My wedding couples tell me that these blogposts are a go-to for inspiration when planning their wedding. I love that and agree that it’s a great resource especially for couples getting married in Berkshire County.  So I had a new idea and asked the lovely and newly married Katie Ogle, if she would be the first to help move our blog in a new direction. I want to include more personal information from our couples about their thoughts and advice about having a wonderful wedding day. 

You should know that the adorable Katie and Stefan first met at Bosquet Ski Area. Katie was a lifeguard and Stefan worked at the Adventure Park. After meeting at a co-workers party, they decided to go out on a date. That was the beginning and they’ve been together ever since. That date also happened to be July 29th – the day they chose as their wedding date too.  

Here’s what I asked Katie and her thoughtful responses:

Q: What inspired you to pick your venue? A: We chose Sweet Brook Farm because of the beautiful farm setting, amazing views of Mt. Greylock, and the fact that it is a newer venue not many people know about. We both really enjoy being outside in nature and this venue captured our outdoorsy personalities perfectly. We would recommend it to anyone planning their wedding. 

Q: Share with us one unforgettable moment on your wedding day. A: One unforgettable moment from our wedding day would have to be our first dance. We thought about taking dance lessons but instead taught ourselves by looking up Youtube videos. Over the course of a few weeks we pieced the dance together and worked on remembering all of the steps. Our practice sessions usually ended with both of us laughing after stepping all over each others feet or tripping over our dog. In the end all our practice paid off with a perfect first dance where we both (thankfully) remembered all of the steps.

Q: . What advice would you give couples currently planning their wedding day A: I would recommend couples contact vendors ASAP when planning. We booked most or our vendors over a year in advance but were amazed at how fast many of them had their entire summers filled up.

Q: What is a detail that you are really happy you spent the time and/or money on? We were both glad that we spent time creating personalized crafts that we could decorate our venue with. We chose to make many of the crafts ourselves. We burned all of our guest’s names into wooden disks as placeholders, etched glass for table numbers, and pressed ferns for decoration on our seating chart among other crafts. This did take some time to complete but added a very personal touch to our wedding that I don’t think purchased decorations could provide. It was also a good way to spend time with some of my bridesmaids!

We are also so glad we spent the money for a professional photographer (Thanks Tricia!). Anyone that owns an expensive camera can call themselves a photographer but it really makes an enormous difference when that person knows exactly what they are doing to get the perfect shot. Tricia and Lisa were organized, professional, and captured our day perfectly. It is so much fun getting to look through the pictures and remembering the whole night.

Q: What was your favorite wedding planning resource? A: My favorite resources were Pinterest, Etsy for ideas for crafts, my mom, TheKnot.com, Wedding Wire, caratsandcake.com, and looking up old blog posts to find who other people used for vendors – that’s how I found Sabrina Marie Makeup!

Thank you so much Katie and Stefan, we loved everything about capturing your day! 

xo

Tricia 

VENUE – Sweet Brook Farm
EVENT COORDINATOR – Orchards Hotel & Catering/Gala Steakhouse & Bristro
CATERER – Orchards Hotel & Catering/Gala Steakhouse & Bristro
FLORIST – Dreamy Flower
JEWLER – RJ Stohr Diamonds & Fine Jewelry
CAKE – The Dessert Bar
MAKEUP – Sabrina Marie Makeup Artistry
GOWN – Lily Saratoga
DJ – DJ BFG
PHOTOGRAPHER – Tricia McCormack
ASSOCIATE PHOTOGRAPHER – Lisa Goudey