Oh man, this project. What a feat! It started this past winter when I had an idea. An idea for something BIG, something big for the wedding community of Garrett County. I wanted our community to come together and celebrate, and just be excited and proud to be a part of this little corner of Maryland. A corner of Maryland that is booming with wedding business and moving down a road of continued success!

As a leader of the Garrett County Wedding Professionals, I asked Smiley what he thought about using his new wedding venue, The Lodges At Lakeside Village, as a place for a BIG social. A social that would bring all kinds of vendors and professionals together, and would really show off what our area can do for weddings! When he didn’t hesitate for one second with a resounding YES, I knew we had something great on the horizon.

So after months of planning, our event came to life. The focus and purpose was to bring the wedding community together and give our professionals the opportunity to show their work. Wedding professionals, local leaders, prospective couples, and friends of the wedding community networked, enjoyed food and drink, showed off their best work, and got just one more taste of the excitement that lies within weddings here in Garrett County and the Deep Creek Lake area. 

A big part of the social was the styled shoot. With the help of so many vendors, we were able to put together a picturesque, lakefront wedding scene. Hair, makeup, a dress and a tux, florals, sweets, decor rentals, models, a boat…we had it all! Multiple photographers, a videographer and plenty of hoots and hollers from those watching because the shoot was beautiful! It was such an exciting and appropriate way to show off what our local wedding professionals an do!

Here are a TON of my favorites from the social event, including snaps of our vendor friends and some behind the scenes moments. It’s a picture-filled post because we had so many wonderful vendors who came together to make this an event that won’t soon be forgotten. THANKS A MILLION to everyone involved! 

Jessica Simson of Garrett County did makeup…

Jessica, our bride model, and boyfriend Will came all the way from Hagerstown to be a part of our event…and they were LOVELY to work with! A special thank you to Trisha and Lindsey at Bella Salon & Spa in Hagerstown for connecting us with Will and Jess! They were also in charge of Jessica’s hair for the styled shoot…

The fabulously friendly Beth of The Mustard Couch joined us from Morgantown, WV to provide her beautiful vintage decor items. You’ll see more of her pretty things later in the post. 🙂

Jessica’s dress came from Lennox East in Cumberland, MD…

Our photog-video team! Jessica and Will had quite the entourage during the shoot!

Jo at Clara’s Garden in Oakland, MD provided the bouquet, boutonniere and archway florals for the styled shoot, and everything was beautiful! 

A first look with Wisp Mountain in the background…

Rebecca of WV MotionWorks capturing a little video footage… (check out the film!)

These two were naturals from the beginning!

One of my favorites from the shoot!

More behind the scenes action! It was so much fun to move about the docks and work alongside the other photographers and our videographer. A little challenging, especially if we were all going for the same angle, but it forced a little more creativity…and a lot of laughs along the way. 🙂

Another favorite!

I love when the wind blows through the hair at just the right time!

Clara’s Garden also provided our tux! How slick does Will look in this navy ensemble!?! 

Check out Kristen of Higher Focus Studios! Shooting while baby-wearing!

And Kirsten of Girl Getz Photography gettin’ that angle!

Back on land for some pictures…

Bella Salon requested some pictures with a leather jacket and I think the look suits Jessica well…

Another favorite for me!

County Caravan had goodies to giveaway…

Table decor from The Mustard Couch!

Vintage furniture pieces from The Mustard Couch, too!

Cookies and cupcakes were made by my neighbors at the Taste & See Bake Shop. I had two different people tell me that they were the best cupcakes they’d ever eaten!

Green Acres Flower Basket in Oakland, MD provided us with some centerpieces for the dinner tables…

Mountain Flour Baking Co. in McHenry shared their wedding cake and fruit pastry goodies!

And back inside for more styled shoot pictures! We were finishing up as guests started to arrive, so I was back and forth…and thankful we had such a good media team to cover it all! 

And yes, we had port-o-potties. But not just any port-o-potties…”pretty” port-o-potties ready for backyard, outdoor, lakefront weddings! Arnold Brothers Equipment Corp. in Oakland, MD knows how to make all that happen!

Then we ventured on the boat for some more styled shoot pictures. Thanks to Bill at Fun Time Watersports for providing the boat and taking our guests out on the lake! 

Another favorite!

And this one, too! 🙂

Who would have thought the back of a boat would make for such pretty portraits!?!

Jessica knows how to work the camera!

The participating vendors set up displays inside the various cabins on the property so they could share their information and others could find out more about them…

Pine Lodge Steakhouse shared a wonderful “surf and turf” menu with us!

I love this picture of my friends Kendall and Allison. 🙂 Kendall of CurlyRed actually designed our event logo and print pieces!

A storm came through during hour two of the social, but thankfully, it didn’t wipe everything out…and we still had some good light after the rain! Back into the wedding attire and a few final moments on the water…

These two were just the cutest! So willing and so patient with all of us!

Whew! What an event! (And what a post to get through, right? 🙂 ) But goodness, our professionals did a stellar job! Getting married at Deep Creek Lake is such a beautiful, unique option for weddings…and I know how excited our community of wedding professionals is to invite couples into our corner of Maryland. I am proud to say that I live and work here, and have some many wonderful vendor friends to share it all with! YAY weddings! YAY Garrett County weddings! 🙂