Michelle (Barrett) and Calum Gardner

October 24, 2009 At the Historic and Charming Brandon Inn

The Story of Our Romance

It was just over seven years ago that our paths began to cross with an increasingly frequent basis. Though not by design, our romance spanned many years and several continents before culminating in our October 2009 wedding in Vermont.

As with many couples, Calum and I met at the office; we were both working at the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the UN’s humanitarian food agency, based in Rome, Italy. Rome was a wonderfully romantic place to start our relationship. Dates included moonlit motorino (moped) tours of the city, classical concerts in ancient churches, dinners featuring full-bodied wines and delicious cheeses and weekend afternoons in the Italian countryside.

Our time together wasn’t without its interruptions, though; only three months into our budding romance, the war in Iraq began and WFP launched one of its largest operations ever - and I was sent in as part of the emergency team, with only days to prepare for what would be a six month deployment. Intrigued by the challenging aspects of this operation (and perhaps concerned that our romance was facing a rather abrupt end), Calum also joined the operation and within a few months we were together again, though in Baghdad rather than Rome. I think we were probably one of the only American/British couples to be dating in Baghdad during the summer of 2003. Needless to say, our opportunities for actual dates at that time were rather limited, consisting of an occasional coffee in between meetings and dinners together when we managed to get rooms at the same hotel.

This pattern of moving to new countries with WFP continued for the next few years. Following a bombing at the UN compound in Baghdad in August 2003, we were both relocated to Jordan. A few months after that, my assignment with the Iraq operation was finished and I headed back to Rome, and shortly thereafter onto Cote d’Ivoire and then Senegal. For the next few years, our relationship consisted of e-mails, phone calls and periodic vacations together, meeting up in places like the lavender fields of Southern France, the Lake District of Northern England (Calum’s home), and the souks of Morocco.

In 2006 our paths brought us both back to Rome, where I remained for nearly two years before moving back to the US for a position with the UN in New York.

Thus began another year of e-mails, phone calls and vacations together until, while in England celebrating his April 2009 birthday together, Calum proposed to me on bended knee.

Wedding Planning

Having become engaged in April and aiming to marry in October, we had six months to organize our wedding. I found the timeframe to be quite daunting until a few big things were out of the way – especially finding my dress (which I found on the first afternoon I looked), choosing a reception site and booking a photographer.

While we viewed many lovely venues for the reception, choosing the Brandon Inn was actually one of the easiest, and best, decisions we made. The Inn was exactly what Calum and I were looking for –a true country feel, complete with a traditional pub (very popular during the reception), loads of space for dinner, dancing and sitting by the fireplace while catching up with old friends, lovely grounds for taking beautiful photos outside, and wonderful food and lovely hosts.

Having looked at my own mother and father’s wedding photo album countless times. It was very important to me to find a photographer to capture wonderful moments of our wedding day as well. Adam Frehm was exactly the photographer that I was looking for. With his extremely relaxed and unobtrusive manner, Adam managed to capture a most amazing collection of beautiful and loving images from our day - photos that now decorate our walls and bookshelves, and which I never tire of looking at.

Advice for Future Brides:

My advice to couples who are planning their weddings probably boils down to three basic ideas:

The better organized you are, the more straight-forward wedding planning will be (and the easier it will be to identify areas where people can help).

Many people will want to help with your wedding preparation, both to ease the workload and to be a part of your special day - let them help - (though perhaps with specific jobs you may want to stay in control of the whole process). I am fortunate to have a very talented family, who were a great help to me. My mother brewed and bottled homemade liqueurs for our wedding favors; one cousin painstakingly hand-stitched a beautiful mantilla veil to match my dress; another cousin prepared a delicious traditional English wedding cake, in honor of my British husband and his family.

Don’t lose sight of what the day is all about – the love and commitment between you and your future spouse. Some carefully planned detail is bound to go awry at the last minute (we had a few); don’t let yourself get distressed if that happens. Enjoy your day, and celebrate in the love and happiness being shared by the family and friends surrounding you.

Vermont Bride Magazine - Vermont's Most Trusted Wedding Resource Since 1990

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