Vendor Spotlight: Tiffany Hilton Pottery

Valley Wed is a curated style of wedding show; one that focuses on real relationships with the best wedding vendors the Pioneer Valley has to offer.  We want to connect you with the top wedding professionals in Western Massachusetts to help you plan one of the most important days of your life. 

November 1st   12-4pm   Quonquont Farm

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You're not cookie cutter.  Neither are we.

Get to know our hand-picked wedding pros
in our Valley Wed Vendor Spotlight.

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Meet Tiffany Hilton, a professional potter and co-coordinator of Valley Wed.

What is your favorite memory from your wedding?

The ceremony was very meaningful to me and I still have very clear memories of it 12 years later.  We passed our wedding rings around in a little basket so that everyone in attendance could offer a special blessing and wish for everlasting love.  One of our readings was from Rumi and included the following line: ”A circle of lovely quiet people becomes the ring on my finger.”  I remember all our guests surrounding us in the garden, looking at us with such love – and I recall Tim and I looking back at all of them as our rings went around and came back to us and we continued with our vows and exchange of rings. 

“A circle is the symbol of the sun and the earth and the universe, of wholeness and perfection and peace, the rings you are about to give and receive this day are symbols of the endless love into which you enter as husband and wife.” 

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Is there one picture from your own wedding you couldn’t live without?

My mother was a photographer and art teacher and offered to photograph our big day.  Several other family and friends sent us pictures as well.  There is one of Tim and I after our ceremony, and after some traditional family photos had been taken…where we both were more relaxed and glowing with happiness – and it’s one of my favorite photos from our wedding.

If I had to do your wedding over again what would you do differently?
What would you keep exactly the same?

We had a low-budget wedding of $5,000.  We rented a barn for $500, had a somewhat organized pot-luck wedding with 75 guests, hired wait staff and a bartender, and our biggest expense (and top priority) was having great live music.  We hired The Bag Boys who had a regular weekly gig at our favorite bar in Cambridge, MA.  They were so experienced and professional and easy to work with.  We asked them to play something in the garden before the ceremony and then to move inside the barn after the ceremony for some great bluegrass, old time and western swing.  I had absolutely no worries about the music or timing of anything – and trusted that they had everything under control.  Our guests loved them!  If I had to do it all over again I would definitely hire a great live band with lots of experience.

What do you love most about your work?

I love making something useful, durable and beautiful that will become part of people’s daily lives.  I love meeting a couple who are inquiring about a handmade wedding registry with Tiffany Hilton Pottery and starting the conversation with them – asking them how they envision dining and entertaining in their married life. It is often the first time someone has asked them to envision hosting Thanksgiving dinner together in a year or two – how many place settings would they need? It’s very exciting to play a small part in their grand wedding celebration and to meet or speak with a couple’s family and friends through the wedding gift registry process.

What makes you different from other professionals in your field?

Lots of professional potters make plates, bowls and cups – but many of them don’t want to offer full wedding registry options. It takes an additional level of organization and experience to produce a large order within a certain time frame.  I have been offering wedding registries for over ten years and am proud to have my work appreciated in this day-to-day way.

[Read reviews from many of Tiffany's couples here!]

At 9am each day you are...

...usually enjoying a cup of black tea in a handmade mug made by myself or one of my potter friends…while I finish up some emails and get ready to start my day in the studio!

A charity you support:

Food Bank of Western MA.  I often will host a raffle during my studio sales and holiday events to raise money for hunger awareness issues and our local food bank. I also contribute many bowls to the Amherst Survival Center Empty Bowls project and dinner each spring.

What's your motto in life?

“Work hard and be nice to people.”