26 | www.realmaineweddings.com
p o rt l a n d
l f e a t u r e d w e d d i n g
Thanks to her boss, whose wife, it turned
out, worked at the same school as Eric, the
couple was reunited. Erin's boss spotted who
he thought was the "cute elementary school
teacher" during a visit to the school and
asked for his email. Erin sent him a message
and he instantly responded, asking her out
on a date.
Erin and Eric tried to make it work long
distance, after Erin took a job in Florida. But
it was actually a tragedy that brought the
two together in the end.
Erin got a call from her father, telling her
he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and
had six months to live. She took a job in
Portland, Maine and moved to be closer to
her parents.
"After my dad's passing, Eric flew out to
be with me during the funeral, and we knew
we couldn't be apart any longer," she says.
After the school year was over, Eric found a
job and moved to Maine, too.
Erin describes Eric's proposal as "sneaky
and perfect." Eric collaborated with Erin's boss
and coworkers at the television news station
where she worked. Her boss sent her to inter-
view a doctor outside one of her favorite local
restaurants, The Corner Room. When she got
there, there was no doctor--only Eric walking
towards her with an engagement ring.
"My cameraman was in on it, too, and
taped the whole thing," Erin says. "It made
the morning news."
Even though Erin is from Massachusetts
and Eric is from Michigan, the couple could
think of no better place to be married than
in their chosen hometown of Portland,
Maine. "Both Eric and I have embraced
living on the coast, and we planned a
rehearsal dinner and wedding to reflect who
we were as a couple," Erin says.
Since both of their families live out of
erin and eric threw a lavish cocktail party reception
at Grace Restaurant in portland--a historic church
renovated into a fabulous event space.