Casual Mountain Chic Wedding

Kathryn & Jeremy | June 30th | Meredith, Colorado

 

From the bride… Our dream wedding was a relaxed weekend, in a stunning location, which truly reflected us both individually and as a couple. We felt that it represented us better than your traditional wedding venue would. And, what decor could possibly beat out a dramatic mountainscape in the background!? You get the majestic scenery for free!

 

 

Since we had guests traveling from all over, we wanted to show our appreciation for their devotion and how far they traveled to share our day with us.  Jeremy and I cut and painted old barnwood with most of the cities represented and their distance from the wedding location.  A few days before the wedding, we couldn’t find a post to nail them to, so Dad and Jeremy concocted a tri-pod made out of aspen tree trunks.  It ended up being so cute and unique!  People loved it and had fun posing in front of their city.

 

 

Our favorite 10 year old Mountain Poodle (really just a standard poodle, but we feel there should be a new breed), Macy, was in our wedding.  I didn’t actually see this the day of but did see it when watching the wedding video…we got a kick out of Macy saying hi to each of the bridesmaids before she took her rightful seat with our dog-handler on the front row.  Such a cute moment and so Macy!  Loved it!

 

 

 

 

Every summer since I can remember, my mom spends hours at the cabin canning homemade jelly, made with fruit from the valley.  For our wedding, she made 140 jars of raspberry jelly and peach jelly, from fruit grown locally, which we gave out as gifts to our guests.

 

 

 

The Groom’s cake is a Southern tradition – one of which my husband was clueless about and therefore provided a great opportunity for me to surprise him!  I had his favorite cake, German chocolate, made into the shape of a giant Rainbow Trout, with a banner that said “This one’s a keeper!”  The pastry chef did an amazing job – it is one of Jeremy’s favorite things about our wedding to this day.

 

 

 

Our table numbers were random significant numbers to us in no chronological order, with their significance to our relationship described underneath.  For example:
Table 6,222 – Number of miles that Jeremy drove between Indianapolis and Chicago to see me.
Table 79 – Number of American Idol episodes I “forced” Jeremy to watch.
Guests loved walking around to the other tables to read all of them – it was a great conversation starter.

 

 

 

The night before the wedding we had a huge Pig Roast for all of the guests.  Jeremy is a horticulturalist at a large conifer nursery.  He shipped 40 miniature conifers from Portland, OR to Colorado to serve as the centerpieces.  We then gave one to each couple to take home with them and plant in memory of the weekend.  It’s been touching to see these little trees planted in the yards of our friends and family when we visit!

 

 

My advice: Don’t stress about the little things!!!  Something will not go 100% according to plan – expect this to happen so you won’t be disappointed.  This is the one day in your life that you will be surrounded those you love most under one roof – relax and enjoy the time you have with them instead of fretting about the centerpiece color being slightly off!

 I STRONGLY recommend postponing your honeymoon.  Especially if you are having a destination wedding.  We decided to leave for our honeymoon several months after the wedding because A)  it was important to us to spend time after the wedding with family and friends who had travelled long distances and we rarely get to see, and B)  we didn’t have time to solidify our honeymoon plans with all of the wedding-planning frenzy.  As a result, we were able to hang out with family and friends for several days after the wedding and after the stress had lifted.  Also, we could spend the time in the following months planning a PERFECT honeymoon to Kauai and Maui, which gave us something to look forward to!

 

 

THE WEDDING TEAM

Photographer:  Jason and Gina Wedding Photographers.  Jason and Gina are very down to earth and flexible to work with.  My guests, family, Jeremy and I LOVED them.  We were ecstatic about how our pictures turned out – each one a work of art!  Without a doubt, I would highly recommend them.  One of our best decisions we made for the wedding.

Venue & Lodging: Diamond J Guest Ranch.  Beautiful ranch geared to fly fishing.

Invitations/Programs:  Paper Bloom Studio. Lindsay Zogas out of Portland.  She was very patient and spent boatloads of time emailing back and forth until we loved the designs.  Highly recommend Lindsay.