Tag: covid-19

Categories
Weddings

Microwedding with Dogs

There were almost as many dogs as guests at Sarah and Matt’s microwedding on June 20th. This was the silver lining of getting married in the midst of COVID-19. They postponed their larger celebration until 2021 but had an intimate ceremony this June with their parents, siblings and fur-family. A total of seven human guests and five dog guests attended their wedding in Vermont at Lareau Farm Inn in Waitsfield, VT.

Sarah and Matt both grew up in Vermont and knew that’s where they wanted to get married even though they now live in rural Pennsylvania where Sarah works as a college professor of psychology and Matt works as an electrical engineer in renewable energy. Matt spent summers working in landscaping growing up and loves the solar energy and stone walls surrounding the Lareau Farm Inn venue. The couple met on a dating app and their first date was over pizza and beer so Lareau Farm Inn, which is part of American Flatbread Pizza, was in all ways the perfect location.

“Lareau had everything we were looking for. It was stunningly beautiful (we wanted an outdoor ceremony), allowed dogs (a must!), and we wanted pizza and beer at our reception and with American Flatbread, Lareau is like the original pizza spot in VT!” says Sarah.

Sarah wore paper flower hair accessories that her mother had worn at her own wedding in 1989. As a wedding present, Sarah’s mom had earrings made from diamonds that belonged to Sarah’s grandmother who had passed away last year. Both Sarah and Matt wore heirloom rings from their family. Matt’s ring is his late grandfather’s wedding ring and Sarah’s rings were created from Matt’s late grandmother’s engagement ring.

Sarah and Matt had been engaged for a year and half before their wedding when COVID-19 hit and they knew they didn’t want to postpone. Sarah says they were so fortunate that Helen, the innkeeper at Lareau Farm Inn, helped them plan a microwedding for their families who both live in rural areas with limited COVID cases.

“Matt and I felt like the ceremony was perfect. We were surrounded by love and dogs and nature. We had asked my brother, Charlie, to officiate in our original plan, so that remained the same! One thing that we added to our ceremony because of the tiny wedding was “Community Vows,” where our families shared expressions of their love during the ceremony and my sister sang “Where You Lead, I Will Follow” by Carole King. Having fewer people really allowed us to more intentionally celebrate and embrace joining our two families together. We are so hoping we can celebrate our one year anniversary back at Lareau Farm Inn with all of our loved ones in 2021!” says Sarah.

They had their first look under the tall trees by the river and their intimate ceremony was incredibly romantic and overflowing with so much love and beauty. We walked down to the river to take some mountain photos and then Sarah and Matt spent some time cuddling with their dogs before they all walked down the aisle together.

The couple had initially planned a European hiking honeymoon, which they’ll go on in 2021, but they spent the three nights following their June microwedding on Lake Wapanacki in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and stayed in the Boathouse. After the ceremony, Sarah attached “Just Married” signs to their backpacks and we took the cutest photos of them on the trails behind the Inn and even got photo-bombed by a biker.

This was such an amazing wedding, with such a sweet and stunning couple. Thank you so much, Sarah and Matt, it was a true honor to be there! I loved every moment of documenting your day and getting to meet you all!

Categories
Quarantine

Kids VT Cover Photography

Look who’s on the cover this month of Kids VT–it’s my daughter, Remy! Its the June magazine issue and you can find it inside of this week’s Seven Days, June 10-17, 2020. We were rollerblading down on the Burlington Bike Path near North Beach and we went through the tunnel. It was almost like an optical illusion and I’m including the original photo below, which I shot with a fisheye lens. I love how Kids VT designed this cover and I especially love the Editor’s Note Managing Editor Alison Novak wrote. Here is only the last portion of it. She fully encapsulated the feeling of this photo. Please read it in its entirety here.

“The cover image of this issue, taken by Cat Cutillo on the bike path in Burlington, resonated so deeply with me because it feels symbolic of our world right now. We are in a bleak place, and there is so much uncertainty about what the future holds. Yet still we roll on, wobbly and uncertain, arms outstretched, with hope for a better tomorrow. That future is only possible if we work to counter those who espouse bigotry and hate. Let’s keep on moving toward the light.” —Alison Novak, Managing Editor Kids VT

Categories
Quarantine

STAY-SCHOOL ADVENTURES: Time Capsule, Quarantine Day 36

STAY-SCHOOL ADVENTURES: Time Capsule, Quarantine Day 36 from Cat Cutillo on Vimeo.

We’ve been circling the block a lot, going on neighborhood walks. This seems fitting because time itself has started to feel circular. Our mornings often begin where our nights left off, and sometimes I’m pretty sure I spent the day running in circles around the kids. This weekend we took a shortcut through a tunnel of trees. The lighting was just right and created a perfect shadow reflection of the trees’ long slender branches. We started talking about how trees grow from the inside and track time through growth rings that are permanently logged into their layers. The harder the tree’s winter, the tighter the growth ring.

“It’s a trunk full of history in there,” I told my kids.

When we got home I pointed to the coffee table my father-in-law had made when he was a teenager from the found cross-section of an enormous ponderosa pine tree trunk. We tried to count the rings on it but couldn’t make it past 58.

Having lapped past a full month at home, we started thinking about ways we could record our time. I brought up the idea of creating a quarantine time capsule to dig up in exactly one year that included each of our favorite memories over the past month. We presented the kids with a glass jar — like we were literally trying to preserve the memories like pickles — and told them to collect something for the time capsule.

My 7-year-old, Remy, brought out a toy rabbit in honor of Easter and swapped out the jar for a handmade, wooden treasure chest. My husband, Ross, put in a pencil and sharpener to remember working on art and school assignments with Remy. I put in my birthday candles, having recently added another year to my age. And my 3-year-old, Bo, put in a toy figure of Batman’s sidekick Robin and his socks.

I’m hopeful in a year he’ll be able to tell me why.

Categories
Quarantine

Stay-School Adventures: Spring Cleaning, Quarantine Days 25-28

Stay-School Adventures: Spring Cleaning, Quarantine Days 25-28 from Cat Cutillo on Vimeo.

The swamp next door has become my spirit animal. It takes in toxins, churning them over like a giant strainer and purifying the water. It squeezes the best parts out of bad things — a perfect example of what to do when life gives you lemons.

On Saturday, I was staring out the window, looking at the swamp, when my friend called from Brooklyn to tell me her father had died that morning of COVID-19. I looked at the swamp, trying to churn out something to say.

Earlier in the week, my kids had announced they were “moving out.” They spent the week spring-cleaning their play fort in the backyard revamping it into a “permanent” residence. My daughter got the idea from an episode of Fancy Nancy.

The play fort was like a clown car, filled with old balls, bats and baskets overflowing down the slide. I couldn’t believe how much had been crammed in there. We finally had our answers for where all the lost items had been hiding.

I watched my kids hand off piggy banks and miniature furniture to each other, beautifying their 9-square-foot space with a small stool, a tea set and a handcrafted chandelier made from pipe cleaners, tape and ribbon. They asked my husband to wood burn a “Welcome” sign, then secure it over their front door with a drill.

With every passing week of isolation, my kids’ imaginations flourish and they connect more with their internal worlds. It’s as if the daily costumes are shields, enabling them to create their own realities.

The trash has become their treasure. They even intercepted a tattered rainbow tablecloth on its way to the garbage can. It’s become the portal to their new life.

Categories
Quarantine

Stay-School Adventures: Unraveling in Mud, Quarantine Day 18

STAY-SCHOOL ADVENTURES, Unraveling in Mud, Quarantine Day 18 from Cat Cutillo on Vimeo.

Today I left my kids in the backyard for an unsupervised 30 min. Their matching yellow rain suits have become their homeschool recess uniform now that we’ve hit mud season.

When I opened the door to check on them they were literally rolling in a mud swamp at the bottom of their slide laughing hysterically. Their yellow rain suits were now caked with mud. To top it off I had just bathed them.

I felt something in me unravel and my heart skipped a beat at the momentary shock of how dismantled everything was becoming. It was a Tuesday afternoon and all the rules of normal had been shredded and thrown into the air like confetti around me.

But instead of cleaning up the mess all I felt like doing was admiring the chaos. And unraveling further.