How To Style An Eclectic Vermont Lodge Wedding

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Call me a moth to the flame but sparklers are magic in my mind. Anytime we see a wedding with some sort of fireworks it’s a burst in my heart, and these whimsical, colorful, lodge wedding from Vermont is no exception!

It can be hard to pull off an eclectically styled wedding, no? An assortment of colors, florals, mix and match bridesmaids, different gowns from different eras – it’s no easy task! Erin executed her eclectic wedding design so flawlessly. From her ‘maids showing off their own personalities with individually chosen emerald gowns to their varied color palette, from the Austrian styled venue in the Northeast woods to two very different, very fun wedding dresses.

Speaking of which, our creative, resourceful bride queen Erin has some seriously admirable advice in the wedding dress shopping arena. Buying both gowns for less than $100 on consignment (gasp!) Erin shows us how stylish you can truly be without spending loads. With a bit of research and some excellent tailoring, you absolutely can find your dream dress at any price point – we applaud you, Erin!

Our Love Story

I spotted Ross on the bus my freshman year of college and commented to one of my best friends that he was pretty cute. Three years later, I was at that same friend’s room for our weekly show night and she mentioned that the boy I had pointed out freshman year lived in her building. She found out what his name was and we ran to check him out on Facebook. She had me sign in to my account so we could check him out, and then promptly got me out of the way to type his name in and hit “Friend Request” for me. I chased her around her apartment for a while but she knew best – thanks, Colleen!

Ross wrote me a message like “Hi, do I know you?” and with the help of Colleen and a half hour later I wrote a message back something like “No, but I’ve seen you around and you look interesting, want to get coffee?” We did got that coffee and ended up hitting it off.

The Proposal From Ross: We were on a family trip to Hawaii and I had been planning on proposing during the trip. I carried the ring with me the whole trip, waiting for the right moment, with the whole family there though it was hard to find the right time. The final night, while at the rooftop bar in Waikiki, I almost built up the nerve to ask in front of everybody, but the moment never came!

I ended up proposing in our hotel room while packing to go back to New York! It was very us and still very romantic – it made the trip home much more fun too.

The Dresses & Attire

My dress was a last minute decision switch. Originally, I was going to wear a red Catherine Deane dress but came across a consignment dress I really loved. I wanted a dress that added flare in photos and when I saw the bottom of this dress I knew it was perfect. I’m not sure who the designer is as there is no label but the quality of the dress is amazing. I had it altered 4 days before the wedding and away I went.

I wanted my reception & dancing dress to have some flair for photos also and found a killer vintage Kathryn Conover beaded dress (also consignment). For me, transforming quality pre-owned dresses with a great seamstress & tailor is really fun and feels just as good as buying new. My wedding dress was $75 consignment, and my party dress was $15 consignment – I include this just as an example that you do not have to spend too much to find dresses that look great and will photograph really well. That being said, always choose what feels best for you!

Ross has his own sense of style, I requested that he stay in the blue family and let him go off on his own. For the bridesmaids, I chose an emerald teal color in my palette which was also my best friends favorite color. I found an amazing Tadashi Shoji dress I thought she would love and that was that! My bridesmaids picked their own styles in the same color family. I love how the different styles show their personalities in the photos – they were a vision!

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The Venue

We really wanted our wedding location to be a place where our family would have a great time in a unique atmosphere with awesome food, drinks, and music.

Ross and I lived in Vermont for a year and Waterbury is one of our favorite places to hang out. We thought the wedding would be a perfect way to get all of our favorite people together in our favorite area. The Stowehof was built in 1945 and was inspired by Austrian architecture which really comes through. Throughout the building is reclaimed materials the architect used so everywhere you look there is something really unique and interesting to find.

For our wedding design choices, I wanted to play off of the building’s original Austrian inspiration and pulled a bright color palette of greens, reds, blues, and oranges together by scouring through old time period posters.

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Favorite Moments

Ross – It’s tough to pick a favorite part of the wedding day, it was all just so great, it feels hazy looking back on it. From starting the day at The Alchemist Brewery, to the mid-morning Volleyball game, to the fun photo sessions with the bridal party, the ceremony, reception, dinner, and after-party! It was all so much fun! Just seeing everyone I love enjoying the day as much as Erin and I, really made me happy and feel very lucky to have such a great group to start this new chapter with.

Erin – I would agree with Ross and just add a few! My dad forgot his suit pants at home (3.5 hours away) and realized it a few hours before the ceremony – it made for a scary yet funny addition to the day. While keeping it a secret from my mom, staff, friends, and family, helped my dad play musical pants to try on and called local shops. Luckily the Stowe Resort came through and he found a pair but it was a close call. Dancing with my dad, Ross, and then friends and family to our favorite songs was a blast. My brother arranged with his best friends to bring in fireworks that were a surprise which was awesome!

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The Photography

Finding the right photographer was really important to me. I wanted to find someone with an artistic eye, I searched and searched, and as soon as I found Molly and saw some photoshoots she had done previously I moved her right to the top of my list and crossed my fingers she would be available – luckily she was!

Ross and I are about a zero on the PDA scale so we were not sure what the photography experience would be like. Molly and (her now fiancé) Josh were a dream to work with and we really enjoyed all the time we spent with them. We became fast friends and it was an awesome experience to work with such positive talented people and have them a part of our day.

The Flowers

I really wanted to find a floral designer with an artistic eye for the bouquets and boutonnieres. I was so happy to find Erin from Nectar and Root who was in nearby Burlington. Erin is a visionary with flowers, we had a few inspiration session phone calls and I was blown away by the flowers when they arrived. I could not have imagined more perfect flowers to fit my style.

For the event flowers, I had purchased about 12 flower groupings from my local flower farm and brought vases I had gathered. I woke up early in the morning on the wedding day to work on the arbor with my dad and it was one of my favorite memories. I had a lot of flowers left over that I did not use and the Stowehof staff took the liberty to use them in the dinner area – they are a multitalented group of people and made some stunning creations.

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Photo by Molly Lichten Photography via Bridal Musings

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Photo by Molly Lichten Photography via Bridal Musings

The Dance Party

The music was my responsibility (Ross). Right after proposing, I began working on several playlists for the wedding. I’ve always enjoyed making playlists for people, and I saw this as the ultimate challenge!

We already had kind of picked “our song”; “Summer Skeletons” by Radical Face. We always really loved this song and thought the lyrics went well with how we met and our mindsets.

As for the guests arriving at the ceremony, I wanted a lot of Andrew Bird and Balmorhea. I really like all the violins and classical styling of their songs, without feeling too generic wedding song-y. I remember hearing “Yawny at the Apocalypse” by Andrew Bird right before I saw Erin for the first time, and it really captured how I was feeling. Lots of swirling and excitement, but calm and peaceful at the same time.

The dance playlist was the most important for Erin and she was very harsh on my first few lists. I tend to like quieter and slow songs and she didn’t think Bob Dylan was really appropriate dance music. We ended up agreeing on an awesome list of songs that everyone really enjoyed! We started slow with some Oldies (James Brown, Elvis, DEVO) and ended with a few of our favorites (Grimes, Crystal Castles, M83).