Even though they were from different states, working at Stratton Mountain Resort in Vermont is what brought Sarah and Nick together for the first time. They both fell in love with the mountainous landscape and outdoor beauty, and being the adventurous couple that they are, they made many memories that season together.
One afternoon in December, they went uphill hiking on the mountain with a few close friends. Nick intended to propose at the summit, but since it was relatively slow going, he settled for near the top instead. When they reached the top, they celebrated with the sunset and champagne. Since Sarah had worked in the wedding industry before, she had a clear vision for her own wedding day. They went with a fall-themed destination wedding at The Wilburton, using the natural beauty of Vermont during peak foliage season.
They stuck to a natural color palette of greens and white to make the foliage stand out even more. The ceremony took place on the grand lawn with a gorgeous mountainous landscape in the background. Nick wore socks with coffee cups on them to honor Sarah’s love for coffee, and their pup wore a flower crown. Sarah wrapped her bouquet with her great-grandmother’s (whom she was named after) handkerchief, and they used her grandparent’s wedding cake topper on their cake.
How did you meet?
We met working at Stratton Mountain Resort. Both from out of state (New York City and Connecticut), we both fell in love with the state of Vermont and built a life together. We share a passion for the outdoors whether it be snowboarding, hiking, exploring or hanging out with our puppy Layla.
What is your proposal story?
One afternoon in December 2019, we went uphill hiking on the mountain with a few of our close friends, who were in on the secret. Nick intended to propose at the summit, but Sarah was moving somewhat slow that day and he proposed near the top of the mountain as we were losing daylight! We then celebrated once we reached the top with a bottle of champagne and a beautiful sunset.
Tell us a little a bit about your wedding.
Sarah was a former event coordinator and now a wedding sales manager so she had a vision from the start. We knew we wanted our wedding outside, and not in a traditional ballroom, and since our families and friends were coming from out of town we wanted a location where everyone could stay for the weekend. Using the natural beauty that is Vermont and Manchester during peak foliage season, we went with natural colors, mainly greens and whites and let the foliage do it’s thing! We were thrown a few twists as we had to delay our wedding due to COVID, but we couldn’t have been happier with our Fall wedding.
Tell us about your attire choices.
Sarah wore the Tommy dress by Made with Love Bridal. She added a tulle overlay skirt for the ceremony that she took off for the reception. Purchased at Everthine Bridal. She had her eye on the designer, specifically an A-line dress. When she went to try on dresses at Everthine, she put on the form fitting Tommy dress and fell in love (only went to one store to try on dresses!). Shoes for the ceremony were Nina shoes and changed into Blue Supergas sneakers for the reception, along with a white fur jacket for later in the evening. Nick wore a navy suit, designer Brooks Brothers, tailored by Fern of Pincushion in Manchester. Brown shoes by Cole Haan, and brown leather suspenders engraved his initials.
What was the most important to the two of you while planning? Was there anything that you chose to splurge on or skip?
The Wilburton makes you and your family/friends feel completely at home and welcome for the entire weekend. We rented a majority of the rooms and houses and it was so wonderful to have a property for all of our friends and family to be together for the weekend. One thing that our coordinator Meesha recommended was to have a moment alone directly after the ceremony before doing additional photos or seeing guests. They set up champagne and a selection of our appetizers knowing we wouldn’t get around to eating and it was the perfect time for just the two of us to soak it all in.
What were your favorite parts of the day?
Getting ready with our parties in the Mansion/wilburton houses, first look on the property and having our puppy Layla join us, dancing with our friends and family especially the hora a traditional Jewish dance, listening to the wonderful toasts by our MOH, BM and favor of the bride, cigar bar, first dance that we made our own dance to the week Of the wedding! And our bonfire after party.
Did you include any family heirlooms or special traditions?
Sarah wrapped her bouquet with her great grandmother’s handkerchief, whom she was named after, and we had her grandparents’ wedding cake topper on our cutting cake.
Do you have any advice for couples planning their weddings now?
Don’t sweat the small details and enjoy every minute of your wedding day, it truly goes by so fast. Definitely recommend doing a moment alone right after the ceremony. Try not to let outside opinions dictate your vision, but lean on your family and wedding party for assistance and delegate tasks. If you are doing a destination wedding, plan a weekend of festivities to have extra time with your guests. We started with a welcome party, a day after brunch and because we had a holiday weekend we continued the celebration at Wilburtons sister property Earth Sky Time farm for an outdoor concert!