A plane, a ski lift, and a zip line were all part of the fun when Beth Pollock and Chauncey Griffith tied the knot at Sugarbush.
For Beth Pollock, who married Chauncey Griffith at the top of the Gate House lift in August 2014, the relaxed atmosphere of their wedding weekend at Sugarbush was epitomized by something that happened a few hours before the ceremony. Beth was getting ready in the bridal suite at Clay Brook. She was the last of her three sisters to get married, and there was no mother of the bride hovering over her; this was a low-stress event. In fact, when Beth happened to glance out the window, she saw her mother whiz by outside on a zip line. “The whole weekend was just fun like that; it was like going to camp with our family and friends,” says Beth.
She and Chauncey met in 2009, when they worked next to each other at UBS financial services. A year and a half later, Chauncey left to follow his dream of becoming a professional pilot. He learned to fly at sixteen, and these days is a captain for United. Part of the reason they picked Sugarbush as a wedding spot was because of the airfield nearby, where they hoped to land in Chauncey’s plane (as it turned out, the weather on the day they were flying in didn’t cooperate). Chauncey and Beth knew the mountain well; he had been on the ski team at St. Michael’s College in Colchester, and the couple had skied at Sugarbush over the years. The intimate, community feel of Sugarbush appealed to them both, and they made the wedding into a weekend-long event.
On Friday, the groomsmen went swimming at Warren Falls before heading to the rehearsal dinner at Mad River Barn. Saturday brought golfing at the Sugarbush course, swimming at the Clay Brook pool, hiking Lincoln Peak, playing disc golf, and, of course, zip lining.
For the afternoon ceremony, guests took the Gate House Express quad to the wedding spot, and watched Beth and Chauncey get married in front of a canopy made of birch logs, framing the Northfield Mountains and the cloud-dotted blue sky. The couple walked back down the aisle with their golden retriever, Murray, and eventually everyone headed to Gate House Lodge for cocktails on the terrace before a family-style dinner inside of cedar-planked salmon, barbecued chicken, a summer pasta salad, and whoopie pies made by Beth’s mother. (The food clearly made an impression. “As we make the rounds to our friends’ weddings now, everyone is still talking about how much fun they had, and raving about the food! No one ever talks about wedding food, especially ten months later,” says Chauncey.) Later on came an after party at Castlerock Pub, and s’mores by the fire pit outside. Throughout, Beth and Chauncey made sure to include some local Vermont products, including Heady Topper at the rehearsal dinner and Switchback Ale at the wedding. Groomsmen received WhistlePig whiskey, and the goody bags included maple sugar candies and VerMints.
The next day the bride and groom flew with Murray in their four-seat Mooney airplane up to Prince Edward’s Island, where Chauncey’s family has a cabin. But first, family and friends wandered into Timbers for a low-key brunch before seeing the couple off. It was a fitting end to the wedding weekend. “We loved the ease of being at Sugarbush, everything felt very comfortable, and we loved how everything was right there,” says Beth. Like camp—except with delicious food, beautiful dresses, and some happily-ever-after thrown into the mix.
The bridal party heading to Gate House lift.
Beth, Chauncey, and Murray.
The memorable homemade whoopee pies.