A Rustic Wedding on a Wyoming Ranch
From the bride, Danielle: We handmade just about everything from the arbor for the ceremony to the dance floor and bars. We also decorated every inch of the space.
My favorite homemade item was the lemonade stand that my uncle made for the flavored water.
The backdrop of lush green trees and a beautiful arbor (built by CJ & his Dad) required minimal décor to make a perfect location for the ceremony.
Watching the ring bearer and flower girl hold hands as they walked down the aisle calmed my nerves prior to making that same walk with my father.
Right as we were exchanging vows it began to rain, we got nervous and cut the ceremony reading. When we were announced husband and wife the rain stopped and the rest of the night was full of perfect weather and beautiful skies.
The reception was just a minutes’ walk away from the ceremony. We had the guests walk through a small opening in the bushes over a bridge into the vast opening at the lawn to see the spread of two tents, a dance floor, appetizer tables, bars, a fire pit, kids table, and lawn games.
The doilies on all the tables were collected from family and friends.
For favors, we had homemade S’mores bags.
We had two large homemade pie tables, one under each tent, for dessert. Myself and a ton of family and friends all came together to make our dessert table a reality. Every pie just looked and tasted divine!
Looking back, there was nothing I would have changed. Except that we never cut the cake… we got too busy having fun and dancing with everyone and it just never happened.
My advice: Schedule everything out. I was told multiple times that I was the most specific and organized bride. I gave everyone in the family and bridal party a detailed timeline for the week/weekend so they knew where to be and when. There was no cell phone service at the location so it all needed to be planned ahead of time. Once the day came I knew I could relax because every single person knew where they needed to be, what needed to be done, and when. Because of that – I was able to truly relax and enjoy every moment of the wedding week. Also, get a good photographer. You only get to experience the day itself once, but with good pictures you get to see so many things all over again. I am so thankful for my photographer. I wouldn’t have asked for anything else from her. One final piece of advice – check with all your vendors about methods of payment that they accept – we had a little shocker with the rental company not accepting the type of credit card we were going to pay with (when we were there picking things up!)
Danielle & CJ’s RECOMMENDED VENDORS
Photographer: Melissa Del Vecchio with Plum Pretty Photography – THE BEST!
Venue: Vee Bar Guest Ranch // Tent, Linens & Rentals: All Events Tent and Party Rental // Caterer: Caterings of Laramie // Bride’s Bouquet, Corsages, and Boutonnieres: Poppy’s Flowers
simple yet elegant and classic. Very nice set up!