Love Story - Summer 2009

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Meghan (Conti) & Zachary Smith, August 16, 2008
at The Ponds, Bolton Valley Resort, Vermont - Page 2

Photographs by Karen Pike Photography

(continued from page 1)

MOST MEMORABLE DETAILS

“From the Smith’s Perspective”
With both of us growing up in Vermont, we knew that there was really no other choice for a setting to get married. All we had to do was find the perfect place. When we first visited The Ponds at Bolton Valley, we knew that that was the place for us. It’s natural surroundings coupled with the beautifully constructed Adirondack Lodge seemed to fit our personalities perfectly, so we set forth to nail down the details in order to make it all work. The next step was to find a church. This was again love at first sight. We checked out the Historic Round Church in Richmond, Vermont and knew that was where we wanted to be married. Everything went smoothly from start to finish, and so many amazing memories were made during the process, especially on our special day. The weather was perfect, all of our vendors were on top of their game, and our friends and family were tremendous!! Our most special memory is just being happy with each other and happy with our decision to enter into a long life together. We also truly loved our celebration, and remember how much fun everyone had, filling the dance floor all night long, eating some amazing food put on in a flawless manner by the great crew at the Ponds. We were full of smiles just enjoying having all of our favorite people in the world join us in celebrating our marriage. We wouldn’t have changed anything, and would recommend The Ponds to any couple looking for that magical place to celebrate!!!

PLANNING ADVICE TO BRIDES

“From The Bride”
My advice to future brides would be to stay true to your heart and dreams while keeping it simple. Try not to get wrapped up into every little detail of your wedding. Prioritize which areas you want to be fully involved in and focus your time there. It was important to both Zach and I have to have a simple ceremony, but one that we created. We chose our readings, prayers, songs, and actual format of our ceremony. We were able to incorporate our families and close family friends without a struggle and it fell into place as we had envisioned. My second piece of advice would be to ask previous brides how they were able to keep the cost down in areas where that is possible. One area we were able to save was having a three-tier cake for us to cut, but also have sheet cakes in the back for our 200 guests to make our cake more cost effective. We were also able to save money on our flowers by reusing bridesmaid’s bouquets as centerpieces, arrangements at the bar, and in the bathrooms. Zach and I wanted to do something that people would remember so we chose to have antique wooden skis for our guest to sign and now they hang in our house with pictures from our wedding day surrounding them. Lastly, we incorporated a game into our reception that replaced the traditional dollar dance. We love games, and it got everyone involved in some way. It was a lot of fun and definitely a crowd favorite! Most importantly, have fun, stay relaxed, and enjoy every minute of the wedding day!!

Photographs by Karen Pike Photography