A Raw & Earthy Wedding Inspiration Shoot
This editorial shoot was styled to catch the eye of brides that want a modern and organic wedding style. Earthy tones and muddy textures were used to evoke the raw, honest style of the shoot, while simple placements of earth and floral were used to incorporate Mother Nature into the setting.
THE STYLE TEAM
Photographer: Branson Maxwell Photo & Video
Event & Floral Designer: Amber Reverie
Invitation Designer: Plume Calligraphy
Venue: River Bottoms Ranch
Veils and headpieces: Emily Riggs Bridal
Mountaintop Elopement in Vancouver
Sara & Isaac | Vancouver, Canada | Photographer: Karizma Photography
Isaac and Sara’s romance started at a New Year’s Eve party. After failing to get her number, Isaac asked 7 people to help him find a way to reach her. Once he finally got her number, he asked her on a date and Sara just couldn’t say no.
THE PROPOSAL
While walking in a snowy park near their apartment, Sara was mesmerized by the small lights decorating a gazebo nearby. Isaac then got down on one knee and popped the question, offering her a wooden ring he had made himself.
WHY ELOPE
Initially from Pittsburg, USA, the two decided to elope in Vancouver. They both have a love of the outdoors and were struck by the beautiful scenery easily available around Vancouver. Their decision to elope came after trying to plan a traditional wedding with a guest list of over 100. They began to wonder if it was really worth the expense. When Isaac’s mom suggested eloping, they never looked back.
THE DAY OF
On the day of their mountain elopement, Sara’s hair and make-up by AX Art Makeup began at 3 am. Then, the drive on a bumpy forest service road to the beginning of the trail. They hiked to the spot where they wanted to say their vows. They changed into their wedding attire and said “I DO” on a picturesque rock overlooking the valley with jaw-dropping views of the mountains.
Rugged Boho Inspo in the Californian High Desert
This styled shoot was inspired by the location, BLM land in the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. Although the location was sparse in vegetation, the sweeping snow-capped mountains and larger than life boulders provided plenty of inspiration. Vintage elements gave the setting a special wanderlust flair while the cowhide rug and skull added a little southwest style without being over the top. The triangle arch was a powerful design element. The flowers reflected the vegetation and incorporated plants you would actually find in the high desert.
THE STYLE TEAM
Photographer: Love Wildly
Event Planner: Rosie Event Designer
Floral Designer: Sweet Lilacs
Apparel: Addictions Boutique
Dress Store: Sonora Bridal Loft
Makeup Artist: Heather Andrea Makeup & Hair Artist
Calligrapher: Lauren G London
Mountaintop Engagement Photos on Shrine Pass
Karina & Will | Vail, Colorado
From the Photographer, Michele, with one L: Karina and William first met at a local pizza shop in Florida where they both used to hang out. One night they were each there alone and started chatting. They talked and laughed for hours — in fact, they spent so much time together that they both consider it their first date! They love the outdoors, traveling, cooking together, and spending time with their pup, Shain, who is truly one of the sweetest dogs.
THE PROPOSAL
William planned to ask Karina to marry him in the mountains when they were skiing at Arapahoe Basin with friends. Karina wasn’t happy with her skiing that day, and William ended up with an altitude headache, so he put his plans on hold for the afternoon to wait for a better time.
That evening, Karina just wanted to relax in the hot tub, but it was full of strangers, so instead, she decided to take Shain for a walk through the nature preserve along Dillon Reservoir. Little did she know this was the exact spot where William had originally hoped to propose!
William immediately forgot about his headache and, on the way out of the condo, grabbed the ring. William knew Karina loved to share his jacket pocket with him when it was cold, so he cleverly hid the ring under a water bottle in one pocket, making it impossible for any hands to fit inside. Sure enough, as soon as they stepped outside, Karina grabbed Williams’s hand and shoved it into the other, open pocket. William breathed a huge sigh of relief!
For Karina and Shain the walk felt like any other — casual, slow, and relaxing. And William? Well, his heart was racing and beating so loudly that he could barely hear Karina talk. Is this the right time? Is this the perfect moment?
They continued to walk around the nature preserve until they reached the point where the path meandered closest to the reservoir — the perfect spot.
William stopped and asked Karina if she would like to take a family photo. It wasn’t typical for William to want to take photos together, so Karina happily agreed. William set up his iPhone against his water bottle on a fence post, positioning Karina exactly where he needed her to be.
“I love you and Shain so much…,” he started, as he approached Karina as if he were going to stand in the photo. Then, at the last second, he dropped to one knee instead: “…and that’s why I want to ask you if you would marry me.” Of course, Karina said yes, and they had so much fun telling everyone they knew — even people they didn’t know — laughing and grinning from ear to ear.
A Rainy Fall Honeymoon Adventure
Bethann & Jensen | Telluride, Colorado
From the photographer, Rachel Beckwith:
Having your love documented on your honeymoon should most definitely be a thing. You’ve just had an amazing wedding day, all the nerves, stress, and built up anticipation are gone, and you are just able to enjoy your time with your new spouse with the freedom to be completely relaxed. It’s the perfect opportunity to get some meaningful memories captured that will forever remind you of your first trip together as a married couple.
This is exactly what Bethann and Jensen did, and it was such an incredible experience. In the days after their wedding, they took a mini-honeymoon to Telluride, Colorado, right at the peak of the spectacular Fall foliage this region displays. We decided to do a sunrise adventure and started to drive out in complete darkness after downing some coffee of course. It was a rainy morning, so we didn’t get to see the sunrise, but it made for an even more memorable session. There’s just something so romantic about kissing in the rain especially when you have these breath-taking views all to yourself.
A Colorado Wedding With Rocky Mountain Views
Leia & Sam | Estes Park, Colorado
From the bride…
We knew we wanted a view of the mountains for our wedding so finding the Black Canyon Inn and Twin Owls Steakhouse for the ceremony and reception was absolutely perfect. We didn’t need to do a lot of decorating because the amazing venues were already so naturally perfect.
HANDMADE CENTERPIECES
Sam is a welder so when we got engaged, I knew that I wanted him to weld roses that would be our centerpieces. We decided to place the roses in growlers (since we love going to breweries and trying beers).
LOOKING BACK
Our favorite part of our wedding day was spending time with friends and family, on and off the dance floor. I love going dancing, so having hours of dancing with your closest friends and family; nothing is better than that!
THE WEDDING TEAM
Photographer: Taylor Nicole Photography / Second Photographer: 831 Photography
Ceremony Venue: Black Canyon Inn Weddings
Reception Venue: Twin Owls Steak House
Floral Designer: A Florae
Dress Designer- Stella York from Dora Grace
Hair & Makeup: Cici at WedLocks Bridal Hair & Makeup
A Romantic Floral-Filled Ski Resort Wedding
Nikki & Pete | September 22nd
For a bride whose childhood memories are filled with days of playing in her family’s flower shop in New Canaan, Connecticut—BonFleur, a word play on Bongaerts’ Flowers—there was never any question that flowers would play an integral role in her wedding. Nikki’s parents are now the owners of a nationwide flower wholesale company – Florabundance. With ties so strong in the floral industry, flowers such as ranunculus, astilbe, tulips, blushing bride protea, garden roses, and hellebores were sourced from around the world. Floral designers Shawn Chamberlain of Flower Bar Co. and Alicia Schwede of Bella Fiori / Flirty Fleurs flew into Utah to bring the couple’s floral visions to fruition. Shawn worked closely with the couple to bring their bright and cheery color palette of green, pink and touches of white to life in the lodge. The flower team spent 5 days working inside the lodge to transform it into a romantic garden-inspired space.
From the Bride… Alta Ski Area in Alta, Utah, has been our special place since we started dating five years ago. As soon as I said “yes,” we asked each other to blurt out where we wanted to get married. We both shouted out, “Alta!” Pete began skiing at Alta as a young child, and I went for my first time while I was dating Pete but taking a gap year in Utah. With Pete’s insistence, I bought an Alta season pass. He came to visit me multiple times that winter and our favorite thing to do was always to ski Alta together. Alta is also the place where we would continue to come on annual ski trips together, and after a long day on the slopes, we would love nothing more than to hit up the Alta Peruvian Lodge’s bar, affectionately known to most as the “P Dog.” One day after our engagement, we called Todd at the Peruvian Lodge and booked our date- the last available for 2018, and the exact one we wanted: September 22.
THE DATE
Having moved out to Park City a few months post-engagement, the wedding planning really came to life since we were local to our venue. In our vision, we wanted the natural beauty of the mountains to set the stage. We picked September 22nd because it was the first day of fall, our favorite season. It was also the autumnal equinox, so our wedding weekend was a mix of summer and fall.
THE INSPIRATION
The flowers were perhaps one of the most important components of our day and our overall venue design. Growing up as the daughter of parents who ran a small, local flower shop, I constantly found myself playing in the flower coolers after school. I wanted some of the same of my favorite varieties and scents to bring me back to those days. We wanted to keep things natural to the landscape and incorporate a lot of greens, but also added in pinks, whites and light peaches to provide even more pops of color on top of the gorgeous yellow foliage our outdoor venue provided.
THE CEREMONY FLOWERS
Our amazing designers Shawn Chamberlain and Alicia Schwede worked with my parents to use a ton of garden roses, ranunculus, eucalyptus; you name it. The aisles were lined with flowers like I have never seen! We are still getting compliments from our guests about the stunning ceremony decor.
My favorite part of the day was the moment we said, “I do.”
THE RECEPTION
We kept to our rustic mountain theme while mixing in our pops of color and plenty of candles throughout the reception. Befitting the family business, every nook and cranny of the lodge was adorned with flowers.
THE TABLE FLORALS
The true masterpiece of the dining space was the 136 feet of continuous floral arrangements that ran down the center of the tables. The long king’s tables were lined with some of the widest floral runners I have ever seen–again, more gorgeous garden roses.
One of the best aspects of our amazing wedding was dancing the night away to our favorite Motown and Grateful Dead songs with our best friends and family members, everyone so happy to be celebrating with us.
Honestly, it was the most perfect day with our beloved friends and family and an incredibly talented list of vendors. The florals, photography, calligraphy, print work, the food, not to mention the amazing live band, were over the top. We could not have been happier.
THE WEDDING TEAM
Photographer: Claire Marika Photography // Second Shooter: Aerie Photography // Floral Designers: Bella Fiori & FLOWER BAR // Event Planner: Bluebird Event Destination Management // Paper Props: Mulberry And Elm Design // Invitation Designer: The Whitney Shop // Caterer: Savoury Kitchen, Park City // Band: The Fever Band // Video: Beau Brown Videographer // Wedding Gown: Lela Rose from The Plumed Serpent Bridal // Makeup Artist: Jessica Grambau // Venue: Alta Peruvian Lodge
THE FLOWERS POST-WEDDING
So what happens to all of these beautiful flowers after the wedding day concludes? That’s where Shawn Chamberlain switches hats from designer at Flower Bar Co. to director of The Full Bloom. Shawn is the brains and heart behind the non-profit organization, which collects flowers after the conclusion of events, redesigns them into bouquets, and distributes them to hospice patients nearing the end of life. The design team put out a call over social media asking for volunteers to meet at the lodge on a Sunday morning to redesign all the flowers into sweet little vase arrangements, and more than 30 people showed up. The wholesale company Syndicate Sales generously donated the vases to this project, and with their generous donation, more than 300 vase arrangements were created and delivered to hospice and assisted living facilities throughout the Salt Lake City area.
A New Year’s Eve Wedding in the Green Mountains of Vermont
Elyse & Brian | December 31st
From the bride… When we got engaged, I knew that I wanted a winter wedding. I had dreamed about being surrounded by snow-covered mountains while wearing a simple dress with vintage touches and a fur stole. I knew what I wanted, but Brian took some convincing- he couldn’t picture getting married in the winter because he thought it would be too cold and people wouldn’t come. In the end, he realized that if I was happy, he would be happy.
THE DATE
Originally, we hadn’t thought about having a New Year’s Eve Wedding. We quickly learned that New Year’s Eve was one of the last dates the Mountain Top Inn had available for 2018. It felt like it was meant to be, so we canceled our second day of venue tours and booked our date 12.31.2018! Once we had the date and the venue finalized everything else sort of fell into place. Being that it was New Year’s Eve, I knew that I wanted everything to be very simple and elegant with just a hint of glitz and glam.
FINDING MY DRESS
My first (and last) dress appointment was on a Saturday morning in May. All of the important women in my life joined me to help me find my dress- there was 9 of us pulling dresses to try. I had thought I wanted a long sleeve dress, but once I tried starting things on, I realized very quickly that I did not like the dresses that had sleeves and went back to a strapless with a sweetheart neckline. I had thought I may have found my dress it was very, very, simple/ plain when my consultant said to me “Wait here one minute before you decide- I just thought of something!” She came back with ‘Katalina’ dress from Spring 2018 collection from ‘Blue by Enzoani.’ The minute that I stepped into the dress, I fell in love with the simplicity of it. My favorite part of my dress was the tulle at the bottom with the wide crinoline ribbon around the hem. I felt as though I needed to add a few details to the dress, so I had my seamstress sew a string of crepe buttons down the back along the zipper. She also sewed on an art deco inspired belt at the waist to add a little bit of glitz for the event. I also wore a vintage silver fox fur while we were outside for photos. My wedding look felt very classic and elegant.
THE BOUQUET
My elegant bouquet incorporated anemone flowers for a pop of darkness which really made it stand out from the rest of the white flowers. I loved the contrast.
THE BRIDESMAIDS
The silver sequin dresses perfectly blended with the snow, and they all looked like they had dresses made out of snowflakes. I gave all her bridesmaids necklaces with the geographical coordinates of the Mountain Top Inn and matching earrings.
THE CEREMONY DÉCOR
Brian and I wanted our ceremony site to feel warm and romantic, so we decided to use a lot of flowers and candles in our decor. The arbor had a beautiful flower piece on the top left corner with a smaller piece on the right side and my mom, Patty, had bought a very soft romantic feeling fabric that draped around the birch to soften it up a bit. On either side of the arbor as well as down the aisle we had white rose petals with several candles lit in clusters at varying heights- it was gorgeous!
THE CEREMONY
My Aunt Trixie was our officiant, and she knows me better than most people. She knew exactly what to do to personalize our ceremony so that it would be meaningful for us. Brian’s cousin Pete did a reading. My sister Sarah and Brian’s brother Scott assisted in a traditional “hand-fasting” ceremony (knot tying/blessing of the hands) honoring our Irish heritage. Most importantly, our parents were invited up to read us our vows to each other. Brian and I had not heard any of the speeches ahead of time and had no idea what my Aunt had planned. It was amazing experiencing it all for the first time at the ceremony at the same time that our guests heard it. The love we felt from everyone surrounding us at our ceremony was overwhelming- we could not have been happier in that moment!
THE MEN’S ATTIRE
Keeping with the elegant New Year’s Eve vibe, we decided to have Brian, and his groomsmen wear black tuxedo’s with black bow ties.
THE RECEPTION DECOR
We knew that we wanted it to feel elegant and decided to keep it simple mostly white with hints of silver and grey throughout. To add some warmth to the reception barn, we decided to use drapes around a lot of the wood posts- we didn’t have a huge wedding, so it not only helped to separate the space but also added a softness to an area that had a lot of wood details.
I loved our centerpieces- we incorporated mirrors for dimension with floating candles and white flower arrangements with a hint of greenery.
MY ADVICE
Enjoy every second of it together, have fun, and try not to sweat the small things! Find a venue and vendors that will help to guide you through the process. Our planning was a breeze, and we owe most of it to our vendors for keeping in touch with us throughout the entire process and sending reminders when certain deadlines were approaching.
THE WEDDING TEAM
Photographer: Idena Beach Photography
Venue, Lodging, Caterer, Flowers: The Mountain Top Inn & Resort
DJ: Top Hat Entertainment