Our Adirondack Wedding – Part 1
Posted By Jessica |
25. Apr, 2009
5 Comments
It’s nearly a year later and I’m finally getting around to writing our wedding recap. I hope I can do justice to all of the details, but in short, it was small, casual, and in Lake Placid – our dream wedding.
Dave and I always knew we wanted to get married in Lake Placid. Really, the decision was made for us the day we completed the Northville-Placid trail together in 2004. At the risk of sounding cheesy, that hike is truly the beginning of our story – it’s when we fell in love, and when I fell in love with the Adirondacks.
So, after we found ourselves engaged (that’s a post for another day, but it’s sufficient to say that it happened sort of … accidentally) it felt natural to start planning our Adirondack wedding.
To start, our families are bi-coastal – Dave is from Amsterdam, NY and I’m from San Diego, CA. And, well, we live in Boston. Muddling the situation even further was our insistence on a SMALL wedding in Lake Placid.
Wedding Dilemma #1: How to include everyone in our celebration without compromising what kind of wedding we really wanted.
Solution: the Great Wedding Tour of ‘08.
Instead of one big shindig, we had four (yes, four!) smaller parties – one in Amsterdam for Dave’s family; the ‘real’ wedding in Lake Placid for family and close friends; a party in Boston for all of our friends; and, finally, a party in San Diego for my family. It wasn’t cheap, and it was EXHAUSTING, but in the end it was the best way for us to celebrate our marriage.
The beauty of this set-up was that I was able to hand off the planning of the Amsterdam and San Diego parties to our moms. We just had to show up. And the Boston party was a piece of cake to plan since all we cared about was good food and drink, good music (IPod!), and a nice place to chill for an evening. This allowed us to focus on what was arguably the most important event of the Tour – the actual wedding in Lake Placid.
Early on, I had the idea of renting out a lakeside camp where our families could stay and where Dave and I would get married. I had visions of cookouts, lawn games, kayaking, canoeing, hiking, swimming… and a beautiful little ceremony surrounded by those closest to us. And guess what? That’s exactly what happened. Dave and I agree that, hands down, it was the best week of our lives. Everyone was relaxed and had so much FUN. Or at least that’s what it looked like.
Being stuck in Boston, I had to begin my search for the perfect camp online. I immediately turned to ADKbyowner.com. In the past, ADK By Owner had provided me with ample day-dreaming material – on slow days at work I would peruse the listings of sweet little lakeside retreats that were selling for a fraction of the price of our tiny (but adorable) home in Boston. This time, however, I narrowed my search to vacation rentals in Lake Placid that could accommodate 12 people … and a wedding. Lots of camps were large enough, but not everyone was willing to let us have a wedding on the property, no matter how small (final count was only 21 people). I responded to multiple ads and ended up corresponding with a rental agent from Merrill Thomas who agreed to show us several camps the next time we were in Lake Placid.
Our annual Labor Day Weekend trip to Lake Placid was the perfect opportunity to look at places since my parents would be in town as well. As promised, we looked at 5 or 6 camps over the course of the weekend.
In the end, we had a clear winner: Point of View. It was the perfect lakeside location with a boathouse, sprawling lawn, lots of private living space… and a ping pong room!
We quickly decided on a date and Important Wedding Decision #1 was in the books. Relieved to have the first major decision behind us – and with nearly a year to go before the wedding – I allowed myself to take an extended break from planning and dream of this…
Love it! Post more pics
I loved your descriptions,pictures, and concept of a progressive wedding. As a society maybe we should have the institution reversed or at least reconsidered as you have done. Instead of one event-many, small and intimate rather than large, more humble rather myth based, to share with close friends in consideration of the aged or other who cannot travel.
In birth,marriage,and death, special occasions need to be shared by many. One place is ofen just not enough. My mother died several days ago and her children are taking her on her final journey whose ashes and celebration of her life will take her to three states and two continents where in different language,places,and people will provide the echo.
Hi Francis,
Thanks so much for your comment. I am so sorry to hear about your mother. My thoughts go out to you and your family.
I could not agree more about reconsidering the concept of the modern wedding. Too often I hear of people focusing on the wedding, rather than the marriage – and the “details” of family and friends get lost in the sea of tulle and party favors.
One of the most unforgettable moments of our wedding was calling my grandmother in California right before the ceremony. She no longer travels, so could not be there in person, but she listened by phone to the entire ceremony. I was nervous and overcome by emotion, but I managed to dial her number and say, “Hi, Grandma – it’s showtime!” We put the phone down right next to us and she was able to hear the whole thing. It meant everything to me. And, of course, she was there to celebrate with us when we had our reception a few weeks later in San Diego.
I hope you and your family find peace in the weeks to come.
Take care,
Jess
Thanks so much for posting this! I’m in the middle of the exact same dilemma – my fiance’s family lives in Alaska, my family lives in the Adirondacks, and we both currently live in Pennsylvania. We keep saying that we want something very simple, fun and relaxing for everyone involved up here – but we’ve been having a hard time finding a place that fits that bill (surprisingly!) My fiance and I love your ideas though and I think we might do a similar spin-off. Thanks again and I’d love to hear any other tips!
Hi Becky,
Thanks for posting – so glad you found it useful! It’s definitely a different situation to be in, especially if you want to keep your wedding small and simple. Feel free to post more specific questions here, or email me directly at jessica@townsandtrails.com. I’d be happy to help.
Congratulations to you both!
Jess