Welcome

[This is the letter we're leaving at hotels handing out at the dessert reception: I'm putting it up here so you don't have to carry it around if, unlike us, you have a smartphone. The maps referred to are online here.]

Dear Guests,

Welcome to Belfast!

We’re thrilled you made the trip up here, and can’t wait to celebrate with you this weekend!

Here’s an annotated version of the schedule and some maps to help you find your way around. We’re also continuing to post any updates on our blog at benandanneswedding.blogspot.com; check in if you want to know what’s new.

Love,

Anne and Ben
[click below the break for details]

SCHEDULE and EVENTS:

Friday night, 6:30 P.M., Town Tour: Leaving from Old Post Office Square, intersection of Church and Main. We've arranged for a historical tour of the city to kick off the evening's festivities, which will wind up at the Alden House shortly after sunset, where we hope you will join us for dessert and drinks. ABOUT DINNER: it's true, the scheduling is not perfect and the tour falls within the dinner hour. We're so sorry about that! The dessert reception is in open-house style, so you needn't feel pressured to arrive at 7:30 sharp, that is just roughly when we hope to be heading over. But we wanted to make sure all our guests felt free to schedule their Friday evenings however works best for you!

Friday night, 7:30 P.M., Dessert Reception: The Alden House, 63 Church St. (corner of Park). We look forward to welcoming all of our guests at the Alden House, right across the street from Anne's home, a few blocks from downtown Belfast, on Friday evening. This will be the first event we see most of you at, and we can’t wait to say hi!

SOFTBALL: Saturday morning, 10:30 A.M., City Park. This is the big event on Saturday morning. Recent MacDonald weddings have included low-key (Brooke and Andy) and Princeton Varsity (Sarah and Ross) games. We are going for the former, and really hope a diverse group of all ages will play. We’ll have some mitts, balls and bats, and the game is in the lovely City Park on the water. Even if you don’t think you’re going to play, come and enjoy the day!

HIKE: Saturday morning, 10:30 A.M., City Park For those who would like to take a hike on Saturday morning, the fabulous hiking duo, Bethany and Adam, have volunteered to serve as point-people for meeting up on Saturday morning and driving over to the Bald Rock Mountain Trail in the Camden Hills State Park (about 15-20 mins away by car) for an easy hike to great views over the Penobscot Bay. Hikers should meet at City Park by the baseball field to carpool down.

The Main Event: Saturday afternoon, 4:00 P.M., The First Church: Our wedding will commence at 4 o'clock in the afternoon at the First Church, on Court Street in downtown Belfast, followed by a dinner and dancing reception at Board Landing Farm, about three miles from downtown just on the other side of the Passagassawakeag (pu-SAH-gu-suh-WA-keag) River.

Ben and Anne will proceed by water (!) from the Belfast Harbor to the reception site. You can stop by the footbridge after the wedding to watch our boat pass under, or you can head straight to the reception site.

RECEPTION: Saturday afternoon, 5:30 P.M., Board Landing Farm: The reception will be in a tent at the Board Landing Farm, 84 Kaler Road.

GETTING THERE: We highly encourage you to carpool to the reception, which is only 3 miles away. Parking is free on the streets near the church, and you can leave your car there all evening. From the church, drive one block towards the water, to High Street, and take a left. Drive through the center of town. About a half mile after Main Street, take a right onto the ramp to enter Route One North. It immediately crosses over the river, with great views of the city to the right. Take the first left after the bridge onto Route 141, and then immediately take another left onto Robbins Road. Continue along the water for 1.7 miles (Robbins becomes Kaler at one of the bends); the reception is at the Board landing farm, on the left; the tent should be visible from the road.

Parking is on the road, on the left (river) side. (Please don’t park in any driveways.)

GETTING BACK: Just reverse course! If you finagle a carpool to the farm but might want to get back on your own, taxi services include:

Bay Taxi (207) 338-1993 (says on Facebook that they charge $6 for rides in town).

Little Man Taxi (207) 338-2746 (the underdog in the local taxi wars).

Finally, on Sunday morning, 10 A.M. to Noon: Anne’s family will be hosting a pancake breakfast at Anne's home: 26 Park St. the weather is poor (it might be!) we may spill over to the porch at the Alden House (the Friday night location) just across the street.