Spring weddings
A Wedding in the Pines at the Arboretum in Flagstaff
Megan & TJ | June 14th
From the photographers, Adam and Priscilla:
Megan and TJ had taken their time looking for a perfect spot to say “I do”. Even though they live in the desert, their favorite place to be is among the pines in the high country of Northern Arizona. There are so many amazing places but The Arboretum at Flagstaff was the perfect venue for their Flagstaff wedding in the woods. Their fur babies, Henry and Diego joined in on the festivities. These two pups were just as excited for Megan and TJ’s big day as the rest of their gracious family and friends!
THE CEREMONY
TJ stood at the edge of a Ponderosa Pine Forest with the majestic Mount Humphreys in the background. Even though we were at altitude, it was Megan who took TJ’s breath away. With each step closer, he held his breath and fought the tears back, this glowing bride was to be his partner in life. This is what life is about, living in the moment with the person you love.
They stood beneath the arch draped with fresh roses, eucalyptus, anemones, and thistle blooms. Megan held her hand out softly and TJ took it into his own and once together the world is serene. The focus between the two was unbreakable; you can just tell that they know how each other was feeling and thinking without even saying a word. The love between them is all they need.
The Arboretum at Flagstaff grounds were full of life from the spring rains; lush greenery that didn’t even look like Arizona, the flowers, trees, and grasses were abundant with new growth. As we made our way out of the pine forest chasing the beautiful golden hour with the newlyweds we spoke of craft beer, good music, food, and our common love of the forest and nature.
Friendly horny toads wandered the paths alongside us and birds filled the air with their songs. The peaks of Mount Humphreys were aglow in the early evening light. It was a perfect June day for a wedding in Arizona.
Both Megan and TJ are kind and thoughtful with a love for artisanship. It came through in every detail of their intimate wedding; from the beautiful florals, the Arboretum, his blue suit with a sage green tie that perfectly matched TJ’s eyes. Even their honeymoon to the Oregon coast where they could go enjoy nature and good craftsmanship.
THE WEDDING TEAM
Photographer: Adam and Priscilla // Venue: The Arboretum at Flagstaff // Hair Stylist: Northern Arizona Glam Squad // Officiant: Sedona Minister
A Sophisticated Bluegrass & Craft Beer Mountain Wedding in Asheville
Jennifer & Thomas | April 15th
From the bride: We chose the Asheville, NC area because we just love it. We love camping, the Blue Ridge Mountains, the music, and the groom, in particular, loves all of the craft beer options in Asheville. Our vision for the day was a little boho, a little bluegrass, and a little sophistication. I think we were our own inspiration behind the style. We wanted our wedding to represent us and what we enjoy.
THE DRESSES
We are both pretty low maintenance when it comes to attire. I bought a dress right off the rack and had a seamstress add the lace cap sleeves to customize it. The bridesmaid dresses were a little boho and whimsical and as my sister in law said: “these are SO Jen.”
THE FLOWERS
The flowers were absolutely beautiful! Flora in Asheville designed the bouquets and I couldn’t have been happier.
THE GROOM
Thomas wore a navy suit he already owned. He also picked out the bowties for himself and his groomsmen which I did not see until I was walking down the aisle. I must say he did a great job.
Thomas and I took bets on who would cry during the ceremony – him or I. We were both surprised when he was the one that cried! Our photographer, Meghan, caught a great photo of him wiping his tears of joy while my dad walked me to the end of the aisle. That was such a precious moment, and I’m so grateful Meghan caught it!
THE CEREMONY
The ceremony décor was simple, romantic, and magical. We let nature really be the star.
MEMORABLE MOMENT
In addition to marrying the love of my life, my favorite funny part of the ceremony was when I arrived at the end of the aisle with my dad; I slipped a little on my last step. I caught eyes with my now brother-in-law (one of the groom’s brothers), and we just laughed for a second. It really calmed my nerves and gave me a chuckle. Fortunately, we didn’t have any other mishaps after that!
Thomas is a homebrewer and brewed several different beers for a tasting during the “cocktail” hour. We also served family style charcuterie boards alongside the tasting. We both love trying new beers and a great charcuterie board!
FAVE DETAIL
We used springs of rosemary, which is one of my favorite herbs for the place settings. It was such a beautiful touch for a cozy, sit-down dinner.
THE DECOR
Our reception décor included lots of greenery, vintage china plates with mismatched patterns, and ivory lace table clothes.
FAVE MOMENT
If I had to pick one particularly memorable moment, it would be when Thomas and I sat down for dinner at the reception. We were surrounded by all our friends and family to celebrate our love, and we just looked around and at each other like “wow.” It was so nice to have a calm moment to talk to each other, take it all in, and just relish in the love and celebration in the room.
THE DANCING
Our first dance to a Tedeschi Trucks Band song was so fun. And, I had a blast shagging to ‘Love Don’t Come No Stronger’ with my dad for our father-daughter dance.
ADVICE
Don’t get bogged down in the details. Remember why you’re getting married – not to have a wedding, but to marry your best friend. And have fun!
THE WEDDING TEAM
Venue: The Farm. We chose to rent out all of the cabins on the property for our family. It was SO nice to all be together near the venue. It made the whole weekend so relaxed and enjoyable to not be rushing from one location to another. We held the rehearsal dinner and the bridal brunch all on the property as well. It was so worth it! We enjoy cooking and feeding our friends and family, so we made sure not to skimp on food either. We did a sit-down dinner that was family style and it was a big hit. It was also nice for us to be able to sit down, eat, and take it all in! Before and after dinner was a whirlwind!
Band: Oak Grove String Band is a bluegrass band we had heard several times at a festival when we were dating. We loved them so much! They did a lot of familiar covers in their bluegrass style.
Photographer: Meghan Rolfe Photography | Floral Designer: Flora | Cake: Teresa Bost | Officiant: Kevin Thumpston | Hair Stylist: Doll Box Productions
Honeymoon Location: Secrets Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun
A Perfect Wedding Day in Colorado
Steph & Chris | Beaver Creek, Colorado
From the bride: Our wedding day was everything we could have hoped for and more. The day before, at our welcome dinner, it started dumping snow and what was supposed to be an outdoor BBQ with yard games and whiffle ball turned into a snowglobe. So, on the morning of our wedding, everything was dusted with snow. It was a magical way to start the day!
THE SHOES
I had every plan to wear my fun sparkly heels during the wedding or at least the ceremony, but due to the snow, I wore a pair of platform sneakers. The whole night. Never took them off. Sparkly shoes be damned.
The Flower Girl
Our black Labrador, Luna was our flower girl–she’s a trained avalanche rescue dog and we were able to teach her how to shake the flowers to get them all over the aisle.
The Ceremony
Our ceremony was very “us.” Our dear friend married us, and we incorporated different elements to reflect who we are. He tailor wrote our ceremony to reflect our love for adventure, and we did a knot tying (double fisherman’s knot) to literally “tie the knot!” Growing up, I sailed and Chris is a rock climber and rafter, so knots mean a lot to both of us. A friend of our family did a reading “Lovely Love Story” by Edward Monkton, and we wrote our own vows.
The Cake Topper
My Nana used to have a big collection of Bearfoots bears, which is a hobby I have inherited. Our cake topper was two cuddly bears, one in a suit and the other with a diamond and a veil.
The Reception
The reception was amazing–the dance floor was packed from the moment we started dancing until the end of the band’s encore. Our band was incredible and played music for all ages. Our family and friends were able to travel from all over, including my British family, so I’m so glad they were able to have as great of a time as possible!
The Music
Our band had finished for the evening, but the dancefloor was still packed and they wanted an encore. So the band played an encore. A 15 minute set of Led Zeppelin. It was AMAZING! And when the party was over, we became Beaver Creek ski bums again and went to the Coyote Cafe to continue the celebration!
The Wedding Team
Photographer: Jennie Crate | Planning: Hourglass Production | Flowers: Vintage Magnolia | Wedding Dress: Augusta Jones | Venue and Catering: Park Hyatt Beaver Creek | Makeup: Casandra Garza | Hair: Hayley Styles | Videography: Ampersand Family
A Snowy Spring Wedding in Colorado
From the Magazine: Krystle & Ben
From the bride: We had planned for a green spring May 1st wedding. Originally, it was supposed to rain all weekend, so I came to terms with it and bought 50 umbrellas for our guests and was going to try to make the most of it. Those umbrellas were later returned after the rain changed to snow, which was a very unexpected but great turn of events.
Continue reading below….
[envira-gallery id=”28185″]
The Wedding Team
Photographer: Chris McLaughlin Photography
Event & Floral Design: A Design Resource
Cakes: The Bundt Shoppe
Venue: The Manor House
Wedding Gown Designer: Mori Lee | Hair: Harrahs | Makeup: Krystal Washington | Groom’s Attire: Ted’s Clothiers
A Spring Elopement in Rocky Mountain National Park
From the couple, Sarah & Chris: Our wedding was focused on joining our families together, since we have kids from prior relationships, we wanted an intimate and personal ceremony. We wanted the day focused on our small family rather than trying to entertain guests.
THE LOCATION
We live in Colorado and wanted a setting that represented the beauty of Colorado. Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park had the mountain views we wanted. The National Park Service was very helpful and easy to work with. They were able to recommend times and dates and we highly recommend a National Park as a venue option.
The Photographer
Nathan with Dreamtime Images was an outstanding photographer. He knew the area very well and helped recommend best day of the week/time of day to avoid the spring showers and crowds. We are extremely glad we were able to book him and highly recommend him. We look back at our pictures and are able to remember a wonderful day as it happened.
LOOKING BACK
We are glad we did the wedding we wanted instead of trying to meet other people’s expectations. We thoroughly enjoyed the process of planning since we focused on what fit our personalities and what we wanted. It will be different for every couple, but we do think it is important to see your wedding as a celebration of your marriage and an enjoyable beginning rather than an event focused on guests.
Save
Save
Let Love Grow
From the bride: We live in Los Angeles, but I’m from Colorado, and a mountain girl at heart. For our wedding, we wanted to be surrounded by the mountains and be able to smell the pine trees. We also wanted our day to be classy and elegant with a color palette of blush, cream, and rose gold.
The Theme
Let Love Grow was a theme for the wedding. We want our love to always be growing, so we incorporated it in many ways throughout the wedding such as a tree planting ceremony within the ceremony and potted succulents for the escort cards.
The Dress
I wanted a dress that was different and I loved the idea of having a light blush dress. I didn’t think I would like the style of my dress (I thought I’d go with a mermaid style), but the moment I tried it on, I knew it was the perfect combination of classic yet unique.
Advice
Get organized. Create a very detailed day-of schedule, stay on top of your guest list, finalize your seating chart and make escort cards. These things will make all the difference. You’ll be less stressed on the day and your guests will have a better time at your wedding. Hire a day-of coordinator so you can pass all this along and just enjoy your big day.
The Colorado Wedding Team
Photographer: Trystan Photography | Ceremony Decor: Newberry Brothers | Cake: Gateaux Bakery | Dress Store: Luv Bridal | Makeup Artist: Allison Beach | Hair Stylist: Brittani Estes Hair | Venue: Sanctuary Golf Course
An Intimate Wedding in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Jessica and Niels currently live in Arizona, but traveled to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee for an intimate wedding with their immediate family. As the Little River was flowing behind them, they said “I do” surrounded by nature and their eight wedding guests.
Jessica’s flowing wedding gown and organic bouquet perfectly complimented the lush forest backdrop.
The Wedding Team
Photographer: JoPhoto | Floral Designer: Cupid’s Petals | Officiant: Reverend Emily | Hair Stylist: Southern Belle Beauty | Venue: Spence Cabin
See more Tennessee Weddings
A Fun Colorado Wedding at Evergreen Lake House
From the bride, Mahala: We met at a mutual friend’s Halloween party. Then we met again at Vail closing day and started dating shortly after. Zach proposed in Portugal. We hiked and rock climbed down to a private beach. We had a little picnic and Zach got down on one knee and popped the question!
My dad and I walked down the aisle to “Fool in Love” by Lord Huron because we love the song and it was April Fool’s Day.
We loved having our dog with us for photos. 
The Wedding Team
Venue: Evergreen Lake House. Beautiful and convenient mountain location!
Photographer: Taylor Jones Photography. Amazing! The pictures turned out perfect.
Caterer: Fresh Tracks Catering | Wedding Gown Designer: Calle Blanche | Groom’s Attire: J.Crew | Bridesmaid Dresses: Vera Wang