Real Wedding: Arden & Daniel
Inn at the Round Barn Farm [nid:392]
When Arden Myrin and Daniel Martin first met in sunny Los Angeles at an improv club where Arden regularly perfoms, they couldn’t have guessed they were both diehard East Coasters who missed snowflakes and small-town life. But they quickly made the connection on their first date—and Dan realized that Arden, an actress currently on the comedy show MadTV, had made him laugh long before their night out. After Dan recounted a funny interview he’d heard on Howard Stern’s radio show, the pair realized that he’d been listening to none other than his date, talking with Stern about a film she’d appeared in called Bubble Boy.
For the proposal, Dan, a sitcom writer currently writing for the animated show Code Monkeys on the G4 Network, came up with the perfect script. He surprised Arden with a trip to Dublin in Thanksgiving of 2006. When the fancy restaurant where he’d planned to pop the question turned out to be too formal and stuffy, he opted instead to surprise her back at the hotel. “I am an insomniac and I had jet lag,” says Arden. “Once he asked me to marry him, I was so excited I don’t think I slept for the rest of the week!”
Choosing Vermont as the site for their nuptials was an easy decision. Growing up, Arden spent every Christmas break in Woodstock, where she fell in love with the rustic landscape of country barns and covered bridges. The Round Barn, a beautifully restored 1910 Shaker barn in central Vermont’s Mad River Valley, turned out to be the ideal location.
With the big day set for December 30th, during the busy holiday season, and lots of guests flying in from the West Coast, the couple decided to create save-the-date cards and invitations that couldn’t be ignored. Ceci New York created a classic, vintage-inspired design that fit the bill. Along with a color scheme of ice blue and navy, it featured a crest of the couples’ names with a porcupine, badgers, snowshoes, and a sled. Swapping out formal wording such as “People are cordially invited to…” with “Shake your moneymakers at the wedding of…” added to the sense of fun and whimsy. “We wanted playful, winter-wonderland invites, and we got them!”
says Arden.
For the wedding, the couple wanted a theme that was casual, rustic, and chic. Given the cold weather, it seemed only natural to skip out-of-season flowers; instead, big birch trees, vines, and branches shooting up the posts around the old hayloft evoked a magical forest. Candles twinkled inside glass mason jars hung from the beams, and clear vases filled with candles, elegant branches, and pebbles anchored tables draped in chocolate-colored velvet.
To pick up favors that doubled as place “cards,” guests stopped by a snow-globe “mountain” featuring more than 100 different snow globes that the couple collected from all over the world, including Dublin (where they were engaged), Buenos Aires (where they planned to honeymoon), and even the Spam Museum. The soundtrack was equally unique: During the ceremony, talented friends sang a rendition of Nina Simone’s “My Baby Just Cares for Me” while playing ukulele and kazoo. Later, a West Coast ’80s cover band called Knyght Ryder raised the roof. “We danced so hard, the barn was shaking,” says Arden. “My favorite moment was the last song, an encore of ‘Crazy Train,’ when every person from 18 to 80 was out on the dance floor!”
Arden says that the professionals at Round Barn helped the event unfold smoothly. “The staff ran the show while staying calm and on top of things, and the food by Cooking From the Heart was amazing!” she says. She also praises photographer Corey Hendrickson for being low-key and fun while capturing all the beautiful pictures she’d dreamed of. She urges other brides not to agonize over planning wedding details. “Planning a wedding doesn’t have to be super-stressful,” says Arden. “The best thing I did was trust my gut and make decisions quickly. If I loved something, I didn’t need to see 15 more choices. I just went with my instincts.” For this couple, those instincts paid off—with memories that will last a lifetime.