Sometimes I bring my own camera with me to weddings, and sometimes I do have a chance to snap a few pictures! I often wish I could put up a full blog entry for every wedding, but unfortunately it’s just not possible most of the time. I do have a few pictures in from the photography pros, so I’m hoping to put up specific entries with detailed thoughts about each individual couple’s special day. But for now, I thought I’d take a few minutes for a broader perspective on this year’s weddings. These are all my own pictures, taken before the ceremony, or in one case after we finished, during the reception).
The picture above is at the Mountain Top Inn in April. This is the view from the porch outside the little chalet where the ceremony was. Ashley and Chris chose a flute/harp duo. Their wedding was truly unique – harpist Mary Fran Stafford and I played throughout most of the ceremony, sometimes as a backdrop for the readings and rituals, sometimes to connect the in-between moments. We played a mix of Celtic, Classical, and even some Danish, German and Italian tunes to reflect Ashley and Chris’s heritage.
Next – here are some beautiful arrangements by Alison Ellis, florist extraordinaire, from the June wedding of Jessie and John. I’ll be giving more detail about Jessie and John’s wedding in another blog entry – along with some gorgeous pictures by Kathleen North Porter of North Photography. This wedding was at The Ponds at Bolton Valley, and Jessie and John chose “Turidae” flute/harp duo – here I played with my daughter Mariah – more details to come!
And below – I really wanted to get a shot of the arch with the flowers AND the gorgeous lake in the background, but my camera couldn’t handle the lighting to get both at once – or perhaps I’m not a good enough photographer to get both. In any case, I have here 2 pictures from the same location. This is from “The Loft” in the barn, again at the Mountain Top Inn, this time at Elsie and Stephan’s wedding in July.
Elsie and Stephan had hoped to be outdoors for the ceremony, but the rain and the forecast were pretty intense that day – in the middle of that very wet and thundery weather last summer – but I can’t say that the ceremony site here was much of a disappointment! Elsie and Stephan chose Turidae flute/violin duo, with my daughter Mariah playing violin for this one. They’re very unique special request was to have a Minstrel Walk from the ceremony site to the reception site! At first, it was looking like this would be cancelled due to weather, but by the time the ceremony was finished heads were put together with an eye on the weather, and the Minstrel Walk happened after all! There was a light mist, but I had brought my plastic flute just in case, and whipped it out right after the ceremony, and led the wedding couple and guests to the reception site at the lake you see in the picture a half mile below.
And below are Liz and Mike from Passeri flute/violin/cello trio, warming up for Catherine and Nick’s August wedding. Catherine sent me a thank you note with the pro photographer’s pictures from her honeymoon later in August – so I’ll definitely be putting up a detailed blog entry soon (as well as updating my testimonials page)! In the meantime, you can click here for a New York Times article about their wedding.
And the lovely Stowe Community Church from the outside.
And below is Mariah, setting up for Grace and Patrick’s wedding the next day. Am I fortunate or what – travelling to such fabulously beautiful places to make music with awesome people. Grace and Patrick chose Turidae flute/violin duo. They had some standard requests and some unique requests. For the wedding party processional, they opted for “When You Wish Upon a Star,” which worked beautifully as processional! For Grace’s processional, they opted for the traditional Pachelbel Canon in D, and for recessional the Beatles “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.”
I loved this hidden away spot below, on the Connecticutt River behind the Chieftain Inn in Hanover, NH.
Finally – a picture that Malone approved of! Below, Elizabeth and Marc’s September wedding. Here we are at the Curtis Vance Memorial Orchard in Danville. Elizabeth and Marc chose flute/violin/cello trio. In this case, the violinist was Raymond Malone and the cellist Paul Perley. One special request was that we accompany 2 vocalist friends – Joe and Cory – on the song “The Prayer.” The pictures below were snapped with my camera by Cory, the soprano – many thanks to Cory! I ran out of time to take pictures of the scenery.
Apples and orchards are a big deal in my family. Some of my earliest memories are of hide and seek in my grandparents’ apple barn, and running up and down the stairs in the apple tower, looking out at their orchards, and of course eating the apples, sauce, pie, cider, etc. We don’t say “do you want an apple” in my family – we say – “do you want a honeycrisp or a spy?” So playing in an orchard does hold a little nostalgia for me.
Elizabeth and Marc wanted a classic feel, but complemented classic choices with very unique choices for mid-ceremony music. Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring escorted the wedding party, Pachelbel Canon in D for the bride, and Bach’s Gigue from the Suite in D for recessional. In addition to “The Prayer” during the ceremony, Elizabeth’s Mom made a special request for the hymn “I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry” during a special ritual of watering an apple tree.
And below is the wedding site for Madeleine and Ed’s Windsor wedding, with Mount Ascutney in the background. Madeleine made the special request for our flute/violin/cello trio, Passeri (Liz Reid violin, Mike Close cello) to play the Pachelbel Canon continuously for the entire wedding party and for herself. The wedding party arrived up the driveway by truck, and made their way across the hillside to the ceremony site. Jackie Watson of Vermont Enchanted Events was the wedding planner for this one – kudos Jackie!
I couldn’t resist snapping these kids below after we finished playing for cocktail hour. Vermont is truly the most wonderful place on earth, and I feel truly blessed to be immersed in it’s beauty from so many angles, and to share in so many amazing moments in people’s lives.
