From the bride, Hannah:
Our wedding was inspired by the season and fall colors and also had splashes of vintage flair. We wanted the day to be personal, fun and simple.

I loved my dress! It was all lace.

Our faith is very important to us and we always wanted to get married in a church. While we were in college, we attended the college ministry at First Presbyterian and it was very special place to us both. The ceremony took place in the chapel, which is full of beautiful stained glass that was beautifully lit during our early evening ceremony.

My favorite detail was one I had no control over- the awe-inspiring fall leaves were just PERFECT on our wedding day. I tell everyone that God created the perfect day for us. Somehow, my bouquet matched perfectly and that was one thing I was always remember.

While planning our wedding, we were constantly asked where the reception was. I was always amazed at mens’ excitement over our wedding as soon as we told them our reception was at Folsom Field. Throughout college and even now, Bret and I were avid CU football fans and we will always root for them. The club level at Folsom Field has an amazing view of the field from above. However, it was the beautiful fall sunset and stunning sight of the mountains that took our guests breath away that evening.

My advice: Have fun with the planning process! I tell all my engaged girlfriends that they have a choice to make- they can choose to be stressed out about the planning and make themselves and everyone else crazy OR they can choose to enjoy it, roll with the punches and have fun. The choice you make will greatly affect how everything goes in the end. You will encounter bumps along the way but all that matters at the end of it all is that you will married to love of your life and nothing is better than that moment!

Hannah’s RECOMMENDED VENDORS
Photographer:  Kate Noelle Photography  //  Ceremony Site: First Presbyterian Church  //  Reception Site & Caterer: Folsom Field Stadium Club/Centerplate  //  Cake: Tee & Cakes  //  Florist: Kimball Floral  // Wedding Gown: Pronovios White One Collection from The Bridal Collection  //  Hair: Form + Function Hairdressing

From the bride, Maygan:
With the Rocky Mountains as our backdrop, the T Lazy 7 Ranch was the ideal location for our ceremony.  Aspen holds a special place in our hearts because it was our first trip together and the active, outdoor Colorado lifestyle represents who we are and what we love.  From the ceremony to the cocktail hour to the reception, each part of our big day was accompanied by just the right music, just the right mood and just the right people.  The day was perfect!

One touch that was incredibly special to us was honoring our mothers. In lieu of wedding favors we made donations to two charities – The ALS Association in memory of Kyle’s mom and The Michael J. Fox Foundation in honor of my mom. This is something we will continue to do each year on our wedding anniversary.

THE VENDOR TEAM
{Rockstar Venue} T LAZY 7 RANCH {more info | website}
Photographer: Cara Leonard Photography // Wedding Planning & Design: The Celebration Studio // Caterer: Conundrum Catering // Band: Bill Parish Productions // Rentals: Premiere Party Rentals // Hair + Makeup: Full Circle // Airbrush Foundation: A Glamorous Face // Florist: Harrington Smith // Shoes: Christian Louboutin // Dress Designer: Paloma Blanca // Bridesmaid Dress Designer: Wtoo by Watters // Men’s Fashion: Stitchworks

From the bride, Alison:
Our wedding rings didn’t make their way to the best-man in time for the ceremony so we had to exchange “imaginary rings” – as soon as the recessional was over we exchanged our real rings, it could have been a big problem but it ended up being a funny moment in the ceremony that we will always remember, and our actual ring exchange after the ceremony ended up being more intimate/romantic – a moment that we will always cherish.

We had San Pellegrino with paper straws passed around to keep our guests hydrated and cool during the ceremony.
The most memorable moment for me was when I finally walked down the aisle with my dad and saw Shaun.
Shaun’s mother got us a Love Box and we did a Love Box ceremony instead of the traditional unity candle.
The best part about the reception was seeing how all the work and planning came together – well I guess that’s second to seeing all our friends and family in the same place, all there to celebrate us.
My advice: Don’t stress out about the details – keep in perspective that it isn’t about the perfect dress, the perfect centerpieces, the perfect wedding – it’s about celebrating the life you are starting together – enjoy the day because it goes by so quickly.

Alison’s RECOMMENDED VENDORS
Photographer: Stephanie Brauer Photography. One word: AMAZING! Stephanie captured every last detail of our wedding perfectly. Stephanie is passionate about her work and I feel beyond lucky that we found her!

Event Planner: Entwined Planning. Danielle was the reason our day went off without a hitch.  She took care of everything and made our vision a reality – absolutely perfect.

Venue: The Margarita at Pine Creek.  We wanted an outdoor ceremony and The Margarita provided the perfect backdrop for what we were going for, a laid-back feel while still being elegant – having our wedding at the Margarita was like having it at our own home – the staff was incredible and made sure everything was taken care of and that all of our guests were comfortable and the food was excellent.

Cake: Nothing Bundt Cakes //  Florist: Hillside Consultants Inc  //   Musicians: Aspen String Quartet //  DJ: Gotta Dance DJ’s  //  Officiant: Your Romantic Wedding //  Wedding Gown:Paloma Blanca from Bea’s Bridal Nook  //  Bridesmaid Dresses: Alfred Sung from Something New Boutique  //  Hair & Makeup: Beehive Salon //  Men’s Wear: Men’s Warehouse   //  Rentals: Bruno’s Party Time Rentals //

From the bride, Amorette:
We really wanted to get married in the mountains because that is where we spend most of our recreational time. Rich is passionate about skiing and I’m passionate about hiking mountain trails and we both love to go camping and hiking so we held our wedding nestled in the Rocky Mountain National Forest. 70% of our guests flew in from out of state.

Photography by Rachael Grace Photography

Our first look was very memorable. We were both so overwhelmed with emotion from the entire day leading up to that moment of seeing each other before our ceremony. To this day I still can see my husbands’ eyes well up with tears as I walked up toward him to say hello!

The sun was literally shining upon us as we said our own vows, which we wrote ourselves!

We named the tables according to Rich’s favorite ski mountains.

 We both love, love, love, dark chocolate and particularly a brand called Chocolove, which is a local company here in Boulder. So we decided to shower our guests with chocolate as a party favor. We made the place name tags, and wrapped our chocolove chocolate bars with twine and attached a tag with each guests’ name and their assigned table seating.

My advice: Take time to relax and enjoy planning your wedding. Whatever you do, make sure that you make it your OWN. For the Bride- this day is about YOU and NOT your mother, your sister(s), friends or anyone else!  Looking back, I would have had less bridesmaids… too much drama!

Amorette’s RECOMMENDED VENDORS
{Rockstar} Photographer: Rachael Grace Photography.We absolutely fell in love with our wedding photos and they couldn’t have been any more perfect! We were looking for a natural, romantic and story telling style photographer and thankfully we found Rachael! She is a godsend and we are happy to have found our future family photographer!

Venue & Caterer: Wild Basin Lodge.  The staff was very professional, friendly and they catered to our every need. I would highly recommend the Wild Basin Lodge Event center.

Wedding Gown: Sew Fresh Studios. My gown was handmade by artisan Nora McCray and it was so comfortable and fit my body like a glove!  I would highly recommend Nora!

DJ: A Music Plus  //  Cake: Intricate Icings

Honeymoon Location: Europe! We spent 3 ½ weeks traveling to London, England, Cologne, Germany, Locarno, Switzerland, Florence, Italy, and Barcelona, Spain. It was an amazing start to the rest of our lives together!

From the bride, Caroline:
Since all of our family and most of our friends were from out of town, we wanted our guests enjoy the best that Western Colorado has to offer. I started the day primping at the Spa with my mom, sister, aunts, cousins and friends and Mike chose the absolute opposite, getting pummeled on the mountain bike trails with his brother. Our ceremony was small and intimate held on the green grass, underneath the Cottonwood trees surrounded by the beautiful red canyon monuments. After dinner, we danced under the Full Moon.  We met on the night of a Full Moon in India, got engaged on the night of a Full Moon camping on the Colorado River, so it was only fitting to dance our wedding night away under a Full Moon!

Caroline’s RECOMMENDED VENDORS
{Rockstar Venue} GATEWAY CANYONS {More info | Website}
{Rockstar Flowers} FIELD FLORALS {More info | Website}  Loved Ashley Krest’s beautiful Paonia-grown organic flowers.
Photography: Cat Mayer Studio

From the bride, Lauren:
We are both Colorado natives and love how Colorado is rustic in its presentation. The mountains wouldn’t be as majestic without the mix of the rocks, trees and snow nor would a rustic style wedding be as beautiful without burlap and lace. We wanted our wedding to feel warm and inviting and also share a little of our personalities.  

Ryan stole my wedding shoes before the ceremony and wrote me a sweet note on them.

I loved every detail of our wedding day, each piece came together as I had dreamed it should. I especially loved the flowers, they were a surprise on the day and they were exactly what I had always dreamed of. Our ceremony was beautiful with Ryan’s childhood pastor marrying us, my cousin serenading us, and a Kiss to seal the deal. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day with our friends and family surrounding us, and our bright future beginning.

Ryan took one of his love poems to me from our dating and had my cousin write music to it.  My cousin performed the song while we had our first communion together.

We designed a  “guestbook tree” by painting a tree on a cutting board. Each person put a thumbprint and their name on our tree giving it life. We have it displayed in our home.

We had a friend who made it possible to engrave our initials on tree stumps that we placed at each table. We found the idea of having our guests give us advice that we would get to open on our anniversaries through the years- we used them as our table numbers.

We used tree stumps as the base of our centerpieces. We also collected lanterns to put on each table- four different ones for each table. We loved burlap and lace and integrated it anywhere we could.

Our first dance was truly all my dreams come true. We danced to the Matthew West song “When I Say I Do” It was a picture of what we want our marriage to be and it such a wonderful moment for both of us!

We had breakfast for dinner because Ryan and I would each choose breakfast as our favorite meal.  

My advice: Remember that you are planning for a marriage not just a wedding. The wedding day flies by and all the stressing and planning is over within a 24 hour period, so build into each other, your families and your present- you’re not guaranteed tomorrow.

Lauren’s RECOMMENDED VENDORS
{Rockstar} Venue: Lionsgate Event Center. We wanted guests and our families to be able to enjoy the entire wedding and not have to worry about getting to a second location.
Photographer: Vanessa Kruse Photography. I love Vanessa and would recommend her to anyone- she’s great to work with and does wonderful work!
Caterer: A Spice Of Life Catering. They made our dream come true of breakfast for dinner for a large crowd- fresh made waffles and fried chicken included!
Cake: Das Meyer Pastry Chalet. INCREDIBLE!
Florist: Finishing Touches.  Linda May understands your vision and makes it come to life!
Wedding Gown: Maggie Sottero from The Bridal Collection. They were awesome, I knew which dress I wanted when I walked in and they were able to help me find it and also help me to have fun trying on other dresses before settling on my favorite!
Hair & Makeup: Bo’s Salon. Bo made everyone look spectacular!
Men’s Wear: Men’s Warehouse
DJ: DJ Guy

Honeymoon Location: Hawaii. We traveled on three islands and loved EVERY minute of it!

From the bride, Tiffany:
Everything about our wedding day was simple, but uniquely ours. We had a small, intimate group of around thirty members of our friends and family, and we surprised each of them by waiting until the night before the wedding to reveal the actual ceremony location…the top of the gondola at Steamboat Ski & Resort. Most of them were from out-of-state, so a gondola ride was not something they had experienced before. The day was sunny and clear, and everyone soaked in the gorgeous scenery on their ride up the mountain. It was truly our perfect day!

Photography by Keeping Composure Photography

We actually ordered our flowers in bulk from the City Market in Steamboat Springs. They were just what I was looking for, and my bridesmaids and I had a blast putting the bouquets together the night before the wedding.

We wanted to do something along the lines of a unity candle, but due to the fact that it was an outdoor wedding and wind may be involved, we decided to do a “unity plant” instead. Albert and I had our parents bring soil from the homes that we each grew up in, and we poured it together as we planted a plant, symbolizing two lives coming together. Our fathers helped with the pouring of the soil, and it was a touching moment for all of us.

  Our reception was held at Hazie’s Restaurant and they took care of everything for us!

From the bride, Mary:
We wanted our wedding day to be elegant and laid back at the same time. Our main focus was the celebration and it was an amazing day.  It went by so quickly and truly was all about celebrating our commitment and love for each other with our closest friends and family.

From the photographer, Selah Photography:
For neighboring patrons of The Broadmoor, it may have appeared to be a screen testing for the future James Bond movie when the groomsmen arrived at the scene. With that many handsome men in tuxedos and British accents, one would assume that no one outside of Hollywood could put such a group to assembly. And, one would be right, because it took two, in the wedding of Dom and Mary, not only to put together such a dapper group of men but also to juxtapose each of them with an equally radiant female counterpart (though a Texan accent more than British for the gals).

The whole wedding party and wedding itself was the kind of event that inspires artists to fill frames and Webster to redefine the word “classy.” The intimate service took place in a small and antiquated church while the reception was in a room of the nearby The Broadmoor, who did not hold back on decor and mirrors.

Mary’s RECOMMENDED VENDORS
I would recommend every single person and company we used; they were truly amazing and I cannot thank them enough for the memories I have from our wedding day.

Photographer: Selah Photography. I love Jackie! She is someone I would want to be friends with and loved having her and her husband, Matt, capture our wedding day. She is so talented and is truly someone who has a passion and talent for photography. I cannot express how thankful I am to Jackie and Matt for the memories they have captured.

Event Planner:  SK Event Specialists.  Stephany Knierim made our wedding day and all of the preparation stress-free. She went above and beyond to take pressure off of us and make sure that our wedding and reception went as smoothly as possible.

Flowers: Ambience Florals. Liz Ash is wonderful and has such a creative eye and really listens to your ideas… and is very reasonable! 

Musicians:  Leavitt Music Service. Dan Leavitt provided a wonderful string trio to play music for our wedding ceremony. The music was so beautiful and made our ceremony so special and memorable.
Reception Band: Bob Finnie Band 

From the bride, Candyze:
My wedding day was the best day of my life. I not only got to marry my best friend, but I got to spend the day with my family and my best friends. From our quite breakfast in bed, before the preparations begin, all the way to the first dance, everything was absolutely perfect.

The Clock Tower was the perfect venue. It represented our style which is both modern yet elegant.

I think I probably set a record for being the world’s least stressful bride. Everyone made sure that I had everything that I needed at all times. 

I loved that Nate was in charge of all of the music for the day. This included everything from me walking down the aisle to our first dance. And he surprised me by singing to me before our first dance. It was a very special moment.

 As we partook in a family tradition of enjoying some cigars on the balcony, we got to enjoy the breathtaking view of Downtown Denver.  It was a crazy, yet absolutely perfect day.

Candyze’s RECOMMENDED VENDORS
I loved all of my vendors! My favorites were:
{Rockstar} Event Planner: PINK CHAMPAGNE EVENTS
Photographer: Pippen Pictures  //  Venue: The Clock Tower  //  Caterer: Lifestyles Catering  //  Cake: Mermaids Bakery

Photography by Kelly Lemon Photography on Breckenridge Mountain