Planning your wedding – the first steps

February 13, 2014

You’re engaged, congratulations!  Where do you begin to create a beautiful elegant rustic New England wedding?  We hope this post, the first in a series, will help you with the first steps.

 

Engaged at Riverside Farm

photo by Susan Stripling

FIRST STEPS
The first step in building your wedding plan should be securing your wedding venue.  Wedding sites are typically booked one to two years in advance, so you won’t want to wait too long.

 

Riverside Farm Vermont Wedding - Reception DInner

The Stonewell Wedding Barn at Riverside Farm – photo Barrie Fisher Photographers

 

WHAT SHOULD YOU CONSIDER
What should you consider when choosing your New England wedding location.  Our first piece of advice may not be what you expect.  The most important factor in choosing your wedding location is that you LOVE it!  Everything else in your wedding plan will be influenced by the wedding venue, look at photos, visit the site, talk to the planning team and just make sure the wedding location you choose feels right.  Not all Vermont or New England  “wedding barns” are alike.

 

On a practical note you’ll need to decide how many guests you expect.  If you’re planning a destination Vermont wedding find out about lodging options and about locations available for each of your wedding weekend events. A typical destination wedding at Riverside Farm will feature:

 

*A welcome dinner (often our Red Barn)
*A space for the bridal party to prepare (our quaint red Bridal suite cottage)
*A space for the groomsmen, family and friends to get ready (our rustic woodsy Grooms Cabin )
*A ceremony site (we have several beautiful wedding ceremony spots indoors in our barns and outdoors in our meadow or woods)
*A  cocktail hour (weather permitting a tent in our meadow is lovely for this)
*A reception dinner and dancing (often in our own Stonewell Barn)
*A farewell brunch

 

Vermont Wedding Location - The Red Barn at Riverside

The “Red Barn” at Riverside Farm – photo Riverside Farm

 

Getting ready for the wedding in the Bridal cottage at Riverside Farm

The Bridal cottage at Riverside Farm – photo Melissa Mullen

 

The woodsy Groom's Cabin

The Groom’s Cabin – photo Dave Robbins

 

Outdoor wedding site surrounded by the Green Mountains

Our Vermont Wedding Meadow – photo Pam Cooley

 

Elegant Vermont Wedding Reception Site

Riverside Farm’s Stonewell Barn – photo Jose Villa

You may also plan seasonal activities based on the interests of your guests, from tubing down the white river to a Golf or ski outing, to a last minute DIY craft session by a cozy fire.  Once you’ve chosen your perfect Vermont Farm wedding location and secured the date you can take a deep breath and start to think about your guest lists and vendors.  We’ll talk about that in out next post.

 

To find out more about a wedding at Riverside Farm or Amee Farm call or e mail liz@riversidefarmvermont.com [cbs_phone]

 

READ MORE:

How to choose your wedding barn venue.

More expert advice.