Private Lake Champlain Cottage Wedding With Country Flair & Bright Hues
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12.14.2012 8:30 am
Getting married at her parent’s summer cottage, a special place filled with many wonderful childhood memories, was a dream for Rachel Corbett. When she met Aaron Lavallee, all the right things fell into place & a Lake Champlain wedding was born. The couple hosted a fete with slight country flair, bright colors & a sweet lab name Fauna in charge of the rings. After a bit of a lively run down the aisle, Fauna handed over the hardware allowing Rachel & Aaron to make it official. Rachel personally took on many DIY projects along with the aide of family members & friends. At the end of the night, Rachel surprised Aaron with a duet of Jackson by Johnny Cash!
What Storyboard Likes…
Pops of Color {All of them!}- When your trying to decide on the right colors for your wedding, bride’s tend to lean toward a main color or 2, OR venture into palette territory. However, if you can have one color, why not take them all, right!? Rachel cleverly wove together more then a handful of nature’s hues, creating tastefully assembled explosions of color. One could argue that orange was the color that tied it all together, but when set against a supporting cast of greens, blues, yellows, pinks & so much more, why be picky, play with them all!
Country Flair- There are small touches here & there that lend this cottage wedding to a certain country vibe. I love the mason jar style beverage dispenser (always a plus at weddings!), the nod to a touch of country girl in Rachel’s Frye boots, even the perfectly designed invitations sends along a country vibe. There is something gorgeously homey yet elevated in all the right places about this Vermont country wedding!
The Fist Pump- I simply can not get enough of the lately raising ‘Heck Ya I Married Her!’ groom celebration shot!!! Aaron leads the recessional in style, basically celebrating a win on the way off the field. Nice work Aaron, we approve!
Novella Of The Bride…
Aaron and I met just about 4 years ago over an apres ski beer in Stowe Vermont. We had a mutual friend – she actually wrote and gave a beautiful (and hilarious) speech at our wedding describing us and our meeting. Aaron works for a ski/sporting goods store in stowe doing e-commerce and is also back in school for a degree in environmentalism and sustainability. I worked in marketing for a handful of years before going back to school three years ago to become a nurse. I now work as a community mental health nurse. We live in Waterbury VT and have a sweet black lab named Fauna and an orange tabby cat named Aphie. Fauna was in our wedding – the cat stayed home. 
We wanted a casual feel to our wedding – I loved the idea of incorporating vintage elegant touches with a country shabby chic atmosphere. Besides my nursing degree – I also have a degree in art and spent a while working in marketing for apparel and linen companies – I tapped a bit into my creativity to do quite a bit of this wedding DIY. I also utilized my fabulous friend’s creativity and borrowed some amazing pieces (example: the bars made out of antique doors). Aaron and I really didn’t want our wedding to be stuffy – we wanted everyone to feel relaxed and have a really fun time. When I think about where I got the ideas from – really, a lot of it came from my family camp/cottage: a mix of old and new, vintage china, open air, twinkling stars and candlelight flickers, mason jars, and lots of laughs and memories with friends and family. Food and flowers, we wanted to source as locally as possible: almost everything was grown within the state! Our caterer worked with local farms to source – and flowers were either grown in my aunts garden or at a local flower farm. The location (where we got married) is where my family summer cottage is located. I have spent all my summer’s growing up and enjoying this beautiful place – and it meant so much to me to get married surrounded by all my favorite sights and sounds. My husband also grew up in this town and the family cottage had become one of his favorite places as well.
My parent’s kitchen became a catch all for everything wedding that we collected. My mom, aunts, and I spent quite a bit of time collecting the mismatched china we used. Almost every vendor we used had a personal connection – the justice of the peace was one of my best friend’s father, the band’s lead singer went to high school with me, etc. My friend’s helped me glue buttons onto seating cards, my sister and her husband (as well as my parents, the groom, and wedding coordinator) schlepped around tables and furniture the day before the wedding. Putting on a wedding at a venue that doesn’t come stocked with supplies and employees means that you have to utilize all your friends and family – and try not to break a freshly polished nail while you are hauling a heavy bar across a lawn 20 minutes before your rehearsal dinner!
Brides’s Favorite Moment… The moments that Aaron and I spent taking photos right before the wedding ceremony – It was a very intimate time and the weather made every moment feel surreal and fabulous. I remember suddenly feeling that all my anxiety that had built up had disappeared and just feeling completely elated. Both Aaron and I couldn’t stop smiling. During the end of our ceremony the sun was shining and it started to mist with rain – this was also quite a special moment.
Vendor Love
Ceremony Venue: Thompson’s Point
Reception Venue: Thompson’s Point Clubhouse
Wedding Dress: Claire Pettibone
Bridesmaid Dress: Sue Wong
Shoes: Frye
Hair & Makeup Stylist: Indigo salon
Bouquets: StrayCat Flower Farm
Caterer: Frank Pace Catering
Baker: Judith LaBerge Cakes
Music: Lowell Thompson and Crown Pilot
Event Planner: Casey Johnson
Photographer: Sarah Cocina Photography
