LORRAINE SZCZEPINSKI to EDWARD MUHA III
May 27, 2007
HONORA WINERY & VINEYARD

THE PROFESSIONALS:
Bride’s Jewelry: CW Creations
Cake: Vermont Cakes
Catering: Elizabethan Fare Catering
Event Rentals & Linens: Vermont Tent Company
Floral Design / Wedding Coordination: Gary Meehan of Honora Winery & Vineyards
Photography: Amy Love

                            

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO, EDDIE MUHA AND LORRAINE
Szczepinski were just coworkers at his parents’ bar in Connecticut. Lorraine was “one of the guys,” and frankly, she and Eddie “Didn’t care for each other very much on a personal level,” she recalls. But several years later, after Eddie had gone off to serve in the U.S. Marines, something changed. Knowing Eddie was coming home for the weekend, Lorraine suggested a get-together of the old gang from the bar. “I’m still not sure if it was planned or not,” says Lorraine, “but none of ‘the guys’ were able to make it, and it ended up just being Eddie and me. We’ve been together ever since.” The couple moved to southern Vermont in 2005 to work in Eddie’s family business, Honora Winery & Vineyard, and at the end of that year - four years after they began dating - Eddie surprised Lorraine with an early Christmas present: a ring and a proposal.

The choice of wedding venue wasn’t difficult. “We knew that getting married on the Honora property was the only choice for us,” says Lorraine. “The views are magnificent, and the possibilities were endless.” Lorraine chose chartreuse as the color of the day. “In 18 years of working as a florist and event coordinator, I’d seen every possible color combination, and I wanted to select something different. Also, one of my favorite flowers is the green cymbidium orchid, so it was the perfect fit.”

                                

Rather than a sit-down dinner or traditional buffet that would cut into guests’ “party time,” Eddie and Lorraine offered food at a variety of dinner stations, including one with a Key West theme (where the -couple spent their first vacation), a meat-and-potato “man station,” an Asian station, and a raw bar. An ice cream sundae bar featured three flavors of Vermont ice cream and a table loaded with fixings like hot fudge, whipped cream, sprinkles, nuts, and cherries.

As a nod to Eddie’s Irish heritage, bagpipe players played during the processional and recessional, as the couple’s dog Jack led the way. For the cake-cutting, the couple played “Grow Old with You,” by Adam Sandler, from the Wedding Singer soundtrack. Instead of more traditional favors, guests were invited to fill their own bags from a candy table arrayed with jars of the candies they’d both loved as kids.

Great wedding professionals were key to the day’s success. “I was relaxed knowing that everything was going to be taken care of,” says Lorraine. “We couldn’t have asked for a better group of people.” The florist, in particular, knocked himself out, both with his spectacular design for the head table and by coaxing Eddie, an avid marksman, into wearing a boutonnière by creating one made of hollowed-out bullet shells and green button mums.

“Planning a wedding can be a little overwhelming,” says Lorraine. “You don’t realize how many details there are until you start to put it all together. If there are people that offer their assistance, take it!”