Dave & I spend most of our time focusing on other peoples’ weddings, but with Valentine’s Day just around the corner I am feeling sentimental and remembering our wedding day so I thought I’d share some details from my Vermont wedding with you. We had our ceremony and reception at Kingsland Bay State Park over Labor Day weekend in 2003. Most of our guests were from out-of-state so we made a weekend of it with a BBQ welcome reception on Friday evening, rehearsal dinner on Saturday night, a Sunday afternoon wedding and a Monday morning brunch for out-of-town guests. I was definitely a DIY bride when it came to planning which is probably why I always advise my brides to delegate! Our wedding style was Gatsby-inspired with a bit of Asian flair.
I arrived with my parents. My dad carried my train & my mom looked too cute for words.
We had a Sunday wedding with a simple chuppah which we made by hanging a vintage sari (something borrowed) from the trees. The sunflowers on the corners added the perfect touch!
Our guests released butterflies after the ceremony.
My dress was made by a seriously talented friend who saw to all the details. When I saw this buttery yellow fabric I thought it was perfect, but as far as the actual design of the dress–that was up to my dressmaker, Kathleen. We used my grandmother’s wedding dress for the train (my something old) and a kimono for the ceremony also featured some of my grandmother’s dress. The headpiece and straps of my dress were made of 14k gold thread from India. To seriously gild the lily Kathleen sewed our names, our wedding date and the words, “and they lived happily ever after”, inside my dress in baby blue thread (my something blue). I don’t think it could have been any more special. My mother-in-law made my necklace & bracelet of Venetian glass & pearls (something new) and I wore the silver, gold and pearl earrings that were the first “jewelry gift” Dave got for me in college. His pocket square was made from a piece of material from my dress as were two little bags for our rings.
Black and white photos are just fun so I included a few here. We found someone who had an antique Model-T that just happened to match my dress. When we went to see the car I knew it would be perfect. A couple of months after our wedding we ended up moving a block away from the owner in Jericho!
We brewed & bottled our own beer and rootbeer, then designed personalized labels. Dave’s beer, Ellis Elixir, featured his favorite Jimi Hendrix album cover and Al’s Ale, the bride’s brew, displayed an image that my dad drew for the invitations to my parents’ wedding (he made 3 different invitations for their wedding and the rootbeer label was also one of his designs). Our theme for the invitations and programs was love, love, love–think Beatles and sing it!–so it seemed apropos that the smile says LOVE .
This group shot was taken just before we hit the buffet.
My friend, Theresa, created all of the beautiful flowers. She knows my style and is extremely talented so she needed little input from me. I had considered doing my own flowers, but quickly realized that meant I would never be done planning until the day of my wedding and I wanted to enjoy the plans we’d made with our guests! It was such a nice surprise to see all the beautiful details she arranged for us. I had 2 bouquets because I simply could not choose what I wanted to carry and I still remember how fresh our centerpieces looked. I cut celosia, lisianthus & sunflowers from an organic farm I was working on at the time, Clay Brook Farm (which is also located in the town where we now live!), as well as some fresh herbs and chive blossoms. If you’ve been following my blog you may have seen my DIY instructions for the chive blossom vinegar we made for our wedding favors.
Thanks for strolling down memory lane with me today! A few wedding players deserve a mention…Catering by Dale was on site to create an amazing buffet that some of our friends and family still talk about. David’s suit, which I often refer to as the best investment we ever made, was from Michael Kehoe in Burlington. We got our cakes from Mirabelle’s (we had chocolate for the groom’s cake and a traditional white cake with raspberry filling as well), Lunaroma created a custom fragrance for me, which I still wear and love…and Karen Pike was our photographer.
