Autumn 2008
Swooning for Vermont
Spectacular settings and affection for our state spur "Destination Weddings" trend
By Stacey Chase
It sounds like the opening line of a comedy sketch: Why did the Hollywood couple get hitched in Vermont in December? Answer: They wanted snow — and not the fake stuff from a studio set.
The couple — Arden Myrin, a cast member on the late-night series MADtv, and television comedy writer Dan Martin — were married last December at the Inn at the Round Barn Farm in Waitsfield. About 120 guests attended — 112 of whom arrived from out of state.
"Vermont was a hit!" says Myrin, who grew up in Rhode Island and often spent Christmastime in Woodstock. "It's so satisfying, too, because when we told people we were getting married in Vermont, it was like we were getting married on the moon. They were like, ‘Vermont? What? Huh?'"
"Covered bridges blew people's minds. And just these bed-and-breakfasts and these old farmhouses. Waking up to a blanket of white — if you've never done that before — is just magic."
Sixteen percent of the 2.3 million American couples who marry each year now exchange vows away from home in so-called destination weddings, a 400 percent increase from 10 years ago, according to Condé Nast Bridal Media.
New England favorites include Cape Cod, the coast of Maine, Newport, R.I., and locations throughout Vermont (see box). Many prospective brides and grooms feel a deep affinity for Vermont, often because they attended college here, took ski or snowboard vacations here, or spent time at second homes or camps in the state.
The number of destination weddings in Vermont is considerable. Nearly one-third of the 5,355 marriages and more than 70 percent of the 429 civil unions in Vermont in 2006, the last year for which statistics are available, were between out-of-state residents.
In her 2006 book "100 Best U.S. Wedding Destinations," New Mexico–based author Kathryn Gabriel Loving covers 24 states and names eight premier properties for destination weddings in New England — half of them in Vermont. The sites chosen were the Shelburne Museum, the Woodstock Inn & Resort, the Hartness House Inn in Springfield, and the Lilac Inn in Brandon. In Brandon, local merchants followed up and held a "Brandon Is for Brides" contest, throwing the winning couple (Kristin Petty and Dan Kelleher of Brooklyn, N.Y.) a 100-guest destination wedding valued at $40,000. The couple was married in September 2007.
"What was really unique about it was the way the whole town did this," says Lilac Inn owner Doug Sawyer. "People recognize that weddings are a great thing for the community, and we could do them all year long. … [It's] bootstrap economic development."
Three years ago, a group of photographers, florists, caterers and the like formed the Vermont Association of Wedding Professionals to offer one-stop shopping to couples planning a wedding here. "We existed, but we weren't organized," explains Tim Piper, association president and co-owner of the Inn at the Round Barn Farm. "There was never a collective attempt statewide to go and find that market that would bring not only Bobby and Susie up here for their wedding, but all their corresponding friends and family."
Last year, the group's promotion efforts, bolstered by a $10,000 matching grant from the Vermont Department of Tourism & Marketing, included placement of ads in Martha Stewart Weddings, Boston Magazine's Elegant Wedding and the alumni magazines of Middlebury College and the University of Vermont. In the first eight months, traffic to the association's consumer website spiked 76 percent to 11,348 unique visitors a month.
"Destination weddings bring people to Vermont … and are an introduction to, or a reminder of, how special this state is," says Steve Cook, deputy commissioner of the tourism and marketing department. "We recognize this [trend] as a return on marketing dollars that creates return visits."
The wedding professionals group estimates that weddings and civil unions bring in annual revenue of at least $252 million statewide — about one-sixth of the $1.5 billion a year generated by the ski industry. The intense interest in Vermont as a prime wedding destination has even spurred an annual book, "The Vermont Wedding Resource Guide," and semiannual magazine, Vermont Vows, that tout the talent of Vermont's vendors, many of whom are big-city transplants. "What gives us a differential advantage over a metropolitan market is the whole farm-to-table and truly ‘green' weddings that
are taking place in our state," says Vermont Vows editor Krista Washburn.
Unlike traditional weddings, destination weddings and civil unions typically span a long weekend and involve multiple, scheduled activities. Myrin and Martin, the Los Angeles TV couple, went sledding with their wedding party last New Year's Eve, the day after they became husband and wife. Still other couples have arranged golf tournaments, paintball games, mountain-biking trips, spa treatments, sleigh rides and nighttime cruises on Lake Champlain. (Some couples, though, don't want to "overschedule" their guests and instead let them explore Vermont on their own.)
Increasingly, Vermont ski areas are hosting all-season destination weddings and civil unions, part of an industry-wide push to make sure their profits aren't wedded to fickle snowfall totals.
"A summertime chairlift ride for a mountaintop picnic could generate $1,000," notes David Wood, president of the Association of Bridal Consultants, "but a summer mountaintop wedding could generate $10,000" for the facilities fee alone.
Bolton Valley Resort completed a 4,500-square-foot "great room" called The Ponds in late 2006, which hosted 39 weddings in 2007.
The Mountain Top Inn & Resort in Chittenden has seen its wedding business jump from two in 2003 to 46 weddings and civil unions last year, when it erected a Camelot-style tent to accommodate up to 250 guests at outdoor weddings between April and November. Anticipating future growth, marketing director Diane Dickerman says Mountain Top has permits to build a multilevel, 16,000-square-foot "wedding barn" that would allow for larger functions year round, but it has no immediate plans for construction.
"Some couples have that Bob Newhart syndrome, and they just have to have a Vermont wedding," says Bolton Valley's sales director Cindy Feltch, referring to the TV sitcom
"Newhart," partly filmed at the historic Waybury Inn in East Middlebury. "Vermont has done a phenomenal job of selling itself as a brand, and it absolutely translates to weddings." A
Destination Vermont
The definition of a destination wedding is somewhat arbitrary, but New York wedding resource The Knot uses the sandard of a bride and groom traveling at least 200 miles, and at least 80 percent of guests requiring overnight accommodations.
More facts about destination weddings:
- About one-third of all weddings in Vermont are destination weddings.
- About 70 percent of civil unions are destination events.
- The travel guidebook "100 Best U.S. Wedding Destinations" names eight premier spots in New England, four in Vermont: Shelburne Museum, Woodstock Inn & Resort, Hartness House Inn in Springfield and Lilac Inn in Brandon.
- Most popular town for destination marriages: Stowe
- Most popular town for destination civil unions: Bennington
- $252 million is generated annually statewide,
one-sixth of the ski industry total. - Busiest month for destination weddings: Sept.
- Slowest month: Nov.
Note: figures approximate, based on most recent data available
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