Posts Tagged ‘Wyoming’
A Simple & Dreamy Wedding in the Mountains
From the bride, Lauren: As a photographer by trade, having our wedding day documented was extremely important to me! In fact, I started planning our entire wedding on the basis of two things, the photographer and a national park. We knew that we wanted to get married in a National Park, but we also needed our ceremony location to be accessible for all family members and myself, in a big white dress! The accessibility of Schwabacher Landing in Grand Teton National Park was perfect, and the area would accommodate our small wedding party perfectly. It all started as a dream to get married with the mountains as our backdrop, but with a little planning, our dream came true!
My favorite part of our wedding day was our first look, leading all the way up to the ceremony.
I was really nervous getting married outside in September without a back up plan, but I couldn’t envision us getting married anywhere other than Schwabacher’s Landing in Grand Teton Nation Park.
Although extremely simple, our ceremony was perfect and although the weather was unseasonably cool, it didn’t rain!
We both read our own personal handwritten vows (which I was terrified of doing, but knew I wouldn’t regret it) and it was one of the most beautiful experiences that my husband and I have ever shared. My husband is a writer by trade — his vows were eloquent, unique and they are incredibly special to me. Let me share, “Falling in love with you was watching a storm form on the horizon. Seeing the landscape ahead of me blanketed in snow, and all I could do was wait for it to happen to me, too. And when it came over me, my entire view changed. Everything I saw was different, but it was the same. It all was pristine. And in my life, I promise that every fresh footprint I lay will be with you. I vow to love you like the mountains love the snow. I promise to quietly miss you like the flowers do the rain. And I swear to keep you forever like the canyons hold silence. So before our friends and people we love, I hope you feel the same and ready for the next part of our adventure as husband and wife. You are the compass that helps me through this land and I know our life will be one full of things deep, sometimes dark, but always lovely”.
Looking back, having a small wedding was the right fit for us, it saved a lot of money and allowed us to spend more on our guest accommodations.
My advice: Plan your wedding to be exactly what you and your partner want it to be — try not to stress and don’t let the pressure from others sway how you plan your wedding. This day is yours, and it’s a celebration of you coming together as a married couple. Everyone who matters will respect and enjoy your wedding day exactly as you have it envisioned. Overall, just try to relax, enjoy the day because it’s over in the blink of an eye!
Lauren’s RECOMMENDED VENDORS
Photographer: Jamye Chrisman Photography // Flowers: JH Flower Boutique // Dress: Blue by Enzoani // Hair & Makeup: Tanya Crocker Hair & Makeup // Ceremony: Schwabacher’s Landing, Grand Teton National Park
A Mountain Wedding in Jackson Hole
From the bride, Lindsay: I wanted the first time we saw each other to be when I walked down the aisle. I love that we spent the time to write our own vows. It made it so personal and special. We wrote them together which was fun. We laughed a lot while doing it. It was nice to take some time to ourselves during the crazy week before the wedding. We just sat in our room and went over the reasons we love each other. I knew I would cry during the ceremony but I had no idea how much I would ball when we were practicing during our rehearsal. It was really special.
Advice: Don’t sweat the small stuff. If something doesn’t turn out exactly as you planned, don’t worry about it. Nobody will notice or probably even care. Everyone is there to help you celebrate your special day and have a good time. Relax and enjoy it, the time flies by.
CREDITS: Photographer: Logan Walker Photography // Venue: Teton Pines Country Club // Flowers: Jackson Hole Flower Company
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.