Posts Tagged ‘Destination’
A Chic Mountain Wedding in Sun Valley, Idaho
From the bride, Samantha: We are from Miami, Florida and got married in Sun Valley, Idaho – where we got engaged! It was so great to have all of our closest friends and family in the mountains together – so far removed from our everyday lives – with tons of activities to do together.
The whole day was really personalized to what Adam & I wanted. We’re very casual and laid back and we just wanted to party in a beautiful setting!
The weather wasn’t working in our favor all weekend. It didn’t rain all summer and of course, our wedding day was expecting rain. We had to order a tent for the ceremony last minute.
We held the ceremony outside underneath a clear tent with the ski mountain as the backdrop. We are Jewish so we were married by a rabbi, with a traditional Jewish ceremony under a chuppah.
When the rabbi asked if my husband takes me to be his wife, his response was “yes” instead of “I do”! It was so typical of him and lots of laughter ensued!
I loved the way the florals turned out. The chandeliers were outfitted with flowers and greenery to match our color scheme and gave the tent a warm feeling.
Most memorable moment: Our first dance! We took dance lessons, which is SO out of character for the two of us but the end result was pretty comical.
ADVICE: I would encourage everyone to make decisions together. Adam and I did a lot of the legwork ourselves and it was fun! Definitely stressful at times, but remember that it’s just one day in your life…and to have FUN with it.
RECOMMENDED VENDORS: Photographer: Dev Khalsa Photography // Floral Designer: Sue Bridgman Florist // Ceremony Tent + Rentals: That’s Entertainment // Cake: The Konditorei // Invitations: A Fabulous Fete // Venue: Trail Creek Pavilion, Sun Valley Resort // Band: The Salamanders // Wedding Gown Designer: Amsale // Makeup Artist: Britt Davis Beauty // Hair Stylist: Danielle Anspach, Mame Muse // Film: Calvin Brue Weddings // Honeymoon Location: Big Sur & Napa
A Mountain Destination Wedding in Maryland
Ann and Nathan currently live in Hawaii and planned their entire wedding long-distance. They chose to get married in Maryland because this is where the majority of their family resided. Ann chose a marsala and lavender color palette which blended beautifully with the Catoctin Mountain backdrop.
CREDITS: Photographer: Amanda Adams Photography // Floral Designer: Candlelight Floral Designs // Venue: Springfield Manor Winery & Distillery // Bakery: SugarBakers
A Rustic Destination Wedding in Tennessee
There are three things Michael and Carrie love more than anything in the world: nature and its animals, craft beer, and each other. So, it only made sense that their wedding should reflect these priorities in earnest, a goal which they achieved seamlessly on a warm summer day in the Tennessee mountains.
THE WEDDING TEAM
Photography: Eden Bliss Weddings // Venue: The Barn at Chestnut Springs // Coordination: Custom Love // Florals: Melissa Timm Designs // Cake: Catie Cakes // DJ: Smokey Mountain Sounds // Catering: Dead End BBQ // Bartending: The Pour Guys
See more Tennessee Weddings
A Winter Wedding at Sundance Mountain Resort
From the bride, Kwany: We wanted a winter wedding in Utah because we love skiing in Utah.
My bouquet was soft and slightly rustic. I had white/ivory roses and peonies with some dusty miller and mini pine cones, finished with a burlap wrap and twine overlay.
We played Chinese door games. This tradition originated from ancient times in Chinese culture – it implies that the bride’s family and friends do not want to marry the bride away. So as the groom sets out to the bride’s home, he will have to pass a series of tasks as a way to demonstrate that he really loves her. My girlfriends had the boys dress up in ridiculous outfits (tutus, butterfly wings), do yoga poses, push-ups, and eat the flavors of marriage (spicy, sweet, sour, bitter). It was definitely a good time for our friends and family to watch!
Even though it took a long time to write, I’m really glad that we wrote each guest a personalized note on their name cards. It was a nice way for us to show appreciation to our friends and family who came from all over the world to celebrate our happiness.
Looking back, I can’t imagine not having a day of wedding planner. On the day of our wedding, I was relatively stress free because I had her taking care of all the details!
My advice: Don’t drag out your wedding planning. We had a long engagement (1.5 years) which allowed for a lot of time to plan, look at Pinterest, wedding magazines, etc. And while it was initially a lot of fun, I was a little fatigued with the process and choices (there are always more options!). At some point, you just need to know where to cut yourself off. So, I would recommend doing wedding planning in sprints – do a lot of work and then set it aside from a while before you have to pick it up again. Otherwise, it will take over your life!
Kwany’s RECOMMENDED VENDORS
Venue, Caterer & Lodging: Sundance Resort. Sundance was just magical and we couldn’t imagine having our wedding anywhere else. Plus, I loved that everyone stayed in one place so that it was easier for our guests to hangout before/after the wedding.
Photographer: Pepper Nix Photography // Event Planner: Soiree Productions // Floral Designer: Blossom Sweet // Cake Designer: One Sweet Slice // Musicians: Echo Talent Management // Video: Lumineux Films
A Colorado Mountaintop Wedding at Granby Ranch
From the photographer, Emily RC Photography:
This wedding was absolutely spectacular. Besides being absolutely smitten with one another and their sweet son, Koen, Jess and Justin had a definite plan – a beautiful mountaintop plan. Jess was both masterfully organized and brimming with creative ideas. Justin was laid back and ready to celebrate their love and little family. The wedding day turned out to be just as bright and beautiful as they had hoped after some morning showers – not atypical weather in the Rockies, but nerve-racking still. Granby Ranch was the perfect venue. Guests rode up chair lifts at the resort and arrived at the ceremony site, a breathtaking vista with a wide view of the mountains. The hot sunshine was so bright that the sky was almost teal. The small breeze kept the aspens rustling throughout the afternoon. The reception held oodles of do-it-yourself decorations, scores of laughing friends, a live band and glitter galore. There was hardly a moment where the dance floor wasn’t full. It was truly a photographers dream, but, more than that, it was their dream, a vivid and joyful party to mark the start of their new phase of life. Held in a place – the mountains – that is dear to their hearts and with the people that matter the most.
From the bride:
I have a history working in the wedding industry, so my ideas were all planned out well in advance. I was definitely a Pinterest bride! I knew exactly what I wanted and did my best to have everything done in advance to make sure the final weeks before the wedding weren’t stressful. 
My favorite – and least favorite – DIY project was our table numbers! My father-in-law is very skilled with woodworking and was gracious enough to create each of the 13 numbers. My job was glittering them. It took FOREVER and glitter was EVERYWHERE, but the end result was so worth it! 
Jessica & Justin’s
RECOMMENDED VENDORS
Photographer: Emily RC Photography // Event Planner: Extraordinary Blooms and Event Planning // Venue: Granby Ranch // Cinema and Video: Stoneflower Productions
A Rustic Chic Ranch Wedding in Wyoming
From the bride, Ashley:
I am from Colorado and Greg is from New York and we live in Napa, California. We knew we wanted to have a destination wedding on a dude ranch, Brush Creek Ranch was THE perfect place.
My favorite detail was our “cattle brand”. We used it on the welcome bags, invitations, thank you notes and cocktail napkins. Our brand really tied into the whole dude ranch theme.
When my mother passed away, I knew I wanted to incorporate her French blue lace wedding dress. Designer Jinza Jin Couture was able to include each inch of the blue lace and now my dress is truly an amazing heirloom.
I rode in on a horse and carriage with my father.
The ceremony took place in the wedding garden. We wrote all of our own vows, which took a lot of time and testing on our relationship as to what exactly we wanted to say. I wouldn’t give up those nights mulling over our vows for anything. 
We wanted to start a new tradition during the ceremony and we did this: to symbolize our victory of finding each other and vowing to spend the rest of their lives together, we sabered champagne bottles with sabers engraved with our names and marriage date.
Both of our fathers lead the ceremony and married us, which was very special.
Greg and I took the carriage after the ceremony to Falcons Peak, which was really special. Seeing the ranch via carriage was something I will never forget.
We mounted about 40 photos of when we were children and growing up and of all the folks who we were missing our day because they have passed away (my mother, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins). We attached them to twine with hand died clothes pins and strung them from the sides of old wagon wheels. They were on display upon arrival to dinner at the lodge.
We are both winemakers in Napa, CA so we chose the wines we wished to pour for each course of the dinner. 
Greg organized a HUGE firework show after dinner, which was a surprise for me and one of the most special parts of the day.
Dancing and cake were held in cowboy dance hall.
Our advice: Be kind to each other and communicate during planning especially, if you are doing it all yourself (as we did) there are tough moments, but being kind to each other and being open really helped us out.
Ashley & Greg’s RECOMMENDED VENDORS
Venue, Catering, Lodging, Hair & Makeup: The Lodge & Spa at Brush Creek Ranch. We would recommend this gem to any couple looking for a dude ranch or destination wedding. It is truly one of the most amazing, spectacular and hospitable places we had ever been and our family and guests concur. The staff at BCR is unbelievable; every detail was taken care of ALL weekend. Everyone at BCR from every part of the ranch went out of their way to make everything go smoothly and it did. The Spa at BCR is excellent.
Photographer: Brinton Studios. CR & Tiffany were a great duo and captured our wedding & evening before the wedding so well. We love their candid shots, they are a talented couple.
DJ: Sound Master Entertainment. Tony was great all the way from our first phone meeting. We only wish we could have danced the night away until dawn!
Cake: Sweet Marie’s Bakeshop. Marie did a fantastic job on our cake we loved everything she came up with all the way down to positioning the cake topper we got. It was a porcelain bride & groom with the ride lassoing the groom’s foot.
Florist: Flower Pot. Connie did a beautiful job on all of the flowers. I especially loved my arrangement and the boutonnieres. She delivered everything we spoke about and did an amazing job! I would highly recommend her.
Paper Products: Salt + Pepper Press.
Honeymoon Location: Mini-moon right after the wedding in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Honeymoon: Mozambique and South African Safari.