Real Wedding: Annie & Ross
Best Bands [nid:282], Sewly Yours & Once Upon a Bride [nid:336]
It took Annie Morris and Ross Montgomery almost 20 years to fall in love.
They liked each other from the beginning, when they became friends in junior high in their hometown of Middlebury, Vermont. Though they stayed good friends throughout college and young adulthood, they never dated. Even when they both ended up living in Boulder, Colorado for five years, they remained pals. Their regular dinners and days spent skiing made their friends raise questioning eyebrows. But it wasn’t until Annie moved back home to Vermont that they realized how they really felt about each other — and how all their lives had been spent bringing them together.
“From the moment we started dating, we knew that this was it. We were going to spend the rest of our lives with each other, and there wasn’t any other way about it,” Annie says. “Being able to spend every day with your best friend is the greatest gift in the world.”
Ross made their unspoken commitment official on a trip to Paris. Wandering around the Luxembourg Gardens, he tried to keep Annie from spotting the ring box he was carrying in his pocket as they purchased Champagne, baguettes, and macaroons for a picnic. As they sat among the gorgeous gardens, Ross dropped to one knee and asked Annie to marry him. Of course she said yes, and they spent the rest of their time in Paris cocooned in a state of blissful happiness.
Since Annie and Ross are both from Middlebury, Vermont was the logical location for their wedding. They chose The Basin Harbor Club because Annie had family ties to the area and they loved the beauty the venue had to offer.
Being a textile designer, Annie was very interested in the design for the ceremony. “Needless to say, fabric played a big role in our wedding,” says Ross. Inspired by their trip to Paris, Annie chose a wedding palette of pale pink and dove gray, explaining to Ross, who followed her efforts with bemused fascination, that they’d use these colors throughout their wedding elements and celebration. Annie pored over linens for the tablecloths, trying to find the perfect striped fabric. She and her mohter also scoured flea markets and online shops to track down 21 distinctly different vintage Liberty of London fabrics to use in the bridesmaids’ bouquets and groomsmen’s boutonnieres. Annie was also passionate about choosing handmade items and relied on small shops and Etsy.com vendors for one-of-a-kind pieces.
For invitations and wedding stationery, Annie and Ross turned to Annie’s close friend — and one of her 13 bridesmaids — Katharine Navins. Katherine operates Tallow Studio and collaborated with the couple to create the perfect letterpress materials to complement Annie’s
fabric choices.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a wedding without a little last-minute madness. Annie and Ross managed to misplace their wedding rings on the day of the ceremony. “That’s a nice way of saying we flat-out lost them,” says Annie, who had to walk down the aisle not knowing that her maid of honor had come to the rescue and tracked down the ring for Ross’s cousin, Sam, to carry in his handcrafted ring-bearer bowl.
Any worries were forgotten, however, the instant Annie began to walk down the aisle, as her eyes locked with Ross’. It was the first time they had seen each other that day, and they were both overwhelmed by a sudden rush of emotion. “It is an emotion that no one can prepare you for, and it completely overwhelmed us both, plain and simple,” Annie says.
As they celebrated their wedding with friends and family just miles from the place where they’d first met in an elementary school art class, Annie and Ross felt surrounded by pure happiness.
Annie’s Tips:
1) Have fun! If you’re worrying about all the details, you’re missing the big picture and in the end, that’s what really matters.
2) Things will get stressful and emotional sometimes, so take a step back and remind yourself why you’re doing this ~ so that you can marry your favorite person in the world. That helps put it back in perspective.
{Other professionals}
Cake & Catering: Basin Harbor Club
Floral Design: Clare Esperance
Hair & Makeup: Indigo
Logo design: BetsyWhite
Photography: Orchard Cove