in Maine. |
"More and more people are getting married in the state now," she says. “Boothbay makes a great ‘Destination Location’ for a wedding, with a wide range of lodging, activities, and restaurants. It's just so gorgeous, a very romantic place to get married."
A lot of people may want to get married here but they often find that if they try to do it themselves, time and distance can prove to be difficult logistical problems. Many don't know the area where they're tying the knot very well, and it's hard to pick a mid-coast florist or pick a tent when you're in Atlanta. The core of her business comes from such folks. In the past few years, she's done weddings for couples from as far away as England, France and Italy. |
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If you’re looking for an officiant, Sally, as a Notary Public, can perform civil ceremonies. “I really enjoy this part of my job. I am honored to be part of such a special occasion.” She estimates that she’s married hundreds of couples, and is thrilled when she receives Christmas cards from past couples with photographs of expanding families. |
| Although it's a popular place to get married, the state still has only a handful of professional wedding consultants. The yellow pages in many large towns and cities have several listings under the heading "Wedding Consultants," but the entries are as likely to be photographers, hairdressers, or cake bakes as they are genuine wedding planners. Every wedding shutterbug and caterer can probably provide a couple with ideas and suggestions, having worked at many receptions and seen the way their counterparts do things. But few are in business to actually make all of the arrangements. |
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Which is why so many brides are glad there are people like Sally Bullard. And Sally's happy to be the director of the grand production. "It's the biggest day of a couple's life, so they should be able to enjoy it without all the stress," she says. "My job is to help take the stress off. And if you don't hire a wedding consultant, who's there to take care of all the problems?" |
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