This closeup image of a happy bride on her wedding day was taken in Waitsfield, Vermont in the heart of the Mad River Valley at the beautiful Inn At The Round Barn Farm.
Em spent some of her formative years growing up in Waitsfield and if any place can feel like home today, it’s the Inn at the Round Barn Farm. Before you even reach the imposing and stunning round barn itself you walk past the entrance to the inn, which is the top rated Vermont B&B on our favorite travel website, TripAdvisor. We will not argue with that rating at all, since out of all of the quaint, restrained, and rustic B&Bs we have visited while photographing across the state, this luxurious and amiable inn is quite possibly our favorite space for all things connubial. Flipping through the guest sign-in book near the front door is always fun for geography and travel geeks like us, as we can see what an international destination the Mad River Valley is. We put down Jupiter, Florida as our home to appear somewhat exotic but there always seem to be three to four Florida towns listed by guests on every page.
The Inn, as great as it is, is almost always overshadowed by the attached round barn, one of just a few round barns remaining in Vermont. Technically the round barn dates back to its construction in 1910, but how we see it today is largely due to a restoration project tackled in the late 1980s. This massive undertaking included replacing or repairing many of the cedar shakes, the wooden beams, and clapboards. The barn itself was actually lifted off of its foundation to pour concrete for a new one. The roof was also insulated, making what is now a fully functioning wedding, event, and concert venue accessible throughout all four seasons. The barn is the crown jewel of the Round Barn Farm, which sprawls out over 245 acres of the Mad River Valley. The ground level views of the mountains are as majestic as you would expect, but heading up just one flight of stairs offers glimpses of the ponds and gardens on the property. Those gardens also supply many of the vegetables and herbs used in the kitchen, providing a farm to table catering experience that is contained in an area the size of a football field. This takes the idea of eating locally grown foods to an extreme.
Having so much to offer makes the Inn at the Round Barn Farm an excellent choice for a wedding, and therefore an extremely popular one. Once the charm of this place has helped you make your decision for your location, we suggest booking it immediately. This is one of the places where couples secure us as their photographers and book other vendors well over a year out, meaning that they had to have booked this venue even earlier. We considered it for our own wedding but it was completely booked for every weekend date during the summer and fall seasons that year. We greatly enjoy shooting weddings at the Sumner Mansion Inn where we tied the knot, but we will admit we share in the joy of our couples who get married here a bit more so than most locations, as it was on our radar as a possibility for our union.
Location: The Inn at the Round Barn Farm, 1661 E Warren Rd, Waitsfield, VT 05673.
1/400; f/2.0; ISO 400; 35.0 mm.