BANGOR (AP) – The wedding bells rang over the weekend for a Hampden couple that lost a bid to wed on the “Today” show.

The community rallied behind the couple and businesses donated everything from the reception to the rings as Nicholas Raymond and Kimberly Stowell exchanged vows Saturday in front of nearly 200 guests on the Bangor waterfront.

“Kim’s dream wedding was to be on the water and have a beautiful day and this is exactly what she wanted. I couldn’t ask for a better day,” Raymond said.

Stowell, 23, and Raymond, 24, met on a blind date four years ago while both were students at the University of Maine.

He proposed on Valentine’s Day 2005, and they sent a video to “Today Throws a Hometown Wedding” on a whim. They were one of four couples chosen as finalists, but viewers ultimately chose a couple from Maryland instead.

When their friends Darrell Kent, Bernie Littlefield, Michele Gross and Laura Lynch heard the news, they took matters into their own hands, soliciting donations from area businesses. It came together quickly and, for the most part, seamlessly.

Littlefield estimated the value of donated services at between $25,000 and $30,000.

“There really aren’t enough words to describe how thankful we are for everything, for the community,” the bride said afterward. “To be right in Bangor, right on the water, it’s gorgeous.”

Raymond now teaches math at Hampden Academy and is working toward a master’s degree at UMaine. Stowell is a full-time graduate student at UMaine and a waitress at the Sea Dog, which catered the rehearsal dinner and the reception.

Her father, Al Stowell, beamed as he walked her down the aisle while an ensemble from the Bangor Symphony Orchestra played “The Wedding March.” The weather was perfect with sparkling sunlight and a breeze that fluttered the bride’s veil.

Even a noisy wedding crasher – a freight train – couldn’t dampen the festivities.