The Inn at Manchester in Southwestern Vermont is a perfectly quaint yet modern wedding venue, offering many different ceremony locations for us to capture images like this black and white photo of a flower girl dropping a petal from her basket.
Run by the Hanes family, including sisters Nancy and Alice, The Inn at Manchester provides a perfect balance of rustic charm and modern amenities. The inn welcomes guests with its front porch over looking the primary road through Manchester, buffered by a large lawn. While being right on Main Street, the building sits back from the road far enough that lights and noise created by the small amount of traffic present is rarely noticed by those staying on property. Once inside, the comfy confines of the foyer open up into dueling sitting rooms in front of and behind the central fireplace, both just a few steps away from the pub’s bar. Within seconds of arriving, the small bed and breakfast makes you feel like you are at home. The hospitality of the inn’s owners and their staff make you appreciate the place even more, especially when you wake up to the smell of breakfast cooking downstairs.
With so many couples holding weddings onsite, temporary tents were replaced with a permanent structure that blends in seamlessly with the its surroundings. From the outside, the bright red barn could be a refurbished version of one dating back a century, but once inside this new addition shines with modern comforts and a logical layout. Beautiful suites look out over the back lawn and nearby small creek, both of which have hosted numerous wedding ceremonies over the years. The largest window in the bridal suite looks out over the fire pit and allows us the chance to snap a photo of everyone present at the wedding, an awesome and super convenient perk of this location.
We photographed a late fall wedding here with nighttime temperatures dropping below freezing. The heat inside, coming from both the energy on the dance floor and the actual heating system, combined happily with the top shelf alcohol served at the bar to keep everyone warm and toasted. Along the dance floor, multiple glass doors opened up to the outside patio and its circular fire pit. This let everyone enjoy the cycle of breaking a sweat on the dance floor, cooling off outside, warming up by the fire, and cooling back down during the walk back to the reception. We also appreciated the two different locations as photographers, with the warm and energetic dance floor juxtaposed against a cool and peaceful scene around the fire just a few feet away.
Staying at the Inn at Manchester allows you to stroll down the streets of the town, past a variety of other hotels, bed and breakfasts, shops, and restaurants. Shopping in the downtown area is a regional draw as plenty of brands, including quite a few higher end names, have stores and outlet centers here. For grabbing a bite to eat, we recommend Thai Basil, The Perfect Wife, and The Silver Fork for dinner. We would tell you where to go for breakfast, but when you’re staying at the Inn at Manchester, we’d suggest you simply walk downstairs.
