Golden-hour light streaming down over a pastoral setting. Farm-to-table cuisine for 150. A tiered cake delicately adorned with edible flowers — or a tower of artfully stacked individual pastries. Readily available mocktails. A DJ alternating between golden oldies and contemporary bangers … Welcome to the classic modern Vermont wedding.
This kind of scene is popular for a reason: It highlights some of the elements for which our state is most famous. But for plenty of nearly-weds, the Vermontiness of the setting may not be the most important aspect of their celebration. Some would prefer a gathering reflective of a shared hobby or a favorite TV show. Others might not have the budget for hundreds of meals or an opulent setting.
At Harlow & Dahlia Events in South Burlington, founder and creative director Claudia Rollin specializes in luxurious and perfectly curated occasions but says it’s crucial for a wedding to be tailored to each couple. “Everyone has reached this milestone in their own particular way,” she explained.
That’s why her work with a couple begins with questionnaires and mood boards alongside practical discussions about budget and dietary restrictions. Her goal is to pull the pieces together into an event that is a “true reflection of the clients’ love story. We work with them to make sure we capture their vision.”
Similarly, Adam Frehm, owner of Love Buzz photography and cinematography, has spent decades honing his craft so that he can be flexible and creative as weddings unfold, telling the couple’s “story as authentically and artfully as possible,” he said. To do so, he avoids leaning into one particular photographic style. “I love to create many different looks throughout the day,” he added. “It takes practice to be versatile, and that’s my wheelhouse.”
This flexibility is evident from his portfolio, which includes images of one couple kissing in a canoe, another gazing at each other lovingly in front of a silo, and an image of a bride with her hair and dress streaming behind her as she rides a horse. Frehm also employs artful blurs and night photography and punctuates the collection with a handful of shots in black and white.
While he has documented hundreds of weddings, Frehm said few of them have taken place in offbeat venues. The same goes for Rollin, who is most often asked to design classic weddings in elegant locations around Vermont, New England and New York City. However, she has been party to a few less typical scenarios.
In one case, the wedding party led guests in a line dance that moved them from the location of the ceremony to the place where the reception was held. She’s also worked on weddings on mountaintops and has melded Vermont ingredients with New Orleans fare for a couple who had NOLA roots.
Have either Rollin or Frehm ever worked on a “Star Trek”-themed wedding? Or is taxidermy a common feature in Harlow & Dahlia or Love Buzz events? Not yet.
In honor of our Love & Marriage Issue, we wanted to help readers think outside the barn with a collection of fun, somewhat less ordinary spots around Vermont — or close by. If you choose to get married on a boat, in a tree house or surrounded by owls, please let us know. Maybe we’ll feature your story in next year’s issue.
Always and Forever
Forever Young Treehouse, Oakledge Park, Burlington, 802-864-0123
Want to add a little hint of daring to your special day? The Forever Young Treehouse at Oakledge Park is free and open to the public, but because it can’t be reserved, there’s no guarantee it won’t be in use when you get there. Don’t mind sharing? This may be your perfect spot.
The tree house platform, which was completed in 2004, is a 500-square-foot space built to ADA-accessible standards. There are public restrooms and a playground in the vicinity, plus walking paths along the lake.
Although the tree house is free, the picnic area nearby is available to rent. Find a caterer, or save even more money by making the meal a potluck. Bring speakers and a fun playlist for an al fresco dance party.
For good luck, take a stroll along the cove to find something old: a nearly 300-year-old white oak purported to be the one of the most ancient trees in Burlington.
I Do, I Do, I Do
ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, 1 College St., Burlington, 802-864-1848
Love the lake but prefer to get hitched on dry land? Perched on the edge of Lake Champlain in Burlington, ECHO is conveniently located near the majority of the city’s hotels, restaurants and shops, making it an easy destination for larger occasions. For dedicated fish fans, it may be the only spot worth considering when preparing to take the plunge.
Renting ECHO for a wedding allows visitors to belly up to all the exhibits and learn about the fish, amphibians and reptiles therein — making it a particularly kid-friendly destination. Plus, there’s the opportunity to have wedding photos taken with a statue of Champ in the background.
Wondering about the food? ECHO works exclusively with Sugarsnap Catering, which offers fare such as roasted local chicken, housemade ravioli and seared polenta cakes with seasonal ragù, served with an array of local veggie sides. Given the location, it might be best to skip the sea bass.
Live Long and Prosper
Star Trek Original Series Set Tour, 112 Montcalm St., Ticonderoga, N.Y., 518-503-5497
If your partner popped the question by asking you to “boldly go where no one has gone before,” invited you to be “assimilated” into their blended family or simply said, “Engage!” it’s clear you’ve got a Trekkie on your hands.
In that case, only one wedding venue will do. Located in downtown Ticonderoga, N.Y., the Star Trek Original Series Set Tour was created by an enterprising gentleman named James Cawley.
Using original blueprints and “thousands of photographs,” according to the Star Trek Tour website, Cawley re-created the studio in which the original “Star Trek” series was filmed between 1966 and 1969.
To add even more authenticity to the experience, William Shatner, aka Captain James T. Kirk, occasionally drops by for visits and has reportedly stopped in for a Trek-themed wedding or two.
Although the website doesn’t have a wedding section, posts on the business’ Instagram account make it clear that event inquiries are welcome and that visitors are encouraged to show up in costume. If that doesn’t make you beam, we don’t know what will.
The Love Boat
The Ticonderoga at Shelburne Museum, 6000 Shelburne Rd., Shelburne, 802-985-3346
In its heyday, the steamboat Ticonderoga — which was built in Shelburne in 1906 — could transport 1,070 passengers in style around Lake Champlain. Its matched pair of paddle wheels turning sedately, the Ti cruised at 17 miles per hour while those on board ate, danced to ragtime and jazz music, and watched the sun slip behind New York’s mountain peaks. For a brief period, the steamboat even operated as a floating casino.
Since 1955 the boat has been moored on dry land at Shelburne Museum and restored to its early 1920s glory. Visitors can meander through the engine room, galley, crews’ quarters and staterooms. Couples can even tie the knot on deck.
These days, the maximum capacity is a bit lower than it used to be: 150 can attend a ceremony, and up to 80 may enjoy a seated dinner.
Like many venues, the museum has a list of preferred caterers with whom a couple or their wedding planner can work. What ought one eat on board? Those aiming for perfect historical accuracy at their feast can find inspo in a laminated Ticonderoga dinner menu from the late 1920s, preserved in the museum’s collection.
Highlights from that meal include spiced watermelon, a purée of tomato, and salmon with Hollandaise sauce as appetizers; roast ribs of beef and boiled ham with spinach as main dishes; and apple pie with ice cream and coffee for dessert.
A similar buffet should be simple enough for a caterer to whip up, although one thing will be wildly different: When the menu was written, the meal cost $1.25 per person.
Getting Married Is for the Birds
Vermont Institute of Natural Science, 149 Natures Way, Quechee, 359-5000, vinsweb.org
Want your wedding to be a hoot? Couples who marry at Vermont Institute of Natural Science have the option of hosting cocktail hour in the raptor enclosure area, meaning that you can sip a rum and Campari-based Jungle Bird or a fruity Pink Flamingo in the presence of real live owls, hawks and falcons.
VINS was founded in the early 1970s by a group of locals who wanted to teach youngsters about the importance of caring for the environment. The Vermont Raptor Center — at which injured birds are rehabilitated — opened to the public in 1987, followed by the 47-acre VINS Nature Center in 2004. In keeping with its mission, VINS works exclusively with eco-friendly vendors.
To burn off some calories pre- or post-dinner, lovebirds and their guests can meander along an ADA-accessible forest canopy walk, which slowly and gently rises to 100 feet in elevation, bringing the treetops to eye level. Those who feel extra daring can climb 99 steps to the top of the Tree House tower for an even more exciting view.
Both the ceremony and the meal can be held either indoors or out, depending on the weather.
Bear Witness
Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium, 1302 Main St., St. Johnsbury, 748-2372, fairbanksmuseum.org
If you’ve always dreamed of having a polar bear, a moose or a ferret at your wedding, you’re in luck. At St. Johnsbury’s Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium, folks can say their vows among the exhibits, and their guests can enjoy learning and exploring as well as dancing and dining.
Open since 1891, the museum was conceived by Franklin Fairbanks, then president of his family’s famous scale-manufacturing company, who donated the building and its contents to the town just a few years before his death.
With a cabinet-of-curiosities vibe, the collections hold 175,000 objects relating to natural history and culture, including oddities such as art made from beetles and a large collection of taxidermied birds.
For those who are less interested in the weird but love science, planetarium shows and an exhibit about local wildflowers are tamer but equally interesting.
Also on offer: a game that requires participants to identify animal skulls and an escape room-like challenge based on a real-life theft that occurred on the premises.
Unlike some of the other event spaces on this list, the Fairbanks allows guests to choose their own vendors. However, special care must be taken to preserve the exhibits. ➆
The original print version of this article was headlined “Altar Alternatives | Couples think outside the barn with these unusual Vermont wedding venues”
This article appears in Love & Marriage Issue • 2026.
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