Forest Vows in Mammoth Lakes
Erin & Todd | July 17th | Mammoth Lakes, California
From the bride:
Getting married in Mammoth Lakes was very special for us. Not only was that the spot of our first trip together as a couple, but Todd proposed there as well….he proposed on top of Twin Falls that spill into Twin Lakes and overlooks our ceremony site. Over the years, Mammoth has become our favorite get away — the pictures should say it all! We wanted to have a full weekend were we could truly enjoy our family and friends from across the country — not just a few hours at the reception. We decided that having a destination wedding was the best solution — we could share our love of the mountains (comfortably!) and include our guests in every aspect of the weekend. Many extended their stay after the wedding so we could relax and spend time with them even more.
Our overall theme was to simply compliment our gorgeous natural mountain surroundings — focusing on the pine trees and little love birds. Our ceremony site was a lakeside outdoor chapel where the alter was made out of logs and the pews were logs that had been sawed in half. We wanted to just enhance the beautiful woods around us with only white flowers and greenery (from the rose petal lined aisle, garland above the alter, floral arrangements on the alter, a large gladiolus bouquet that was in honor of Todd’s late mom, to all of the wedding party flowers).
I loved every aspect of our wedding, but probably the most memorable was the ceremony — especially while my grandmother was reading a poem “Advice from a Tree” and Todd & I were planting our own seedling. After we were done and were still listening to my grandmother under the towering pine trees, I was holding Todd’s arm looking around at all of the faces and smiles. Feeling all of that love and support and just knowing they all made the trip up to the mountains for us was truly meaningful.
We had a salt bar (instead of a candy bar), Todd is obsessed with anything salty. There were little brown bags stamped with a small turquoise bird that read ʺThank Youʺ and guests could fill them with large dill pickles, sourdough pretzels, shelled peanuts, sun flower seeds and saltwater taffy.
The floral arrangements played off of the wild flowers in the surrounding meadows — placed on cross sections of logs with little bird and nest candelabras. Todd chopped down a large branch in his backyard, cut it into smaller pieces and made table markers that held post cards of popular Mammoth Mountain landmarks.
At the end of the evening, we had a ʺcampfireʺ complete with s’mores bar.
THE VENDORS
Photographer: David Champagne Photography // Ceremony: The Forest Chapel at Tamarack Lodge // Reception: Sierra Meadows Ranch // Lodging: Westin Monache Resort