Today was a wedding I was looking forward to: Angela and James from Rhode Island. They decided to get married in Vermont because they both grew up here and fell in love here; and as much as they enjoy living in Providence, it felt special to come back to the Green Mountains to say The Dos.

When they first contacted me, they said they’d be making a film in an apple orchard for their ceremony. This sounded nothing but intriguing. I couldn’t wait. However, it proved a little too complex for their schedule, so they decided to get married at a coffee shop instead – specifically Muddy Waters, a dark, cozy place with a very handmade feel. In fact, from the inside, it kind of looks like it grew there, rather than got built.

When I drove into town, I was a little unsure about where I might find parking, even on a quiet Sunday afternoon. But, much to my surprise, there was one spot available on a very coveted, and usually packed, block of Main Street – right in front of Muddy Waters!

I walked in and immediately picked out Angela and James, who looked just like they were ready for a funky coffeeshop wedding. And they really wanted it right there. In the booth.

James, Sculptor and Angela, Bar Manager

I sat down and we started chatting while waiting for the photographer. They were hilarious. I’d love to move to Providence and hang out with them all the time. Then, another Happy Coincidence occurred.

I am not psychic. I do not claim to be psychic. However, when it comes to weddings I do have inexplicably good sartorial karma. While I ask most couples what their wedding colors are, and work hard to wear something that goes with the color scheme, sometimes I don’t ask – and end up picking exactly the right thing anyway. I showed up once for a wedding of two women at Shelburne Farms. For no particular reason, I wore a bright orange dress, and it turned out one of the brides was wearing a dress EXACTLY the same color. This happens a lot.

Today, I did something I would never normally do for a wedding. I threw on a pair of fishnets. Over orange tights, no less. I didn’t even know I had this pair of fishnets until I started digging through my basket of tights. But I knew that Angela and James were probably pretty non-traditional, and it would likely work well with whatever they had going on.

Turns out Angela was also wearing fishnets.

Legs!

SO! Then the photographers show up – Monica and Judd from Eve Event Photography. I worked with them a few years ago at the wedding of Amber and Kara, and the petals banner at the top of this website is a detail from a photo they took of that ceremony:

Petals. Lots and lots of petals.

It also happens that I use the petals banner at the top of the page when I print out a copy of the ceremony to give to my couples. Monica saw the text of the ceremony and said, “Hey! I recognize that photo!” I’d completely forgotten the connection until she said it. Thankfully, she was fine with (and kind of tickled by) my using the detail that way.

Hey! I recognize that photo!

Finally, after a great deal of beer, we launched into the ceremony. Right there at the table. Hopefully Monica and Judd got some good shots that they’ll pass along. We used my standard ceremony, with just one little tweak. They weren’t exchanging rings. Right after the ceremony, they were going over to Yankee Tattoo to get rings inked onto their fingers instead. Most people intend to get married for life, but I have to say that an ink tattoo is definitely a serious commitment!

“It really is a small world! I’m still going to buy lotto tickets…
Thank you so much, yesterday was pretty much perfect.”

Anyway, a memorable afternoon with two really fun couples. I’d make weddings with these folks any old time!

P.S. I posted about this little event on my Facebook page and a friend wrote in immediately:

And then I found the original post:

I love Vermont.