Kim & David  |  July 14th  |  Tabernash, Colorado

From the bride, Kim:
We wanted to have our wedding in the mountains so we could showcase our beautiful state to our many out of town guests.  We planned an entire wedding weekend vs. just a wedding day. Our guests joined us for a pig roast dinner on Friday night, lunch on Saturday afternoon, the wedding Saturday evening, and then for a brunch on Sunday morning. This gave everyone a chance to get to know one another, and it also gave us a chance to actually spend some quality time with all of our guests.

Photography by Jess Elysse Photography

Devil’s Thumb Ranch was one of the only places we looked at where almost all of our guests could stay there and everything during the weekend (the rehearsal dinner, the wedding, brunch, etc.) could take place there, so it made everything so much simpler and convenient to have it all in one place. The large number of things to do and see at the ranch also gave our guests the opportunity to get out and enjoy themselves while they were visiting the area, as well. Also, the ranch is absolutely beautiful, as are their accommodations.

Having our dogs, Roswell and Chico, in the wedding was so fun, and the fact that Roswell got loose during the ceremony was an absolute riot! He stole the show!

I loved our guest book. We had our guests sign an old map of Colorado from the late 1800’s. We drew a heart on the location of our wedding on the map too.

My favorite detail was the escort card table. I hand-stamped everyone’s names onto library cards and placed them into stacks of books and an old card catalog that was filled with flowers.

We used our own book collection and the décor from our house to decorate the reception space.

My advice:
1. Enjoy the whole planning and wedding process, but try to set deadlines for yourself to get things done and decisions made so you’re not stressed out as the big day approaches.

2. Be sure to include things because you want to, not because you feel like you’re supposed to.

3. Keep things simple, but personalized and elegant. (We kept referring to our wedding as “the easy button wedding” after the Staples easy button advertisements, in hopes to keep things simple and stress-free!)

4. Make the day about spending time with your guests and each other instead of worrying about the little things, everything will all fall into place and work out.

5. Even if you do a destination wedding, still try to take a honeymoon, or get in a few days with just the two after the wedding. Someone recommended this to us and as much as we loved spending time with all of our guests, it was truly wonderful and rejuvenating to decompress on as beach for a few days.

6.  Hiring a wedding coordinator (and hiring the wedding coordinator that we did, Rami Carter of Pick Me! Floral & Event Design) was the single best decision we made!

Kim’s RECOMMENDED VENDORS
Event Planner & Floral Designer: {Luxe Partner} Rami Carter, Pick Me! Floral & Event Design { More info | Website}
Photographer: Jess Elysse Photography  //  Venue, Caterer & Lodging: Broad Axe Barn, Devil’s Thumb Ranch  //  DJ: Yeti Entertainment Services  //  Cake: Teacup Fine Baked Goods & Confections  //   Gown Designer: White by Vera Wang  //  Invitations/Programs: Orange 81  //  Pet Transportation: Wag-n-Walks Colorado