Vail / Beaver Creek – Luxe Mountain Weddings | Mountain Destination Weddings

A Ceremony in the Rain + Luxe Tent Reception

Jen & Josh | September 1oth | Vail, Colorado

From the bride…What I remember most was how special it felt to have all of our loved ones gathered together in Vail, which has a special place in my heart. The day started with my bridesmaids and I getting ready in my family’s mountain home, followed by pictures at the top of the gondola. Going up the gondola with our wedding party for photos was such a fun and special way to kick off the festivities.

THE CEREMONY

In typical Colorado fashion, it was a perfect, blue sky day right up until we arrived for the outdoor ceremony! Guests huddled under trees and umbrellas, and I couldn’t believe we couldn’t see the gorgeous Gore Range view we had been dreaming of. But in the end, the rain added laughter and levity to the ceremony and the pictures with the umbrellas are fantastic!

Walking down the aisle with my Dad is something I’ll never forget.

THE OFFICIANT

We asked our friend Matt to officiate the wedding. Matt has known us as long as we’ve known each other and has seen our relationship evolve over several years from friendship to life partners.

SPECIAL TOUCH

We did a soil ceremony, where we had each of our mothers bring soil from our childhood homes so that we could plant a new tree, bringing our families together and creating our new roots.

After the ceremony, we moved to our reception site on the lawn of Lion Square Lodge for cocktails, dinner, and dancing.

Guests were greeted with shawls and slippers as they descended the stairs.

THE SEATING ARRANGEMENTS

At the entrance to the tent, a large escort wall with leather tags led guests to their individual seats.

THE TENT

The Tent at the base of Vail Mountain was the largest one ever done on Lion Square Lodge. A custom build that took three days to install and included incredible floral chandeliers, a large lounge, a custom donut wall, and matching monogrammed dance floor- not light gobo- but monogrammed.

The tent was even more magical than I had imagined it would be during all of the months of putting together this “room” from scratch. The hanging floral displays were especially breathtaking and exactly in line with my vision.

THE PLACE SETTINGS

The menus were printed on bread bags. The leather place cards had gold calligraphy monogrammed script.

THE SPEECHES

The toasts by my Dad, my MOH, and Josh’s Best Men were all hilarious and so touching they brought me to tears.

THE RECEPTION

The reception flew by in such a blur that I can’t even tell you many more details, but I do know that we all had an unbelievable night with our friends and family.

THE MUSIC

The band was the highlight, with people still talking about them over a year later. The dance floor of the tent was quite literally bumping (it felt like a trampoline out there!).

ADVICE

Don’t trust your memory for anything on the day of! If there is something you’d like to make sure happens (even if it seems obvious and you think you’ll remember), don’t leave it to chance. Ask your planner, family member, or best friend to be on point to ensure any special moments you have in your head actually happen.

Be yourselves! Following trends that don’t feel completely authentic to you as a couple won’t stand the test of time. Go with your gut and your own style over any Instagram trends.

THE WEDDING TEAM

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A Blue & Yellow Wedding in Vail, Colorado

From the bride, Gabby: The most important thing we considered while planning our wedding was each other. We really wanted to be true to our roots and keep things simple. The style was inspired by our lifestyle and we personalized the day down to every little detail. We love the mountains and chose Vail as it is a mini-Switzerland with all the romantic feels. We held our wedding on Sunday over Memorial Day weekend so that people could travel from out of state and not take days off work unless they wanted to.

THE FLOWERS

Our flowers had a wildflower mountain feel with a nice pop of yellow (my favorite color).

THE BRIDESMAIDS

The wedding party wore different shades of blue which looked great standing in front of the green aspen trees.

THE CEREMONY DECOR

We assembled and stained our ladder alter and the aspen buckets going down the aisle.

FUNNY MOMENT

We had three signs for our three ring bearers to hold down the aisle. The first said “Uncle Nick” the second said “Here Comes” and the third said “Your Bride” but the ring bearer in the middle who was three years old wasn’t having anything to do with that sign, so it read “Uncle Nick… Your Bride”. It got a big laugh from the crowd and it still kind of worked!

MEMORABLE CEREMONY MOMENT

Every moment of the day was truly a favorite: walking down the aisle with my dad, saying our own vows, the poem read from the oldest ring bearer, and the KISS!

Looking back, we would absolutely recommend a mountain wedding and depending on the time of year, you could capture any season you’d like from a spring mountain wedding with all the flowers blooming to a winter wedding with snow on the mountain.

ADVICE

Make the day about the two of you and not let anyone else’s wants, needs, or vision get in the way. The only things we would do differently would be to have a day-of coordinator and a videographer.

THE WEDDING TEAM

Photographer: Rachel Schrepel | Venue: Donovan Pavilion

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A Gorgeous Rocky Mountain Wedding

The big city met Rocky Mountain charm in the heart of Beaver Creek, Colorado at this mountain destination wedding. Rachael and Keegan were married on a warm early summer day at the Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch. Their friends and family enjoyed fresh mountain air, lots of love, and with the help of their furry friend, R&K said their “I do’s”. The couple wanted to keep the design of their wedding very simple, yet elegant. Rachael’s classic dress was a stunning match with Keegan’s striking blue suit. Her bridesmaids all wore different gowns in neutral colors and patterns. Flowers were simple, yet formal – green and white with explosions of eucalyptus and hydrangea. Th reception flowers included a stunning installation of greenery and orbs over the tables while garlands adorned the elegant ballroom chandeliers. Guests flew in from all over the country and had a blast dancing the night away!

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THE WEDDING TEAM

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A Black-Tie Rocky Mountain Destination Wedding

Lindsay & Steve | Beaver Creek, Colorado

From the Photographer, Rebecca Yale: Lindsay and Steve were married over the July 4th weekend in a 5-day celebration in the mountains. The bride’s parents have had a vacation home in Bachelor Gulch for years and knew instantly that the wedding would take place in their “happy place” with other events including a welcome dinner, bridesmaids hike and July 4th BBQ all taking place in the Beaver Creek area. Each guest was welcomed to the Ritz with a personalized hiking backpack with the wedding’s hashtag “Red White and Berg” printed on it and full of local goodies from the area including the bride and groom’s favorite candy, red and blue sunglasses, trail maps and a program of the wedding weekend details. The weekend’s events ranged from casual to cocktail, but the wedding itself, set on the skier bridge and in the Ritz’s ballroom was black tie.

The Flowers

The couple wanted to bring in an unexpected floral combination using more formal orchids with mass amounts of loose greenery to bring the outdoors in and create a romantic woodsy aesthetic.

The Invitations

They kept their wedding invitation simple in tones of white and silver with a simple line drawing of the mountains and the bride’s mother found vintage map of the area to use as the backdrop for the schedule of events which was all bound together with a piece of leather.

The Bouquet

The bride’s bouquet was wrapped with a piece of lace from her mother’s dress.

The Dress

The bride wore a classic Monique Lhuillier ballgown, which she loved for the drama with the background of the mountains and paired it with delicate lace louboutin shoes and a sapphire and diamond bracelet leant to her by her uncle.

The Ceremony

The ceremony took place under a lush floral chuppah on the skier bridge next to the resort, overlooking the mountains. The bride and groom broke with tradition and elected to have a male and female usher to honor two of their dearest friends. The forecast was clear for the day, but minutes before the bride was to walk down the aisle the skies opened up and poured rain for about 2 minutes sending all the guests running back inside, but luckily it was just a quick rainstorm and everyone was able to return back outside for the ceremony.

In Jewish tradition the groom broke a glass at the end of the ceremony, but instead of smashing it, it rolled away twice, creating a great comedic moment, which the bride and groom embraced.

The bride and groom wanted to keep the mood of the ceremony light and playful like them and had their wedding party walk down the aisle to two of their favorite musicals- Hamilton and Phantom of the Opera.

The Reception Decor

Vail Vintage Magnolia transformed the ballroom with a mix of high and low centerpieces, a large chandelier installation over the head table and lush greenery hanging from the chandeliers. The couple wanted the ballroom to be unrecognizable, but also wanted guests to still be able to talk to each other over the tale so created installations at two levels to not block any conversation.

After they cut the cake the bride changed into a tasseled short party dress to dance the night away in.

The weekend came to a close with a fireworks celebration back on the bridge where the couple said their I Do’s.

The Wedding Team

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A Mountain Glam Wedding in Vail

Courtney & Bobby | Vail, Colorado

From the bride: We met and fell in love in New York City (our residence of 10 years), but we couldn’t dream of a better escape to marry than the Rocky Mountains. Colorado is our favorite place in the world. The views are stunning and there is so much to do in a weekend whether it’s hiking, swimming, fishing, skiing, or just going to the spa.

THE STYLE

We both live in Soho in New York City and are always surrounded by major trends and this huge lifestyle with grandiose buildings and everyone fashion obsessed-so we really wanted our wedding to feel intimate, soft, and almost as if it was happening in a forest. We wanted the opposite of our regular day to day lives.