Originally, I wanted to have my wedding at one of my favorite ski areas–Berkshire East in Charlemont, MA–and although I live an hour and 1/2 away, I still consider it my “home mountain.” When I found out they couldn’t host it, I quickly thought of another venue, this time in Western MA’s Pioneer Valley. My friend Jon and his wife were happy to allow my future bride and I to use their back yard and large deck for our wedding. Jon is a close friend and I spent the first 6 years of my life in Western Mass so this site means a lot to me on a couple different levels.

Our wedding is going to be very small–only 50 total people, so Darcy Miller’s article entitled, “A Rocky Mountain Wedding” where she asks the question,

How many of you are opting for smaller, more casual celebrations with family and friends?

peaked my interest. She describes the site of the Colorado wedding she attended as “a scenic and gorgeous spot in the mountains.”

“…tables set under the tent where guests could seat themselves. All in all it was a very nice, relaxed weekend. It just goes to show you-you don’t have to go all out to have a warm familial feel at your wedding.

At our wedding, we are planning to have our guests sitting in chairs (facing the deck) on the lawn in a half-moon formation with no isle down the middle. We prefer that our guests sit intermingled with each other instead of the tradition of the bride’s guests on the left side and the groom’s guests on the right. And like the wedding that Darcy Miller attended, we’ll have a tent and round tables at the reception where guests will sit and eat where they please. The only assigned seating will be for the wedding party and our families.

These considerations and all of our other non-traditional plans are our attempt to make our wedding truly ours, and to facilitate an intimacy with our honored guests.

How are you approaching your wedding? If you’re already married, how did you make your wedding more personal and intimate?

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com