Editor’s note: This article also appears in our print Berkshires Calendar Magazine, which every November includes a special wedding section. You can find a hard copy of this magazine at about 140 locations in Berkshire County, Litchfield County, Columbia county and the Shires of Vermont. Please see also our online wedding directory of some 300 vendors and venues available to help you plan your “perfect Berkshire wedding.”
Late May through early October remains the peak wedding season in the Berkshires, with a typical slowdown in July (too unpredictably hot). But the region has enough offerings to attract couples throughout the year—and you will likely find more availability (and affordability) in the shoulder months. Winter can be especially magical here, whether your idea of fun is snowshoeing, or curling up fireside (or both!).
The following four weddings, all from 2021, span the seasons and sizes, from two to 200. When planning your own nuptials—and finding your own Berkshires-style bliss, there are abundant ideas and inspiration to be found in each one.
Boston and Berkshires Collide at Blantyre
WINTER MICRO-WEDDING FOR 10
When Leigha Gardner and Bishir Ali became engaged in August 2019, they had a few plans in the pipeline for a grand wedding—mostly so they could accommodate each other’s large families. (The pair had met while attending college in Boston, where Leigha was still living; Bishir had already relocated to Pittsfield to take over his family’s restaurant business.) They even toyed with the idea of a destination wedding outside the Berkshires, but couldn’t find a venue that felt right.
Then the pandemic hit and the couple put their plans on hold until things got back to “normal”—soon realizing there was no way to know when that would be. “Suddenly, getting married just felt urgent. We wanted to move on with our lives and start the next chapter,” Leigha wrote in their pre-wedding questionnaire. Plus, there was no way to truly know when it would be safe to have a big wedding again. “Honestly, it was a blessing in disguise. It took the weight off my shoulders.”
So when Café Boulud (one of their favorite places in Boston) took up residence at Blantyre, they knew the venue would be the perfect setting for a winter micro-wedding—especially when they learned their quarantine puppy, who had been attacked and needed round-the-clock care, could be part of the event. “Everything was just falling into place.”
They did have to scale back from 30 to ten guests due to state restrictions. And despite the death of her grandfather in December and COVID-related setbacks (Ali’s brother decided not to risk exposing everyone by flying in from California), the couple mustered on. “My dad kept telling me ‘Just keep going,’ and we did. Love prevailed in the end!”
Vendors
Planner: Leigha Gardner (bride)
Photographer: Dani Fine Photography
Flowers and catering: Blantyre
Disco Down at Hancock Shaker Village
SPRING BLOWOUT FOR 190
“I don’t know how to categorize this wedding other than it was like a tasteful farm disco,” says planner Magdalena Mieczkowska, of Magdalena Events & Design. “It was this wonderfully crazy dance party.”
Indeed, San Francisco-based Ariel Friedman and Robert Heeger planned an entire weekend of celebrations for their destination wedding. A rehearsal dinner/welcome party with food truck kicked things off on Friday night; there was an after-party on Saturday with a bonfire and s’mores; and a huge brunch on Sunday was the farewell finale—all held at the Lake House Inn in Lee, Mass. (A group of close friends were also based there; the couple stayed at The Wheatleigh.)
Why the Berkshires? “Proximity to Eisner Camp was a big motivator,” the couple wrote via a joint email. They both grew up attending Eisner—and both sets of parents have homes in the Berkshires. It is also where the two reconnected, through a mutual friend, after six years.
Flash forward to August of 2019, when they got engaged in Greece and set their sights on a 2021 wedding date. “We had always planned a lengthy engagement for a couple reasons, including that we wanted to be intentional about the transition from dating to life partnership—we learned a lot about ourselves and our relationship during that important time.”
Way back when, they chose Hancock Shaker Village because it had the capacity to host 250 guests, which was the number they thought they would have pre-COVID. And then they waited as long as possible before landing on their final count of 190.
The idea for the disco theme grew out of the couple’s experiences attending (pre-pandemic) ABBA tribute nights at popular venues around San Francisco. “It was such a novelty to get to dress up and be really silly and joyful and colorful. We thought if can try to recreate any part of ABBA night energy, it’s probably going to a pretty fun wedding.”
Hence, according to Mieczkowska, an ABBA tribute band opened up the dance floor and played for an hour, then an “amazing” DJ played very nontraditional wedding music. (The first dance was a more subdued “Harvest Moon” by Neil Young.) A group of guests also surprised the newlyweds with a choreographed disco flash mob during dinner.
“Ultimately the execution was exactly what they had imagined—the sun came out just as the ceremony started, a herd of cows came over to greet the guests the moment the tribute band began to play, and we ended the night jumping into Laurel Lake with all of our friends. We felt and still feel so held and supported by our community. And we danced A LOT.”
Vendors
Venue: Hancock Shaker Village
Planner: Magdalena Events & Design
Photographer: Chellise Michael Photography//Michael Busse
Flowers: Susie Hanna/Daisy Stone Studio
Reception Music: Dancing Dream ABBA Tribute Band
Dance Music: DJ JD Gluckstern
Rentals: Classical Tents
Lighting: Rob Alberti
Transportation: Transport the People
Marrying (Again) at The Mount
SUMMER CELEBRATION FOR 100
For Berkshire natives Sarah Rhodes and Charles Cochran—she grew up in Great Barrington, he in nearby Hancock, Mass.—their wedding was always meant to be both a reunion of friends and family from the area and an opportunity to introduce out-of-towners to their “beautiful” home county. (They now live near Old Chatham, N.Y.) When they had to wait over a year due to the pandemic, the former goal became even more poignant.
One thing was certain—The Mount was to be their venue. “It really can’t be beat,” Sarah says (here on out speaking on behalf of both newlyweds).
The couple’s story is a familiar COVID tale: They first postponed their wedding from May 30, 2020, to later that same summer before landing on the eventual date of July 3, 2021. The guest count also dropped from 160 to around 100.
Meanwhile, on October 17, 2020, they had a small civil ceremony at a secluded spot along the Green River in Great Barrington, surrounded by immediate family and a few close friends. After the ceremony, their thoughts began to shift about the format of the July event and they ultimately decided against a formal sit-down dinner. Instead, guests could eat, drink, and dance freely throughout the celebration.
The chosen wildflower theme was designed to create the unfussy look and feel of a New England meadow. (Charles is a native plant enthusiast.) “Crocus Hale, the florist, brought her inestimable skills to bear and made it all truly beautiful and authentic.”
Guests were scattered across the Berkshires, many of them staying at their own family homes, while others were at hotels and rentals.
And there was sweet serendipity in how the postponed event came off: “It was the most fantastic day! Two years in the making! In the end, it was nice to have been already married in the civil ceremony— the evening felt totally celebratory, like a real party. The rain held off until later that night and we were able to have our ceremony in the French Garden. Wish we could do it all over again!”
Vendors
Venue: The Mount
Catering and planning: Mezze Catering
Photographer: Dear Edith and Lily
Florist: Crocus Hale
Band: The Loyales
Ceremony music: Atlantic String Trio
Rentals: Classical Tents
Sweet Serendipity in the Woods
AUTUMN ELOPEMENT FOR TWO
Getting married outdoors in the Berkshires, sans tent, requires a certain willingness to go with the flow—inclement weather (especially sudden downpours) being a frequent spoil sport.
Resiliency in hand, Rhiannon McGraw and Andrew Adams were all set to be married at Ashintully Gardens on a fall Friday afternoon, having flown in from their home state of Wisconsin just for the occasion.
But when the threat of heavy rains forced them to shift plans and find a location with some protective shelter, they first set out to marry under the timber at Hancock Shaker Village (hint: no advance notice required!). Then the sun magically came out and they were instead able to exchange vows near a small pond in a secluded area along the route. “The moment was perfect and beautiful,” Rhiannon says. It was also fitting, given that the couple chose an elopement, because they “wanted to be able to connect with one another in a serene setting, celebrating love in a natural, easy-going fashion.” (That would have been their choice, pandemic or not.)
And for a thoroughly modern (and millennial) approach to scouting destinations, Rhiannon says the Berkshires was a random choice after searching on Google. “The area was mentioned frequently and seemed to be a top pick.” Adding to the appeal was that they could visit with her family in Gloucester and his best friend in New Hampshire, post ceremony.
Google was also the path to Berkshire Elopements, which co-founder Jessy Turner says is pretty much par for the course.
Despite having to shift course a couple times, the couple reports being “extremely happy with any changes we did end up making.”
It does pay to have an unflappable team making all the arrangements—Turner basically plans everything and “all the couple needs to do is show up and get married.” As for pulling another location out of the proverbial hat: “That is the essence of what we do: Flexibility, adventure, privacy. And certainly the Berkshires is filled with no end of beautiful places if you know where to find them!”
Vendors
Planner: Berkshire Elopements
Photographer: Dear Edith and Lily
Florist: Thistle N Thorn
Cake: Shire Cottage Bakery
Hair and makeup: Beauty Locale [for an additional fee]
Dinner reservation: Bistro Zinc
