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You may have a vision of how you want the overall event to go, but keep some flexibility in your plans. You never know when a great idea will hit you that you can incorporate. Also, it is a big day where there are a lot of players at work. Little things can get forgotten or go wrong. Don't let it bother you. By Sabrina (Sikora) Dommenge
Colors that you like to look at should be part of your physical space, table cloths, napkins, flowers, candles.
They bring family, friends, and favorite or special places together to celebrate their commitment and create a lasting memory. Care is given to the food, music, flowers, passages read to commemorate faith, and the pledge given to each other. Read More
How we met Funny enough, our love story began at a Vermont wedding. Or technically it was at the rehearsal dinner the night before, on a boat on Lake Champlain. I was a bridesmaid for my sister; Matt was invited with a group of teammates from his college in Florida where he had rowed crew for my soon-to-be brother-in-law. They always say you find love in the strangest places; I would have to agree that waiting in line for a bathroom on a boat is the last place I expected to find it, yet there he was.
Matt and I had a great time over the wedding weekend, but I don’t think that either of us thought we would ever see the each other again; I was living in New York City pursuing my career as a dancer and Matt was in Ohio getting his PhD in molecular biology. We seemed worlds apart in more ways than one.
Somehow we managed to stay in touch; silly emails turned into daily phone calls and eventually weekend visits between Columbus and New York. By that fall we were in a long distance relationship that I think baffled both of us. After a year of long distance, I surprised everyone by picking up and moving to Ohio. We still consider our anniversary the day we first met.
After living together for two years in Ohio, Matt and I were visiting my parents in Vermont for Thanksgiving. By that point we had already negotiated the difficult territory of moving, multiple jobs and the insanity of Matt’s rigorous grad school schedule, I was pretty sure that if we could make it through all that, we could make it through anything, and that one day we would get married. However on the day that Matt proposed I was completely taken off guard. It was the day after Thanksgiving and we went for a walk through the woods. It was gray and rainy and I was in a bad mood. We stopped to talk between the trees and then suddenly Matt was down on one knee among the leaves with a beautiful ring.
Little did I know, Matt had spent Thanksgiving Day covertly obtaining the blessing of both my father and stepfather during quiet conversations held in different corners of the house. It meant so much to me that Matt surprised me with the proposal; it showed such courage and strength that it only made me want to marry him more. So of course I said yes (and suddenly I was in a much better mood).
Rather than rush into the details of planning a wedding, Matt and I decided to enjoy a longer engagement of 18 months. In the meantime we kept ourselves busy: Matt received his PhD in Molecular Biology from the Ohio State University in December. I went on tour to the Middle East in the spring, and then we both moved back to New York City in early summer. Soon thereafter we decided it was time to start thinking about a wedding for the summer of 2011.
Since Vermont already held so much of our love story, it seemed natural that we would get married there as well. After visiting several venues in the Champlain Valley region (where I’m from), Matt and I picked Tourterelle Restaurant and Inn, a beautiful French Country restaurant run by Christine and Bill Snell. Nestled between the Green and Adirondack Mountains, it was the view that I grew up with all my life. The rolling grounds and pond behind the restaurant provided the perfect setting for the outdoor ceremony that Matt and I envisioned, and the back patio was the perfect size and ambience for dinner and dancing.
Aside from the familiar scenery, the warm and generous nature of Bill and Christine made us feel right at home, and completely at ease. Working with Christine made planning such a pleasure; she was laid back, responsible and completely open to our vision of the event.
Throughout our visits, emails and phone calls between New York and Vermont, Matt and I felt that we had the freedom to make our own choices, with the support of a true professional when we needed advice and guidance.
Since the venue could also provide remarkable food, our lives were made much easier. Rather than running around looking for caterers and other vendors, Matt and I got to focus on elements of the wedding that were really important to us. We booked a fabulous band from Ohio called Mojoflo and enlisted friends and neighbors to help provide local flowers, tasted amazing cakes by Mirabelles Café in Burlington (we went with the local strawberries and fresh whipped cream) and buckled down to writing our own wedding vows. When we remembered to think of our guests, we got them handmade soaps from Garland Goat Soaps, a local family owned business that provided amazing wedding gifts at a great price and booked them rooms at the Crossroads Bed & Breakfast, Middlebury Inn and Emerson Guest House. One thing led to another and suddenly it was June.
Planning a wedding can be such an overwhelming task that it’s important to prioritize. I encourage both partners to think about the most important elements of your wedding day and narrow it down to a few things (for us it was all about the venue and the music). The other details will fall into place and you won’t drive yourself crazy thinking about them all. This will also help you to organize your budget around what matters most: some people want a designer dress, a swanky venue, exotic flower displays, live music or a high-end photographer.
Everyone should be able to get what they want most, but not everyone can have everything, which is important to keep in mind.
When choosing a venue it was really important to us that they be able to provide all the food, drinks, tables, chairs, cutlery etc. that we needed for the reception on site. We felt that working with several different vendors could become a logistical nightmare and even end up costing more money.
Involving our communities was a huge, rewarding and sometimes delicate part of the planning process. If you’re as lucky as we were, you will have a lot of friends and family that will all want to be involved in some way. Finding a way to engage everyone with a specific responsibility or task helps to lighten your load and allows those around you to feel included on a deep and meaningful level (although it may not feel that way when you ask someone to help with setting up the present table). While Matt and I didn’t have a wedding party we both selected an unofficial ‘wedding posse’ that supported us emotionally and logistically throughout the planning process. Working together with our communities in the end made us feel more supported and less stressed on the actual wedding day. It’s important to remember that this is the point of all the planning: to create a beautiful, meaningful and carefree day that you will remember for the rest of your lives.
This story from the Winter 2012 issue of Vermont Bride Magazine
Reception & Ceremony:
Tourterelle Inn, Dining & Events
802-453-6309
tourterellevt.com
Lodging:
Middlebury Inn
800-842-4666
middleburyinn.com
Mirabelles Café
Mojoflo
Garland Goat Soaps
Total Image Salon
Crossroads Bed and Breakfast
Emerson House
Read these Vermont Bride Featured Love Stories online! Love Story: Kellie (Goessinger) & JJ Oliver. Read the Love Story online here. Photo by Stoilov Studios, Vermont. |
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 [Above] Sara (Forest) Sokolowski. Read the wedding Love Story online. Photo by Polis Photography. |
 [Above] Vyna Phuong Le and Phu Van Truong. Read the wedding Love Story online. Photo by RaidenShine Photography. |
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