Love Story Summer 2008

Tijah (DeBono) & Adam Hammond

August 11, 2007
Burlington/Colchester, Vermont
at the beautiful Hampton Inn

HOW WE MET:

Our story begins from the age of 15. I had spent the day loading hay into a horse barn with Adam's Dad and brother. The barn is named Destiny Morgan Farm so it must have been destined for us meet. After an exhausting couple of hours, a few of us were invited to head up to his house and take a dip in the pool. We were all hanging around the pool and having some snacks when I saw him for the first time. He was peeking through the window trying to get a glimpse. His younger sister Emily gave us a tour of the house and so we were introduced. There was an immediate attraction. From that night on, we were talking on the phone everyday getting to know one another. About 2 weeks later, I headed off to Massachusetts for a horse show. He was able to come down with my mother and see me show. That evening, we were sitting outside gazing at the stars. It was quiet, just the two of us under the moonlight when he asked me to be his girlfriend.

HOW WE GOT ENGAGED:

After high school, we both went to college together in NY. Once we graduated, I was offered a job in CT and accepted it. Adam decided to stay in VT as he was working for the family business. Either he or I made the long 4 1/2 hour drive every weekend to see each other. It was 8 years and 1 day after we met that he proposed. We had taken a day trip to a beach in Rhode Island. We had dinner on the beach and then took a stroll down the coast. He had a bag with him which I thought was maybe a blanket. As the sun set over the ocean, we came to a quiet spot. Out of his bag, he pulled out a cd player and he played our song “Lady in Red.” It was a perfect moment. Just he and I dancing barefoot in the sand as the sun set. After the song was over, he dropped on his knee. After he proposed and we both stood up, there were fireworks going off in the distance. It was incredibly romantic. On our way back home, we had to call everyone since only my dad knew. Nine months later, we bought a house and I moved back to the familiar state of VT.

MOST MEMORABLE DETAILS:

A few days before our wedding, I meet my brother at a local restaurant. I walked in, and what looked to be his wife turned out to be my sister from Malta (an Island in the Mediterranean where my dad is from). I was completely shocked as she told me she was not going to be able to attend. One of my nephews grabbed my hand and took me to another booth where my brother-in-law was sitting with a menu covering his face. He hadn’t been to the States in 22 years. This was a huge surprise as only 2 people knew about it. Their daughter had come weeks earlier and was my bridesmaid attendant. Also, my cousin from Australia was able to come with his family. It was wonderful having them all there! We had our rehearsal dinner on the upper deck of ECHO at the Leahy Center. We invited around 65 people where we ate Bove’s food (VT’s famous spaghetti), enjoyed friends & family and danced the night away watching the most brilliant sunset over Lake Champlain.

The night before our wedding day, Adam surprised me with beautiful diamond earrings that I had fallen in love with months before. Besides my engagement and wedding rings, the earrings were the only other piece of jewelry that I wore on my wedding day. In the morning, one of the groomsmen brought me a dozen white roses and in the card was written a message from Adam which said “I’ll see you at the Alter.” It was a magical start to our wedding day.

I’ll never forget the moments just before I walked down the isle. As the wedding party started to walk down the isle, I peeked through the door and saw Adam standing there. I was so excited! I had waited 9 years for this day. Everyone kept saying how they couldn’t believe how calm I was. I made a decision before hand, I was not going to sweat the small stuff but just enjoy the day! The only thing I was nervous about was crying tears of joy as I walked up the isle. You wait your whole life for this moment and then all of the sudden; there you are marring the man of your dreams with all of your family and friends watching. As my father and I walked down, my dad kept talking to me so I wouldn’t tear. When we got to the end of the aisle, I had both my mom and dad give me away. During our ceremony, my brother Tony sung “The Prayer” by Josh Groban. It was such a special touch and we got so many compliments.

After the ceremony, we headed down to the waterfront for pictures with our wedding party. It was a picture perfect day. The sun was shining without a single cloud in the sky. We then headed up to the reception where we celebrated our marriage with 170 of our closest family and friends. Our wonderful photographers –Linda and Joe from RaidenShine captured great memories as Adam and I danced the night away. We were also able to get some great family photos. I come from a large family and we are spread throughout the world. For the first time in at least 15 years, all 8 of my siblings were together. All of my aunts and uncles were there except for one. All of Adam’s siblings plus all of his aunts and uncles from both sides were there. We had guests come from Malta, Australia, Calgary, AZ, TX, MA, NH, NY, FL, CT, and VA. It was truly a fairytale wedding!

PLANNING ADVICE:

As you already know, planning a wedding can be very stressful. You are planning possibly the biggest day of your life and on top of that, you’ve got to feed and entertain guests. Make sure to book the main things first such as ceremony location, reception location, caterer, DJ, photographer, florist, etc. You will have time to work on details later. Be organized and don’t procrastinate! You don’t want to spend the month before your wedding stressed out and making big decisions. You are going to have many people giving you advice. It is okay to listen to what they have to say, just remember that you make the decisions in the end.

Don’t be afraid to ask family and friends for help. Always keep in mind what this day is about. You are committing yourself in marriage to your future husband. On your wedding day, keep calm and be flexible. Not everything is going to go 100% as planned. Smile and enjoy yourself. Everyone’s eyes are on you the whole day so don’t sweat the small stuff. The biggest piece of advice that I could give is to stop, look around and take everything in every few minutes. The day does go quickly but you don’t want it to be a blur. By doing this, I think back and can remember every minute of the day. Enjoy your new husband and all of your friends and family that get to share it with you!

TESTIMONY:

I found Vermont Bride (both the magazine and internet) to be very useful. I enjoyed reading stories of new brides and hearing what meant the most to them. They list many wedding professions which definitely made planning a Vermont wedding that much easier.

Index of Love Stories at Vermont Bride Magazine