Ceremony

The Ceremony will be held at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Biddeford, ME.

Ceremony: 1:30 p.m.

St. Joseph’s in Biddeford ME was established as a parish on May 13, 1870 by a decree from Bishop Bacon, Bishop of Portland. The parish was founded to meet the spiritual needs of the many French Canadians who were migrating from Quebec to the Biddeford area at the end of the 19th century.

The first building to house St. Joseph Church was the former Methodist church, located at the corners of Alfred and Bacon streets (the present sight of the Biddeford Police Department). In 1873 having outgrown its first facility, the parish purchased land on Emery's Court (present site of the church on Elm Street). Construction of this imposing and superb neo-Gothic structure began. For almost one hundred years St. Joseph's church was the tallest building in the state of Maine.

Among the recognized treasures housed in this grand building is a classic Hook and Hastings tracker organ (c.1880) and stained glass windows designed by the famous Mayer studio in Munich, Germany.

In the last years of the 19th century the parish knew phenomenal growth - a parochial school was built (with 1200 students in grades to 8 by 1896). A convent was added to house the Good Shepherd Sisters of Quebec who were teachers in the school. In 1892 the rectory (still in use) was built and at the beginning of the 20th century a high school was added, with a parish hall to follow. By 1899 the parish had grown so much that another parish was needed to serve the needs of the ever-growing presence of this French speaking community. Thus the foundation was laid for St. Andre's Parish.

Today St. Joseph counts 1,800.

Address:
178 Elm Street
Biddeford, ME 04005

Reception

The Reception will take place at the beautiful Nonantum Resort in Kennebunkport, ME.

Appetizers: 4:00 - 5:30
Dinner and Dancing 5:30 - 9:00
Dinner Menu

The hotel was named after the Algonquin word for "Rejoicing". During the mid-17th century, the site upon which the Nonantum Resort stands was home to a settlement of framented Native American tribles. Gathered by chief Thomas Waban, this group of Native Americans eventually adopted Christianity and the White Man's form of government. They called their settlement Nonantum, and developed it into a small trading center where they sold venison, fish, berries and native wares.

Timeline

See http://www.nonantum.com/Lodging/history.html for a timeline and historic pictures

Address:
95 Ocean Avenue
Kennebunkport, ME 04046

Afterparty

Time: 9:00 pm - 1:00 am

For those of you who are ready to continue celebrating there will be an afterparty at Federal Jack's just .7 miles down the road. A trolley will be available to shuttle everyone back and forth from 9:30 - 12:30 pm.

www.FederalJacks.com

Federal Jack's turns into bar at 9:00 pm until 1:00 am with the drinking age in the U.S. being 21 (you will need ID to attend).

Inside there will be TVs, Pool, Fuzeball, video games and lots of microbrews to try.

Address:
8 Western Avenue
Kennebunk, ME