Photography by Allison Ragsdale Photography

From the bride, Ashley:
When I started planning our wedding, I was only sure of a few things… we had to be outside, our dog, Nolan, would be the ring bearer, and orange lilies.  We spent a lot of time driving down back roads in the national forest trying to find the perfect spot.  As soon as we pulled up to Little Molas Lake, we both knew  this was the place.It was a picture perfect day.  We had a harpist and a violinist play music.  Our dog walked down the aisle with our rings attached to his flower collar.  Our officiant was a family friend who I have known since I was eight!   Our recessional song was a version of Hakuna Matata from the Lion King, my favorite movie!
The groom’s cake was German chocolate with two paw prints in the middle.


THE RECEPTION
The reception was at the Sow’s Ear in the Silverpick Lodge.  It is an AMAZING spot and the food is DELICIOUS  The size of the Sow’s Ear was great for our size of wedding – about 70.  It was nice to be able to talk with everyone and it made for a more personal and intimate reception.  I really wanted everyone to feel comfortable and cut loose and they didn’t let me down!

FAVORITE DETAIL
My mom surprised me at our rehearsal with hair from my three horses that are still in Georgia and could not be in my wedding.  It was very, very special to have a piece of them with me…. I put it in the center of my bouquet.  I also wore my Chaco’s!  I practically live in those things and couldn’t have imagined wearing anything else!

THE LODGING
Since most of our guests were from out-of- town, we really wanted to be able to spend the whole weekend with them, so we decided to rent out the entire Silverpick Lodge and it was totally worth it! Everyone could party and no one had to worry about driving!  I think it made for a more relaxed and fun environment.

 FAVORS
My mom made gift bags for everyone staying at the lodge with a variety of honey from Honeyville and pecans from Georgia.  Jon and I always make our own trail mix, so I made up little bags of homemade trail mix to put with each person’s place card and then tied a few suckers together for each of the kid’s place cards.

RECOMMENDED VENDORS
Photographer: Allison Ragsdale Photography //  Reception Site,Food,Guest Lodging: Silverpick Lodge/Sow’s Ear  //  DJ: Aiko Aiko Sound  //  Rentals: Durango Party Rental  //  Cake: Celebration Cakes