Melissa Hanley and Ashley Perry had planned to elope on a mountain in Maine in September.

Instead, they tied the knot in a much more public way: In front of thousands of strangers, on stage during Portland’s Back Cove Music & Arts Festival, in a ceremony officiated by singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus.

“It’s a dream I didn’t even know I had,” said Hanley, 34, of Wilton. Hanley and her wife, 33-year-old Ashley Perry, and two other couples were married during Dacus’ set at the festival in Payson Park on Sunday night.

In mid-July, Dacus posted on Instagram that she would be officiating weddings on stage during her shows, with instructions on how to apply. Dacus has been offering her fans the chance to get married at several of her shows this summer and had already performed ceremonies at shows in Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Detroit.

Perry and Hanley both are longtime Dacus fans, and to have Dacus marry them was remarkable for many reasons. “On the surface level, it was so exciting and fun to have it be her,” said Perry. “More than that, it was so meaningful to send a message of equality and visibility in this political climate.”

The other two couples onstage Sunday were Theo Labrecque and Luna Carvalho, both 29, of Lewiston, and Teagan Waterhouse, 32, and Jordan Holmes, 31, of South Portland.

The ceremony took place in the middle of Dacus’ seventh song of the night, “Best Guess,” a track from her fourth album, “Forever Is a Feeling,” released in March.

Hanley has a special fondness for “Best Guess.” “That song is a song that I listen to over and over in the car singing at the top of my lungs,” she said. “It always makes me think of our relationship and how excited I am for our future, and how Ashley is the one I’ve wanted to take a chance on since I met her.”

“We never know what the future is gonna hold, but she is my best guess.”

Before the song started, Dacus told the audience she was bringing special guests out on stage. As she sang the lines, “You are my best guess at the future, you are my best guess. If I were a gambling man, and I am, you’d be my best guess,” the couples walked out on stage and slow danced.

Dacus then traded her guitar for a bouquet of roses and a script, and read off the lines, “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the love of all of these people, to grant the rights and protections that are provided by this marriage and to honor the promise you are making here today.”

And then Dacus made it official. “In recognition of the vows you have made in this special moment in front of all these friends and strangers, it is with great joy that I now pronounce you married,” she said, to cheers from the crowd.

Dacus handed each couple roses from the bouquet, tossing the rest of the flowers out into the crowd. “Give it up for the newlyweds, you guys!” she shouted.

Labrecque and Carvalho said it was a positive, memorable experience.

“It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” Carvalho said.

“I can’t believe that that’s how we got married,” added Labrecque.

Waterhouse and Holmes were technically renewing their vows. Their initial wedding, in 2021, was marked by what they referred to as a “series of mishaps.” This time around, getting hitched went off without a hitch. Just after leaving the stage, the couple said they were still in shock that Dacus had been their officiant.

Hanley and Perry said they ditched their original wedding plans when they heard about Dacus’ offer.

“I’ve been looking forward to getting married for two years. When this opportunity came up, it was unreal,” said Hanley. Several family members and friends were at the festival for the ceremony, including their siblings and Hanley’s parents.

On Monday morning, Hanley and Perry said they were still excited about the experience.

“I am still on cloud nine right now,” Hanley said. “I’ve been looking at the pictures and the videos and have been tearing up. I’m just so happy and excited that that happened last night. It was just unreal.”

Perry agreed. “I feel so excited still,” she said. “It was so much fun and so special for us. We feel so much love from everyone.”