PORTLAND — The venue for Brad and Jenny Osten’s wedding was Fortland on House Island, a privately owned island in Casco Bay that’s about a 15-minute boat ride from downtown.

By all measures it was a typical late summer day last Aug. 9 — mostly clear skies with light winds, and a high temperature under 80 degrees. Perfect weather for an outdoor ceremony.

The couple live and work in Boston, but both Ostens have family in Maine, who were all ready to go for the big day.

But where was the food?

The couple had chosen Bethany Gregory of Simply Catered By Bethany as their caterer a year prior, paying her $14,000 in advance to feed 105 guests and the wedding vendors. There were mini lobster rolls, cocktail bites, steak, chicken and salmon on the menu, which was all to be delivered by boat.

But nobody had seen or heard from the caterer the morning of the wedding.

That could have ruined the day. What happened next is a testament to goodwill and ingenuity of local businesses, and to the power of a positive attitude.

WARNING SIGNS

Stacey Nast and her business partner Ashley Gilbert have been wedding planners for over 15 years. In addition to their own company, Coastal Elegance Events, they work exclusively with Fortland to facilitate their weddings, doing between 10-15 weddings a year on the island.

House Island has its own set of challenges because it is mostly off-grid. There is no running water, limited solar power, and everything and everyone must come by boat.

The first hint of trouble came the week before the wedding, when the Ostens checked-in with Gregory. “She told us that week that she actually wouldn’t be there, that she was sending her staff… which was a surprise to us,” Brad Osten said.

As it turns out, the Ostens were far from the only couple receiving a poorly timed surprise from Gregory.

In 2025, Gregory was the subject of an inquiry by the consumer division of the Maine Attorney General’s Office. She has 54 formal complaints filed against her to date.

After at least a year’s worth of complaints over missed events, cancellations and unfulfilled contracts, Gregory canceled all her remaining contracts in September 2025, saying she could not provide any refunds, leaving dozens of couples without a caterer or the money they had paid in advance.

In December, Gregory failed to show up for a hearing in the case, and the state won a default judgment against her for violating the state’s unfair trade practices act. A restitution hearing for Gregory’s victims has been postponed twice, with little explanation.

SCRAMBLING TO FEED 105 PEOPLE

Gilbert and Nast had some idea of Gregory’s past behavior. “We had already had two couples that we knew at different venues that had already been disappointed by her,” Stacey Nast said.

Osten did not. He just knew the caterer wasn’t there and he didn’t want to stress out his bride.

“Honestly, it felt like a final exam of becoming a husband,” Osten said. He wrestled with the dilemma: tell his fiancée or keep it to himself?

“I’m just gonna keep this to myself and deal with it, and focus on what’s important,” Osten said as he reflected on the event 10 months later. “We’re in this beautiful place to get married, and if we get pizzas or flatbreads or something in the Old Port, we’re happy with that, and so whatever, we’ll just deal with it.”

Osten had contracted Fogg’s Water Taxi & Charters to shuttle guests, food and drinks, bartenders and the catering staff from the pier at Commercial Street out to House Island. Keep in mind it’s around 11 a.m. that Saturday in August, with the wedding ceremony scheduled to start on the island at 3 p.m.

But still the food wasn’t there.

Elaina Fogg was getting concerned. She held back a boat for the wedding party, on what she described as a “very busy day.”

“I had my husband on call ready to go as soon as the food got here — which never happened,” Fogg said. She’s part of the family team, handling reservations and coordinating events.

Phone calls went back and forth to the Fortland team on the island, Fogg and the wedding planners as Brad and Jenny were getting dressed for the wedding.

Fogg jumped right in, offering to go on the hunt for food. “I was thinking, you know, I might have to go to Hannaford and go get a sandwich tray.”

Instead she called around and ran door-to-door, hoping one of the dozens of nearby restaurants might be able to help out. Then something clicked: The Porthole Restaurant and Pub, located a stone’s throw away on the next pier.

“I went over because Porthole has that big outdoor seating area … they can host a lot of people,” Fogg said.

She made a beeline for the restaurant and asked if they could provide appetizers and dinner for 105 in less than five hours.

As fortune would have it, the head chef at The Porthole was a wedding chef in a previous life. David Schneider, his colleague Dave Dawkins, and owner John Jabra were all in. Besides, what’s another 100 dinners when you can serve 1,000 covers in a day?

By 3:30 that afternoon (Elaina Fogg keeps immaculate records), the first water taxi headed out to House Island, with hot appetizers — mini lobster rolls, Reuben sliders, scallops and bacon bruschetta — and that was just for cocktail hour.

Within two more hours, dinner was ready to go, shuttled out hot by Fogg’s Water Taxi with the wedding planners in tow. There was steak, mashed potatoes, chicken, salmon, and salads — literally picked up from the end of the pier.

“It was thanks to Fogg’s catering it over hot and ready. We had it in chafing dishes, and we presented it to their guests,” Nast recounted.

None of the guests knew what had transpired. In fact, there were compliments about the food, with guests asking what catering company they were with.

“The overarching story is a testament to the working waterfront with Fogg’s and what we do together, or how we can help,” Jabra said, his humble head chef likening it to “all in a day’s work.”

Now, Brad and Jenny Osten are happily married and awaiting the restitution hearing. They did recoup some of their money from their credit card, and when prodded, Brad offered his advice.

“And on the topic of weddings … expect something to go wrong and remember why you’re there — to get married and have a great day.

“And that’s what ultimately saved our day the most, was that attitude.”