Real Weddings: Suanne Au & Fatemeh Parsa

September 5, 2010
Balance Rock Inn,
Bar Harbor, Maine

Photograph by Brea McDonald Photography

Fatemeh Parsa had planned to pop the question to her girlfriend of two years, Suanne Au, during dinner at a nice restaurant; the pharmacy technician got so excited, though, that she ended up proposing to Suanne weeks ahead of schedule. “That’s how Fatemeh is,” explains Suanne. “I always get my birthday present in October — even though my birthday is in November.”

The couple, who met at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, married last fall. On the way to Maine for the wedding celebration, they stopped overnight in Vermont for a private civil ceremony — so although they were technically married when they walked onto the lawn overlooking Frenchman Bay in front of 20 friends and relatives, it was still their favorite moment. “The vows are the most meaningful part — the paperwork is boring, and the rest is for enjoyment,” says Suanne, a math professor at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York.

As little girls, neither had ever really imagined her own wedding, “especially since I realized I’m gay,” says Suanne. “It just wasn’t one of the options.” Fatemeh agrees: “But even though I hadn’t given it much thought, it turned out exactly how I’d dreamed it would be.”

Photograph by Brea McDonald Photography

Suanne wanted a wedding spot with beautiful scenery, while Fatemeh was looking for a place with character. Balance Rock Inn was the “perfect compromise,” says Fatemeh.

Photograph by Brea McDonald Photography

Suanne wanted tulips in her bouquet—not an easy find in the fall. Designer Meagan Gilpatrick sourced just enough of them to work into a bouquet with fiddleheads, white spider mums, lisianthus, rose hips, veronica, and crab-apple branches.

Photograph by Brea McDonald Photography

The ceremony was held on a three-acre promontory overlooking Frenchman Bay.

Photograph by Brea McDonald Photography

Votive candles were elevated on birch disks.

Photographs by Brea McDonald Photography

(From left, top to bottom) The lemon cake with raspberry filling and buttercream frosting was displayed on a slab of polished oak.

Drinks were topped with apple slices.

The couple paid tribute to their home state of New York by using apples as place cards.

The File

Gown and Suit J.Crew

Hair and Makeup I Do Spas

Catering Bar Harbor Catering Company

Cake and Flowers Maine Seasons Events

Event Planning Maine Seasons Events

Music Stringscalm and Jetset Quartet

Stationery Invitesite