Riverside Farm in Pittsfield was my first destination wedding after I moved to New York City. I drove up through the state not knowing quite what to expect and came back understanding something I did not know before: Vermont is one of the most beautiful places on the East Coast, and in October it is one of the most beautiful places in the world.
I have been back many times since. Not always for work. I have a dear friend who lives there. I know Burlington well enough to have a favorite restaurant. Vermont is a place I go to remember what the world looks like when it has not been paved over.
The Fall Color
I have photographed weddings in Iceland, on the French Riviera, in the Florida Keys, across New York and New England. The fall color in Vermont is the best of anywhere I have ever been. Not competitive with other places. The best. The combination of the hills, the farms, the covered bridges, the old maples turning in October: it produces a quality of landscape that makes every photograph feel like it was taken inside a painting.
If you are getting married in Vermont in October, the landscape is doing half the work for you. A photographer who knows how to use it does the rest.
The Venues
Riverside Farm
A working farm in Pittsfield, in the heart of the Green Mountains. It was my first destination wedding in New England and I understood immediately why couples choose it. The barns, the fields, the mountains behind everything: the setting is genuinely extraordinary. Riverside Farm has the quality that the best barn venues have, which is that it does not feel like a venue. It feels like a place that has been there for a long time and is gracious enough to host you. The fall light coming across the fields at Riverside is something I have never gotten tired of.
Brick House at Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is one of the great cultural institutions in Vermont, a collection of historic buildings and folk art on the shores of Lake Champlain near Burlington. The Brick House on the museum grounds is a completely different experience from Riverside Farm: formal, historic, with the extraordinary backdrop of the museum’s collection and grounds. Lake Champlain in the distance. The Adirondacks across the water. This is Vermont at its most civilized and most beautiful simultaneously.
The Landscape and the Light
Vermont light in fall has a warmth and a quality that comes from the particular combination of elevation, latitude, and the way the color in the trees reflects back onto everything around it. Golden hour in October in Vermont lasts longer than it should and looks better than it has any right to. I have photographed in this light enough times to know exactly what to do with it and I never stop being grateful for it.
The landscape is rolling hills and farms and forests and rivers, with the Green Mountains always present in the background. Unlike the Hudson Valley, which has its own extraordinary quality, Vermont feels genuinely rural in a way that the proximity to New York City makes the Hudson Valley not quite feel. You are actually away from things in Vermont. That distance shows in the photographs.
A Note on the Architecture
Vermont has been continuously inhabited since the 1700s and a significant percentage of the old farmhouses and barns and inns have almost certainly been haunted for most of that time. I say this as someone who writes horror fiction and pays attention to these things. The old buildings in Vermont have a presence. Whether you find that atmospheric or unsettling probably depends on you. I find it atmospheric. It comes through in the photographs of the venues that occupy historic structures, which is most of them.
Getting to Vermont from New York
About four to five hours from New York City by car depending on traffic and route. Burlington is the largest city and a logical base for the northern part of the state. Woodstock and Stowe are popular wedding destinations in the central and northern regions. Pittsfield, where Riverside Farm is located, is in the central part of the state roughly equidistant from several directions. Vermont has no major commercial airport, so most guests fly into Burlington International, Albany, or Manchester-Boston Regional and drive.
Frequently Asked Questions: Vermont Wedding Photography
Do you photograph weddings in Vermont?
Yes. Riverside Farm was my first destination wedding in New England and I have been returning to Vermont ever since. I am familiar with venues across the state and genuinely love photographing there.
What are the best wedding venues in Vermont?
Riverside Farm in Pittsfield for barn wedding settings in the Green Mountains. The Brick House at Shelburne Museum near Burlington for historic settings on Lake Champlain. Vermont also has extraordinary inns, private farm properties, and estate venues throughout the state that reward couples willing to explore beyond the best-known options.
What is the best time of year for a Vermont wedding?
October for fall color, which is genuinely the best in the world. Late September is also extraordinary and slightly less crowded with leaf peepers. Summer in Vermont is beautiful and green and warm without the humidity that makes summer weddings difficult in New York. Winter in Vermont has a dramatic, snowy quality that produces extraordinary photographs for couples willing to commit to it.
How far is Vermont from New York City?
Four to five hours by car depending on destination within the state and traffic. Burlington is at the northern end of the state and closer to Montreal than to New York. Woodstock and the central Vermont region are somewhat closer. Most couples driving from New York take I-87 north and cross into Vermont at various points depending on their destination.
Do you travel to Vermont for weddings?
Yes. If you are planning a Vermont wedding and want to talk about photography, reach out here.
