{"id":10560,"date":"2024-02-19T11:30:39","date_gmt":"2024-02-19T11:30:39","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"Weddings-at-Curtis-Farm-Are-a-Family-Affair-53904539\/","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/?p=10560","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Every wedding we have is completely unique\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Curtis
Curtis Farm Weddings ready for an outdoor ceremony.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"An
An autumn wedding is set up at Curtis Farm.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"A
A drone shot of Curtis Farm in Wilton, with western views toward the Wapack Range, left, and Grand Monadnock in the distance.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"A
A happy wedding party at Curtis Farm Weddings.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>

In over two decades of years of running Curtis Farm Outdoor Weddings & Events, Matt Fish of Wilton has pretty much seen it all. <\/p>\n

\u201cAfter doing this for 23 years, we can handle just about any challenge on the fly,\u201d Fish said. \u201cYou name it, we\u2019ve had it happen. I\u2019ve given away shoes. I\u2019ve had seventeen kids in my house watching \u201cStar Wars.\u201d Every wedding we have is completely unique.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Curtis Farm, built in 1746, is the oldest house in Wilton. Fish\u2019s great-grandparents, Grace and Albert Curtis, purchased the farm in the Wilton highlands in 1906. Grace Curtis ran a nursing home for critically ill wards of the state for forty years, from 1928 to 1968. <\/p>\n

\u201cEven back then, farmers had to supplement their income in other ways,\u201d Curtis notes. <\/p>\n

In 1970, Fish\u2019s grandmother, Jenny Curtis, took over the farm and planted a grape vineyard, which sustained the property for decades. When Jenny Curtis died in 1996, Fish moved back to Wilton to take over the property at just 22 years of age.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was raised knowing I would someday take over the farm, to try to keep it in the family,\u201d Fish says.<\/p>\n

Fish, who has a degree in finance,\u00a0 started Curtis Farm Weddings in 2000 after leaving a \u201csuit and tie\u201d job. \u00a0Curtis Farm\u00a0now hosts 15 to 17 weddings a year at a\u00a06-acre hilltop venue with views of the Wapack Range. Fish, his wife, Nicole,\u00a0 and their three sons, Eli, Sam and Leighton, all work full-time\u00a0during wedding season, with the boys helping on weekends during the school year. Nicole serves as Bridal Attendant, while Matt is Event manager, and the boys and their friends work preparation and events.\u00a0Curtis Farm is open for outdoor and tented weddings\u00a0\u00a0from May to November.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the level of detail we go into, with every wedding we host being completely unique to the bride and groom, we can only do one wedding per week. I\u2019ve been in wedding venues where there are three weddings going on at the same time,\u201d Fish says. \u201cAt Curtis Farm, we completely focus on each\u00a0bride and groom; there is nothing else going on.\u00a0\u00a0Starting on Wednesday of their\u00a0wedding week, this is their venue.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Curtis Farm Weddings also provides wedding planning services, including recommending vendors. They source food, \u00a0flowers, and entertainment\u00a0locally whenever possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe probably plan about half of the weddings we host,\u201d Fish said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Curtis Farm Wedding\u2019s signature event is the Sunset Cocktail Hour, where guests gather in an outdoor lounge space with antique furniture, against the backdrop of sunset behind North Pack and Temple Mountain. Fish takes a picture of every wedding group from an overhead ladder and mounts the photo on a mat signed by every guest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re kind of a unique segment of the wedding industry; we encourage people to \u2018bring whoever they are\u2019 to their wedding.\u00a0 Our signature is \u2018rustic elegance\u201d:\u00a0it\u2019s all about\u00a0being on the farm and being outdoors. The people who come here don\u2019t want their wedding pictures\u00a0in front of drapes or a staircase \u2014\u00a0they don\u2019t want your standard banquet room. We create their event based around who they are. People incorporate their own passions \u2014 we\u2019ve had people bring their motorcycles, we\u2019ve had people include their pets and their hobbies. It\u2019s all about who they are as a couple,\u201d Fish said.<\/p>\n

Fish notes that Curtis Farm hosted one of the first same-sex weddings in New Hampshire, which included a signed letter of congratulations from Governor Lynch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fish and and his family use their long experience in the industry to guide\u00a0clients to the best possible wedding experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTime is more valuable than money at the actual\u00a0event. We always suggest that people don\u2019t do the formal reception line, as that takes a lot of time\u2026we do things like encouraging them to make sure they connect with all the older guests before they have to leave. We steer people away from a highly choreographed formal departure as well; that\u2019s another thing that takes a lot of time. We recommend the \u2018sparkler send-off.\u2019 The bride runs through the sparkles and she\u2019s off, and the pictures are beautiful,\u201d Fish says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The entire Curtis Farm wedding venue is accessible, and the venue provides full staff for the tent and the bar for every event.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople often do not realize what a big deal it is to host a wedding. I always say, whatever you do, do not get married at your own house \u2014 the parking, the lighting, the staff, the plumbing, all the overhead \u2014 people have no idea how much is involved,\u201d Fish says. \u201cWe\u2019re moving furniture for days, we\u2019re landscaping, were getting the tent up, we\u2019re moving the bars\u00a0around with forklifts. My wife cuts the grass every four days. After 23 years, we have it down pat.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fish jokes that his biggest regret is getting married at Curtis Farm himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was running around with a walkie-talkie all day,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Fish family\u2019s future plans include putting the farmland around the venue in conservation easement so that the location can always be used as a wedding venue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not easy to get a license for a wedding venue these days.\u00a0 We are very fortunate that we have great relationships with our neighbors. They appreciate seeing the farm here, having the views when they drive by,\u00a0 instead of seeing the land developed, \u201d Fish said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Revenue from the wedding venue enables the Fish family to maintain Curtis Farm as a working farm, with hay fields, peach and apple orchards, livestock, and a blueberry field, as well maintaining the antique farm buildings, including the classic red barn that features in many wedding photos.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWeddings are mission critical to the farm. My kids know, no weddings, no farm,\u201d Fish jokes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fish and his family often maintain close relationships with former clients, who sometimes return to Curtis Farm for anniversary picnics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spend eighteen months working with people, so they become friends. I always say, we see people on their best and worst day. We all always stop and listen to all the speeches after the ceremony \u2014 after all the planning, we feel like we really know people, and it\u2019s really meaningful.\u00a0 Sometimes people bring their kids back and it\u2019s like, this is where is all began,\u201d Fish said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nicole and Matt hope their own sons will take over the business and keep Curtis Farm running for years to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love knowing my grandparents are looking down on us with approval,\u201d\u00a0Fish said. \u201cWe\u2019re just fortunate to have a wedding venue and to be able to do this.\u00a0They would be so happy we saved the farm.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0For information about Curtis Farm Weddings visit curtisfarmweddings.com.\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In over two decades of years of running Curtis Farm Outdoor Weddings & Events, Matt Fish of Wilton has pretty much seen it all. \u201cAfter doing this for 23 years, we can handle just about any challenge on the fly,\u201d Fish said. \u201cYou name it, we\u2019ve had it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":271,"featured_media":10561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_newspack_byline_active":true,"_newspack_byline":"by [Author id=271]Jesseca Timmons[\/Author] Monadnock Ledger-Transcript","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,526],"tags":[505,497],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[650],"class_list":["post-10560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-life","category-homebox4-cm","tag-paywall","tag-wilton-nh","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/42961066-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/271"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10560"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10562,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10560\/revisions\/10562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10560"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fnewspack_spnsrs_tax&post=10560"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=10560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}