One day in the summer of 2018, Amanda Ruplin went over to her friend Earl’s place, where he was building a treehouse. She climbed a ladder up to it and was a little nervous. But then she saw a hand reaching out from the airborne playhouse to help her complete the ascension. At the end of the helping hand was Meho Jandric.
The two ran into each other a few months later at Earl’s, this time at a Halloween party. They started talking and the conversation continues to this day.
Ruplin and Jandric, who reside in Bristol, were married in a beautiful wedding at the Middlebury Inn on Sept. 19, 2026.
Although they had known each other for more than half a decade, the engagement came as a bit of surprise to Amanda.
When they first started dating, Meho and Amanda hiked Snake Mountain together, so on a nice day in July of 2024, they decided to make the same climb again.
“We reached the top and had a nice little picnic and when I turned around, Meho was on his knee with the most beautiful ring,” Amanda recalls.
The answer, obviously, was “Yes.”
The couple gave themselves plenty of time to plan their nuptials, which allowed the process to be fun and exciting. They wanted a fall wedding, so when they started working with the Middlebury Inn that September, they reserved the September 2026 date, and Amanda appreciated the help she got from Rachel at the Inn. They liked that the Inn was close to their home in Bristol and provided a central location for traveling family and friends to stay.
“Also, it is important to find a venue that offers a bunch of services included with your price,” Amanda pointed out. “We loved the Inn because we picked a package that included food for cocktail hour and dinner, beverages for a certain time frame, as well as all the set up and clean-up, which made everything so easy for us.
“We had two years to plan, which made things super easy,” Amanda added. “I did most of my wedding planning through nursing school, which was a great way to escape the challenges of the nursing program and just relax and get excited for our big day.
“We chose September for the beautiful golden early fall weather,” she continued. “We did an elegant theme with a touch of rustic using our main colors of navy and burgundy along with touches of gold and wooden décor.”
The long lead time resulted in a wedding day where everything went smoothly.
“People always say that there can be bumps and mishaps that occur but, in my opinion, everything was so relaxed and smooth, which made the vibe of the day so wonderful,” Amanda summed up. “We lucked out and had amazing weather both for our rehearsal as well as our wedding day.”
Amanda said that a couple memories were burned into her brain — in a good way:
“Although it felt super-fast, (one memory) is walking down the aisle to my husband. Seeing the tears in his eyes, the emotion on his face and his smile will forever stay with me.”
Another standout was the newlyweds’ first dance.
“We practiced horribly at times to try and get the dance right, but in that moment, it came together so well and everyone else in the background faded away while we both held each other and looked into each other’s eyes,” Amanda recalled.
Having gone through the experience, the couple urged other people planning a wedding to enjoy, relax and have fun.
“It is not supposed to be super stressful; in fact, it was exciting for me,” Amanda said. “Enjoy your day and make sure to step back and take in moments when you can. It goes by so quick!”
It went quickly for Amanda and Meho, but not so fast that they missed the gravity of the day.
“I also was so surprised with how emotional it was at certain times,” Amanda remembers. “You never truly know how a moment is going to affect you or others around you, but it was so good to see the happy tears from not only myself and my husband, but from many other family members and guests, which made us feel like our day was so special that it touched everyone in their own way.”
