Best Things for Wedding Guests to Do in Wells, Maine
If your wedding guests are traveling in for the weekend, they’ll likely have a free afternoon on either side of the celebration. Wells sits between two of Maine’s better-known coastal towns, which makes it easy to point people in a direction without much planning on your part.
Right here in Wells
Wells Beach is a few minutes from the resort and the obvious answer for a free morning, wide, sandy, and easy to find. For something quieter, the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge borders the property itself; the Carson Trail is an easy, mostly level mile-long loop through salt marsh and coastal forest, suitable for guests in wedding-appropriate shoes who just want a short walk. Wells Reserve at Laudholm, a bit further into town, adds a historic farm and several more miles of trail for guests who want to make a morning of it.
See our full Things to Do in Wells, Maine guide for the complete list, including beaches, harbor walks and where to get lobster.
South to Ogunquit
About fifteen minutes down Route 1, Ogunquit offers the Marginal Way, a paved oceanfront walk that ends at Perkins Cove’s galleries and lobster shacks. It’s an easy half-day trip and one of the more photogenic stretches of coast in Southern Maine, worth mentioning to any guest with a free afternoon and a camera.
North to Kennebunkport
Kennebunkport sits about twenty-five minutes north and offers a different kind of afternoon, Dock Square’s shops and restaurants, the working harbor, and some well-known beaches a short walk from downtown. It’s an easy pairing with Ogunquit if guests want to make a full day of exploring both directions.
If it rains
Southern Maine gets its share of foggy mornings even in summer. Route 1 through Wells has more than two dozen antiques shops for a rainy browsing session, and guests staying in a suite with a full kitchen and living room have somewhere comfortable to wait it out that isn’t a single hotel room.
A simple guest note
Most couples end up sending some version of this to their wedding party: Wells Beach and the Carson Trail are a few minutes away for a short morning; Ogunquit’s Marginal Way and Kennebunkport’s Dock Square are each about twenty to twenty-five minutes for a longer outing. That’s usually enough to keep out-of-town guests happy without turning into a full itinerary you have to build yourself.