Stephanie and Dave's Mountaintop Wedding in Ludlow, Vt.
Every year, Okemo Mountain Resort hosts many weddings, but just one or two at the top of the mountain. We felt incredibly lucky to photograph this year's only mountaintop wedding, not only because of the setting, but because of the couple who chose to have their wedding there.
Stephanie definitely won my award for favorite smile this year (you may remember last year's winner, the lovely Kimmie ), for the way that she kept everyone around her grinning uncontrollably, and her overflowing excitement from the time she and Dave booked us last year had me really looking forward to their wedding day. Dave, with his quick humor and impeccable dance moves kept that smile on her face, and kept the party running!
Dave is a manager at Okemo, and because of this, was able to choose his favorite parts of the sprawling ski resort to plan their wedding- after the mountaintop wedding, the party moved down to Epic, an intimate venue with ample porch area for guests to spend time outside, and a great dance floor where everyone enjoyed themselves.
Some of our favorite parts of the day:
- To get to the top, Stephanie, Dave, and all their guests took a chairlift to the top. It was really fun to watch as seasoned skiers and chairlift greenhorns alike learned how to board the lift in the summer while wearing fancy clothes.
- There's a certain bit of weather luck that accompanies an outdoor wedding, especially one that centers around a mountaintop experience. With sun for days before and during their wedding, all Stephanie and Dave had to worry about was how to climb around with their fancy shoes.
- We've never seen a groom dance as well as Dave did when the DJ started playing Billie Jean, and he hit the dance floor solo, with a perfect impersonation of Michael Jackson- moonwalk and all!
- In the midst of the planning process, Stephanie sent me a candid photograph of her mother on her wedding day, saying that photos like this- showing her carefree, unposed, and happy, were the most most important photos to her and her family. Because of this, we spent the entire day focusing only on what we do best- the unplanned moments that make a wedding truly special. We photographed groups only when requested, and it lent for a very laid-back day!
