Bridal
Autumn
A Special Publication of the Addison Independent
Inside
Addison Co. wedding stats........ 18 Play your role in the wedding..... 19 What kind of tux to wear............. 23 About rehearsal dinners............. 26 Marrying in different faiths......... 27
A cyclist’s wedding
a bicycle motif ran through Meg Miller and Eli Madden’s wedding, including on the decorations at the reception.
By TAMARA HILMES point of interest. MIDDLEBURY — When it came time for the big day — July “We’re both big into bikes — we don’t own a car,” Meg said. 18 — Meg Madden had everything she needed to be a beautiful “We bike and walk everywhere. We live in town, so it’s really blushing bride — the dress, the flowers, the cake, the rings … easy to get everywhere.” and the bicycle. They use snow tires in the winter, and when they need to go to “We have a picture of me in my dress, posing on my suspen- Burlington, they hop on a bus. sion mountain bike,” Madden said, describing one of “But we almost never go,” Eli said. “You can reher many wedding photos. ally buy everything we need in Middlebury.” Perhaps a bicycle at a wedding is a bit out of place, “We met On those rare occasions the Maddens need somebut for Meg and Eli Madden it was completely natu- through thing that cannot be found in Addison County, they ral. just order it online, according to Eli. bikes.” “We met through bikes,” Eli said. Eli is quite Internet savvy one could say — he is a — Eli Madden self-employed web programmer. For their wedding, Meg Miller and Eli Madden met two years ago while volunteering to teach Middlebury youth to he created a website for their guests to access and ride mountain bikes through a program sponsored by the town RSVP. Along with Meg’s eye for color and design — she is a recreation department and the Middlebury Bike Club. local jewelry designer — he created a bike-themed site to match Meg and Eli both grew up riding around the streets and trails their peacock blue and brown, bike-cog-covered printed invitaof Middlebury. They were just a couple of years apart in high tions. school, but it was not until they began volunteering for the pro- ONLY ONE BAG OF GARBAGE gram that they even met one another. Cutting down on paper use was also a big plus as the couple And bikes, one might say, have continued to be a common (See Paper, Page 20)