Weddingbee boards

The vendors form our wedding in the White Mountains of NH aren't listed in the vendor section, so I wanted to share info with anyone who's interested. We had a casual rustic wedding in August and these vendors were GREAT for our event. It was important for us to find local business people who were low key and easy to work with rather than hearing "wedding" and seeing the dollar signs. Can't speak highly enough about the following:

The Rocks Estate, Bethlehem, NH (ceremony and reception): the perfect venue with use of their rustic building for indoor space and beautiful grounds/gardens for outdoor space. Stunning views and fabulous staff - truly local and low key. They only schedule one wedding for the weekend, so you have plenty of time to set up, decorate, etc beforehand. The Rocks Estate is owned/run by the New Hampshire Forest Society, so what we paid for the venue was going towards a good cause we support. They also run other programs throughout the year, including Christmas tree sales, dog sled rides, maple sugaring, etc, so we keep coming back for other events.  www.therocks.org

Thayer's Inn, Littleton, NH (lodging):  in the middle of Main St, downtown Littleton. It was the perfect size for our wedding of about 75 ppl - our guests filled up most of the 30-something rooms, so the hotel became a great place for everyone to hang out while also being convenient for guests to walk to the shops and restaurants in town. It really gave us a chance to see people all weekend long instead of just at the wedding. Very reasonable rates ($80-150 depending on room size) and a variety of rooms from classic to suites with a kitchenette for families. And they gave us a 20% discount for all rooms booked for the wedding (or use their "Anytime Package - stay 2 nights and the 3rd night is free!) Our contacts, Lori and Harry were fabulous. When we were looking at the hotel, they took time to show us as many rooms as we wanted (each room is unique). They were so helpful and accommodating before and during the wedding - helping us book rooms, setting up welcome bags each day for arriving guests, even storing the leftover ice cream from the wedding in their freezer until we were finished honeymooning and could bring it back home! We loved the Thayer's! www.thayersinn.com

Chalet Caterers, Berlin, NH: We looked at several caterers around Bethlehem/Littleton and were not pleased with either the food or the communication we were getting. Then we found Chalet Caterers up in Berlin, NH - a 45 min drive from our venue, but well worth it! Had a great tasting with Lloyd, the chef. This caterer is in the middle of nowhere, but he knows how to cook! And his prices are MUCH LESS than other caterers we had looked at. He lists all his pricing right online, so there are no puzzling "custom wedding menus" that are suddenly twice as expensive. Even with the additional costs of paying for the caterers' mileage and an off-site fee, his pricing still came in way below other vendors. Lloyd was great to work with - always very quick to get back to us when we called or emailed. And he really listened to what we wanted, made changes based on feedback we gave him from the tasting. He was flexible with creating our menu - his entrees include dessert and since we were purchasing and serving dessert separately, he gave us a free appetizer instead. We were looking to work with vendors who give you the time and attention that only a local small business can give, and Chalet Caterers was just that!  www.chaletcaterers.com

Reggie Tarr (flowers), Streeter Pond Rd, Sugar Hill, NH: Finding Reggie was a true stroke of luck! We were searching local towns for flower farms so we could buy directly from local growers and make our own arrangements. We met a woman who told us about Reggie - he grows beautiful cut flowers and organic vegetables and literally sells them on your honor from his barn. No website, he prefers word of mouth advertising and local customers who will keep coming back. We were able to drop off all our mason jar vases to him and he picked and arranged all the flowers. We didn't have any theme colors for the wedding, so we asked him to just create colorful arrangements with what was in season. The results were beautiful, including the use of fresh basil as part of the greenery so the arrangements were so fragrant. He doesn't do bouquets, but he cut extra flowers for us and we made our own bouquets/corsages/boutonnieres. And he also cut me extra flowers that I used in my hair. We got 25 gorgeous arrangements and all the flowers for the extra stuff for just $200! Best deal of our wedding by far. Plus, every time we would visit Reggie to talk about our event, we'd buy some tasty organic veggies from his stash as well. Reggie is a true local character and we are now one of his regular word of mouth customers!

Kurt Budliger Photography:  Kurt is based out of Vermont, but travels throughout New England for events. When we were interviewing photographers, he was able to come down and meet us part way, in St. Johnsbury, just over the NH border into VT. We really liked his photojournalistic style, just capturing moments as they came rather than setting up shots. He was very easy to work with - calm and unobtrusive. In the end, our pictures came out beautifully. Our package included a CD of all the edited high res pictures.  www.kurtbudligerphotography.com

Italian Oasis Restaurant (rehearsal dinner) 106 Main St - Parker's Marketplace, Littleton, NH. 603-444-6995:  we were looking for a casual family-style restaurant that was not too expensive. Good italian food and it was right across the street from the Thayer's Inn, where all our guests were staying. They have a private function room in the back that seats up to 25 people, so the size worked well for us. Our contact, Wayne Morello, was easy to work with and we were able to change our numbers right until the last minute without getting charged for extra people. For $21.95 per person, the price included 3 different entree choices, salad, bread, dessert, non-alcoholic beverage, and coffee/tea. The price also INCLUDED tax and gratuity, so it was quite reasonable. And they have a good little wine and beer list to choose from as well. If you're looking for a fancy, more formal rehearsal dinner, this is not your place, but for our crowd, it was just right! No web site.

Hope this info is helpful for someone out there!