Name | Duncan & Elaine
Date | 08.17.13
Wedding | The Lodge at Millstone Hill
Vermont wedding photographers | Scott & Penny
Vermont Wedding Photography
Back in December we received a wedding inquiry from Elaine and Duncan who lived in Ireland. Our first thought was let’s go to Ireland for a destination wedding, but Elaine was born in Vermont and our state holds a special place in her heart. Elaine and Duncan were coming to the states to get married on August 17, 2013 with the wedding taking place at The Lodge at Millstone Hill in Websterville, VT. We can only imagine how hard it was for Elaine and Duncan to plan a wedding from Ireland. After several emails and a phone consultation we had a pretty good idea of how the day was going to go.
Fast forward to the wedding day. We arrived at the Millstone a little bit before 2 pm with the ceremony to start at 3 pm. With guest roaming about and looking at all the Polaroids of Elaine and Duncan’s adventures we started capturing the details of the reception tent.
As 3 o’clock was approaching we headed down to the ceremony site where Duncan was waiting for Elaine to walk down the aisle. From around the corner Elaine appeared with her father to make the walk to her future husband. With family and friends watching on, the violinist began to play Bon Jovi’s Living On A Prayer. This certainly isn’t the typical song to be played as the bride walks down the aisle, but years back after attending an annual wine tasting for charity in Indianapolis, Elaine & Duncan went to a dueling piano bar called Howl at the Moon. One of the numbers they played was Living on a Prayer, Duncan suggested it would be a good song for the first dance at their wedding and Elaine had agreed, she later back pedaled because she realized it wasn’t a song you can dance to. As a surprise for Duncan she asked the violinist to learn to play it as she walked down the aisle. Unfortunately Duncan didn’t catch on. As the ceremony moved on and the vows were exchanged there were smiles and happy tears all around. Elaine and Duncan were united in marriage.
After the ceremony the wedding party and guests moved up to the reception area for champagne and canapés. After many hugs and well wishes we set up for the family photos. With family and friends from all over the US and other countries in attendance we had quite the shot list to get through. With the wedding party photos out of the way, Duncan’s best man Neil (who he has been friends with since they were 6 yrs. old) grabbed our shot list from Penny and proceeded to gather the guests and family for the rest of the photos. We were told that in England it is customary for the Best Man to take the lead in gathering everyone together for photos (thanks Neil).
With the family photos finished we joined Elaine and Duncan as they strolled around the grounds reflecting on their special day. During this time we chatted with them as we were interested in how they met and what led them to this day. Elaine and Duncan had met in Indianapolis and found that they both were away from their homes and family. As their courtship carried on over the years there were periods of time where they themselves have lived far apart for each other. While they were apart they would talk on the phone at the end of day to help each other to unwind. Through these periods of time the topics would vary, at one particular point Duncan was following the stock market pretty closely and during these phone calls would tell Elaine about what was going on in the stock market which would make her lull off to sleep. These calls and story’s continued when they were together, after Duncan stopped following the stock market so closely Elaine would ask him to tell her a story in the evening before bed. To this day Elaine requests stories in the evening and Duncan would rather not have to try to think of things to talk about when he’s so tired. We also learned another tidbit of information, the town in England where Duncan is from (Gravesend, Kent) is actually were Pocahontas is buried. As we continued to take photographs of Elaine and Duncan we noticed that the details in Elaine’s dress almost matched Duncan’s tie. As it turns out there is a story behind this as well. Ignoring Elaine’s pleas, Duncan didn’t start shopping for his suit until June of this year. The couple made several trips to Cork City, Ireland and England to try and find a beige suit for the wedding. They found with the formality of suits in England and Ireland they could only find black, grey and navy suits. The search for a beige suit brought them to the US to Perry Ellis calling and begging sale items from multiple states to be sent to Elaine’s parents’ home and the beige suit arrived in the nick of time.
One of Elaine’s requests was to have photos taken on the dirt road the venue was on as she had grown up on that road and used to walk up and down the road as a child.
As we were finishing up we saw the Ben & Jerry’s truck pull in (more on that later) which meant it was time for the reception to get started.
While dinner was being served we snuck away with Elaine’s beautiful bouquet. Elaine had told us she wasn’t planning on having flowers, but her maid of honor Erin surprised her with bouquets and boutonnieres.
After dinner was complete it was time for dessert (Scott’s favorite time). This dessert was not the usual tiered cake but instead Elaine and Duncan chose a sundae bar from Ben & Jerry’s.
After everyone had their fill of ice-cream Erin and Neil had some words to say to the happy couple as well as some special wishes from family and friends that couldn’t be there for their special day. After their speeches Duncan thanked everyone for coming to celebrate with them and asked everyone to join them on the dance floor for the party to begin.
The night wound down for us just after sunset and we truly had a blast capturing Elaine and Duncan’s special day. We wish you two much happiness in the future.
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