Winnipesaukee Wonderful
Liz and Danny
Sept. 2, 2012
Wedding Photography: Stephanie Wales Creative Imagery
“The lake is a very special spot for me (and my family),” says Liz of her September, 2012 Lakes Region wedding.
When Liz and her husband-to-be Danny got engaged they had a year to plan their perfect Winnipesaukee wedding. With very definite ideas in mind of what they did and did not want for the wedding, they set about creating a wedding that can only be described as Winnipesaukee wonderful!
Liz continues, “ Most of Danny’s friends and relatives had never been to NH. My family has had a house in Gilford for 25+ years. We chose a Labor Day weekend wedding date so folks could make it an extended trip. We both wanted a relatively small wedding with our friends and family and we wanted it to be casual and a really fun celebration. We also wanted our wedding to have some unique qualities, such the Gunstock mountaintop ceremony and chairlift ride provided! We also needed the outdoor event to have a Plan B in case it rained.”
The ceremony was held on the summit of Gunstock and the reception took place at the lodge at Gunstock (Resort on Rt. 11B in Gilford).
With the idea of an outdoor New England setting that focused in on the Lakes Region, the wedding location choice had meaning for both of Liz and Danny. “Being a hiker and from FL, Danny loved the idea of a mountaintop ceremony and Gunstock is a special place to me because it’s near my family’s cottage and I have many memories of learning to ski at Gunstock, taught by my dad (who passed away ten10 years ago). I have a few friends who had their reception at Gunstock, but none had had their ceremony at the top. When Danny and I took the chairlift to the top to the ceremony site, the view was breathtaking and we both knew we had found the perfect spot. And even though I had taken that chairlift so many times in the prior years, I had never seen the view in the summer time and in relation to where I would get married.”
“Debbie Berridge, the wedding coordinator at Gunstock, was very helpful in all the planning. She explained that guests would ride the chairlift to the top with the chairlift moving at a slower speed and stopping for folks who needed additional time to get on and off (including me in my wedding dress!),” Liz adds.
Should rain have been in the forecast, both ceremony and reception would have been in the lodge at Gunstock. “It poured rain the morning of my wedding, but the ceremony was at 3:30 pm, and luckily by the time my photographer Stephanie Wales arrived, the rain had stopped and it turned out to be an amazing day!” says Liz.
Brad Harrington of Harrington Flowers designed the brilliant flowers. Colors and flower choices were hot pink and orange roses for the bridesmaids and flower girl, the same (and also pin cushion protean) for Liz, single pin cushion protea for the moms, natural boutonnieres (twigs and berries) for the men and wild flowers for the centerpieces.
“Brad was wonderful to work with and made my flowers look like I had spent 10 times the amount I spent on them!” Liz says. “Everyone kept saying how beautiful my flowers were. I am not a huge flower person, but they ended up being one of my favorite parts of my wedding‑and he did it all within the very small budget I gave him.”
Wild Orchard Bakery designed the Guinness cake with peanut butter frosting and four types of cupcakes (carrot cake/cream cheese, chocolate/vanilla, toffee cake/salted caramel, chocolate/peanut butter).
Michele Wiggs, owner and customer designer at divine inspirations! provided the bold and beautiful linens and chair covers that dressed up the huge ski lodge at Gunstock for the ceremony.
A signature feature of Stephanie Wales Creative Imagery is the photographer’s ability to capture unusual local locations and even, now and then, a rustic or distressed building. Stephanie certainly did so in Liz and Danny’s wedding photographs. “We did our ‘first look’ photos at Lincoln Park right by the lake and then Stephanie said she had driven by a cool, old red house (right near my family’s cottage) that would be perfect for pictures with my flowers, etc. I told her a close family friend owned the house and it would be great to have some pictures in front of the ‘red house.’ The photos by the house turned out to be some of my favorite pictures and a bunch of my friends and their children came out to watch the photo shoot.”
Further, the shots of Liz gazing over the waters of Winnipesaukee as the iconic M/S Mount Washington in the background couldn’t have been more fortuitous or perfect!
After dancing the evening away at Gunstock, the couple honeymooned in Camden, Maine and later planned an extended honeymoon to Banff and Lake Louise, Canada.
With a vision of what the couple wanted their wedding to be, and a lot of planning and help from some talented wedding vendors, Liz and Danny truly had a wedding that was Winnipesaukee wonderful.
Wedding Professionals:
Photography: Stephanie Wales Creative Imagery
Ceremony: Summit of Gunstock Resort, Gilford, NH
Reception: lodge at Gunstock Resort
Flowers: Harrington Flowers
Hair and Makeup: Cascade Spa at the Inn at Mill Falls, Meredith
DJ: Czone Music
Officiant: family friend Joceline Champagne, JP
Transportation: Grace Limousine
Linens/chair covers: divine inspirations!
Cake / cupcakes: Wild Orchid Baking Company
Maid’s dresses: Ann Taylor
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