It’s easy to forget with all the frantic planning, designing and decision making that a wedding is about two people, and two families, coming together.  In this wedding at The Mount from 2011 you’ll see that Amanda and Jeff Turcotte never lost sight of that. Their wedding was full of sweet personal details, classic vintage styling, and the love and support of family and friends. My favorite part is the way they chose to include Amanda’s three daughters in every aspect of the day. Keep scrolling to read Amanda’s perspective on the day and swoon over these beautiful shots from Eric Laurits Photography.

So, how did you and Jeff meet?

“This a classic case of boy meets girl, North meets South, heavy metal meets classical. Jeff grew up north of Boston in Lowell, Mass and I was born in Winchester, Virginia, and moved to Huntsville, Alabama, when I was 5.  Our paths crossed while we were both working as actuarys at AXA Equitable in NYC. Jeff ran into a mutual friend and I at Happy Hour and then we all met up later for dinner. The rest is history!”

What made getting married at The Mount a special or unique experience?

“The Mount was such a beautiful, yet relaxed place to get married.  My bridal party finished most of our preparations at our hotel, then arrived at The Mount a few hours before the wedding.  We had a large room upstairs to relax and finish getting ready in, there was plenty of room for our whole party, as well as friends and family who stopped in to say hello.  The men had a space for themselves, too, across the hall.  We could watch all our friends and family arriving, have some drinks, and really enjoy each other’s company while putting on finishing touches before the wedding.

The grounds themselves are beautiful, of course–the gardens and architecture need little embellishment to be a romantic, sophisticated event space.  We felt like we fully used the house and gardens, and never felt cramped, yet always felt intimate.  And the team at the Mount always encouraged us to feel at home–I think their relaxed and helpful spirit was our deciding factor in choosing the Mount for our wedding.”

What was your favorite moment of the day?

“My 2 favorite moments (aside from hearing Jeff’s “I do!” and sharing that first kiss as man and wife!):  We had a quartet play during our ceremony.  As I stood on the terrace at the beginning of the ceremony, I could hear the quartet faintly playing the processional (Elgar Symphony #1, one of my favorite pieces) and as I stepped off the terrace I had a lovely view of the wedding waiting for me.”

“My second favorite moment was my 3 daughters and I had practiced a dance to “Dixieland Delight” as a surprise for Jeff.  We had just cut the wedding cake in the dining room, and the DJ started playing the song on the terrace.  My oldest daughter rushed in, grabbed me, and the 4 of us had a fun time dancing together–it was a fun surprise for our guests!”

Do you have any advice for couples currently planning their wedding in the Berkshires?

“My husband and I live in New York, so we only got up to The Mount for 4 weekends before our wedding.  While we did bring in some people from New York and Boston to help with our wedding, I was truly impressed at the level of local wedding talent in the Berkshires.  We used Cassandra Redel for flowers and drapings; Classical Tents for the tent in the forecourt and all our rentals/benches for the ceremony; Mezze Bistro+Bar to cater; and Cakewalk Bakery for our wedding cake (best tasting cake EVER–they made a special “key lime” layer as a treat for my husband.  So good!).  Everyone we worked with was very helpful in recommending other wedding vendors–it was great to leverage local knowledge!”

“My only other advice is to get a good wedding planner!  And trust her!  Cheryl Fielding was fantastic.  It made all the difference in the world to have someone help us plan the wedding, especially since we don’t live nearby.  I got to focus on the elements of the wedding that I wanted to be involved in like designing the invitations, finding the musicians, and shopping for dresses, and she took care of all the details.”

Did anything surprise you on your big day?

“How fast it went!  And how much fun we had.  Our wedding day was absolutely the most FUN day of my life.  I think I always expected to be stressed, to be anxious…but I wasn’t.  It was just incredibly happy, and so very fun. Everyone had a great day–my husband and I, my daughters, and all our guests.”

It definitely looks like fun! I love it when couples include family and friends in the special details of their big day. Amanda and Jeff even went so far as to include Edith Wharton in their festivities:

“We gave books as our wedding favors!  House of Mirth & Age of Innocence (so couples could have one of each)…wrapped in white paper with pink bows.  Our guests loved it.  We got so many comments over the next week from people who had never read Wharton and LOVED the books!”

Thanks so much for sharing these sweet memories with us, Amanda.  I think EW novels as wedding favors is such a great idea. So great, actually, that we are offering Edith Wharton books as wedding favors that you can buy in bulk through our bookstore this season. Our wedding favor lineup also includes local homemade soaps and gourmet chocolates. Stay tuned because I’ll be posting more about The Mount’s wedding favors in the coming weeks.

If you’d like more information on any of the vendors mentioned in this post, on having your wedding at The Mount, or on our new wedding favors please contact me at gleathrum@edithwharton.org.

Cheers,

Grace