Angel & Justin married on wonderful September day at the elegant Inn at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, Vermont. When thinking about planning to elope, they wanted it to feel intimate and deeply personal. You may have seen this elopement featured in Vermont Weddings.
“I was originally thinking ‘lets just carve out a place in the woods and get married in total privacy,’ but then Justin took me to Shelburne Farms and it was just so beautiful and I could see us clear as day getting married there. It was like that stereotypical moment when the bride sees her dress and knows it’s the one, just for the venue instead of the dress! Having Shelburne Farms and the Shelburne Inn as the back drop kind of set the theme for us, because it’s got such great style already.
It’s breathtaking, I’ve been all over Europe and the US and I still think Shelburne Farms is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to, but the inside joke is that I’m always teasing Justin for being a homebody and never planning any of our trips, I always take him places and pick our vacation spots. For years he’d been telling me that he went to this farm as a kid and we should go and I just shrugged it off. When we finally went there I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me! This place is amazing.’“ – Angel
Elements of Harry Potter were woven into several part of the day – Justin wore a Hogwarts pin and read the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone out loud to Angel in the evening. I’m a huge Harry Potter fan as well, so these elements were very touching.
“We both love Harry Potter individually and it was just a happy coincidence that it was a shared love of ours even as adults. Since we’ve known each other since childhood, Harry Potter seems like a mix of our childhood and our present day. We read it ever year! It’s kind of become our compass in life, as trivial as that might sound, we find a lot of meaningful life lessons in those books and we wanted to incorporate that into our marriage as well.” – Angel
Blossoming Bough created a unique, textural, moody and luxurious bouquet of flowers, full of seasonal shapes and subtle color tones. “White, cream and tan, with faint hints of blush, combined with a rose mink protea, touches of black from anemone centers, and pops of deep burgundy dahlias. Rich texture, airiness, and some fun and unusual touches added by botanicals such as feathertop grass, butterfly ranunculus, and naturally whitened woodland ferns.” – Eva
Angel got ready in the Pink Room, and one of my all-time favorite make up artists, Hilary Fay, did an amazing job creating this look.
“I didn’t think I’d be that nervous since it was an elopement but I really really was! I think my favorite moments looking back were before everything got started. Justin and I had a few hours to check into different rooms, and go get coffee and some champagne, and I really loved the anticipation while we were just doing these simple errands, especially since once things get rolling it goes by so quick.” – Angel
After sharing a first look on the grand staircase, they were ready to exchange vows in the lush gardens. Stephen Laurie (who you may recognize from Jessica & Jordan’s Treehouse Elopement) crafted a beautiful ceremony.
“Right after the ceremony when we walked around together and we were both just like “omg! we did it!” We had a long engagement since we were long distance for years, so the moments after we were officially married were surreal.” – Angel
Shelburne Farms is a very large property, so we thought it would be fun to head over to the farmyard to visit the animals and walk some of the grounds. The goats were particularly drawn to Angel and continuously tried to eat her bouquet! I’ve also thought that the farmyard also is a bit reminiscent of imagery associated with Hagrid’s hut.
Champagne and watching the sunset by the water’s edge was magical.
Afterwards, they snuggled up in the library for the night and Justin read the first chapter of Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone (yes with the voices) to Angel while the fire crackled merrily. It was a beautiful moment I’ll always remember.
“We stayed up late in the library and ate cake and played scrabble and just reflected on the entire day, being totally alone for the first time as husband and wife was really special.” – Angel
Angel & Justin live in California, and planned everything remotely. “In hindsight I wish I had given us more time to plan and prepare, because the planning felt rushed. That being said, I loved that every vendor we talked to was totally honest with us and also knew all the other wedding vendors in town. I do think that everything came together more after we chose the photographer. Julia gave us great recommendations and we ended up going with most of them, she knew all the local vendors and once we officially had the venue and the photographer we felt more confident about choosing things like the cake, the flowers, the makeup.
I was so surprised that Julia organized the entire day’s events. I loved that she sent a full days itinerary to me and all the other vendors a couple days before the elopement. I felt like she was a wedding planner and photographer rolled into one. I can’t describe how much stress and anxiety it lifted because I just felt like she was totally in control of the day and making sure things went according to plan. She also felt like a friend. Since we eloped I was lacking the friend or parent to have there for emergency situations or just to remind me of the time, and Julia subtly stepped into that role too. She sewed my dress into my bra like it was no big deal! She was effortlessly personable and it goes without saying that she also took amazing photos.” – Angel
It was such an honor to be there for Angel & Justin.
Venue: Shelburne Farms // Florals: Blossoming Bough // Make Up Artist: Hillary Fay Freelance MUA // Dress: Doen // Suit: Bonobos // Officiant: Stephen Laurie // Cake: Blue House Bake Shop
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