For our bride Sophie, Twin Lake Village has been a home away from home. Her family had been frequent visitors to the small resort over the last 25 years! When she and Alex became engaged in that very same place, there seemed to be no better venue in which to wed than the one that now held both their hearts. So, this duo set about planning a beautiful New Hampshire wedding with a warm, welcoming vibe.

Get more details about their celebration (and the beautiful invitations she designed with her parents, who own Great Arrow Graphics, a greeting card company) below!

How did your sweetie propose?

From Sophie:

“Alex proposed to me in July of 2015 on the exact spot we were married one year later! My family has been visiting Twin Lake Village (a small family style resort in New London, NH) for 25 years. The Kidder family has been welcoming guests at the resort for more than 118 years and it has always felt like home away from home for me, and so Alex knew it would be the perfect and most meaningful place to propose. It was the end of our annual vacation there and we were surrounded by both our families. He told me we were going to take a family photo, but I soon realized that no one was joining us for the picture and a friend ended up photographing our proposal instead!

One month later, we booked the entire resort for our August 2016 wedding weekend. The Kidders spent an entire year helping us to plan our special day and we are so grateful for their help and hard work!”

wedding dress + veil: Lea-Ann Belter Madeline via Lovely Bride Rochester | photographer: Chelsea Steller Photography | scroll down for full vendor list

How did you choose your gown?

“I really feel like the Madeline gown chose me! I had tried on so many dresses in the style I thought I loved and it just wasn’t working. Katie, my wonderful consultant at Lovely Bride Rochester, asked if I wanted to try anything else in the showroom and I hesitantly asked to see the Madeline dress. It was so different from anything I’d tried on or seen and it made me feel so beautiful!”

Tell us little about your day! Did you have a theme or style in mind?

“We didn’t have a specific theme in mind but we wanted the wedding to feel very personal. Because all of our guests stayed right there at Twin Lake Village with us, we got to spend lots of time with everyone and it was so fun to see our guests getting to know each other as well! We worked with event planner and designer Kristin Burgess of By Emily B. to bring our vision to life. It felt like a very elegant backyard wedding with beautiful florals and rustic charm. One of the most personal and special parts of wedding planning was designing the invitation suite with my parents who are artists and own the Buffalo, NY based greeting card company, Great Arrow Graphics.”

Any advice for future brides/grooms?

“One of the best decisions we made was hiring a wedding planner. Although it can seem like a large investment of your wedding budget, it was so worth it to be able to enjoy every single minute of our weekend with family and not have to worry about the details or timing of our special day. Best of all, our mothers were able to relax and enjoy themselves, too!”

Where did you go on your honeymoon?

“We took a “mini-moon” vacation to Vermont right after our wedding! It was the most charming, low-key week and the best part was that we didn’t have to jump on a plane the very next day. We were the last people to leave Twin Lake Village and had the chance to say goodbye to all of our guests.”

Sophie + Alex’s New Hampshire Wedding Vendors 

wedding dress + veil: Lea-Ann Belter Madeline via Lovely Bride Rochester | photographer: Chelsea Steller Photography | wedding design, coordination + florals: By Emily B. | venue: Twin Lake Village | invitations: Great Arrow Graphics | hair: Melinda Brandt Hair | makeup: Leather & Lace Artistry | cake + desserts: Pleasant Street Sweets | music: East Coast Soul

Were you a Lea-Ann Belter bride? We’d love to see your pictures and share your story! Email [email protected].