BLOG
BRIDAL ATTIRE
Occasions Bridal
CAKES & DESSERTS
Indulge Dessert Kitchen
CATERERS
Serious Texas BBQ
Porky’s Smokehouse
Zia Taqueria
DRINK STATIONS
Compact Coffee
Thirsty Rooster
Toast
DJs
Aiko Aiko Sound
Mr Soul Entertainment
Stand Alone Entertainment
FLORAL DESIGN
Adela Floral
April’s Garden
FAVORS
Honeyville
HAIR & MAKEUP & SPA
Reign Hair Salon
Spaaah Shop & Day Spa
JEWELRY
Beads & Beyond
LIQUOR
Star Liquors
OFFICIANT
Ceremonies With Lisa
PAPER PRODUCTS (Calligraphy/Invitations)
Fox Lane Creative
PLANNING RESOURCE
Durango Weddings Magazine
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Illuminarts
Kara Cavalca Photo & Video
Cracked Compass
RENTALS & DÉCOR
All Things Borrowed
Durango Balloon
Durango Party Rental
Moore Farm Tables
Something Borrowed
RECEPTION ENTERTAINMENT
Alpine Aerial Acrobatics
Snap Shack Photo Booth
TRANSPORTATION
Buckhorn Limo
Roll E Bike
Spring Creek Carriage
VENUES
Cascade Village
Dalton Ranch
Deep Creek Ranch
Double R Ranch
Le Platt’s Pond
Paradise Ranch
Powerhouse Science Center
Purgatory Resort
Reising Stage
Ridgewood Event Center
River Bend Ranch
Sky Ute Casino
Strater Hotel
Triple J Ranch
Vallecito Event Center
Brooke & Cameron | July 28, 2018
From the bride…We met in an archery class in college. Cameron proposed while we were on vacation in breathtaking Ireland on the beautiful Cilffs of Moehr. It was the most perfect proposal!
THE VISION
We always wanted to get married in the mountains and we wanted a simple style with a natural color palette (white and green) to blend with and compliment the beautiful scenery. We wanted the beautiful mountains to be the star!
THE DRESS
I wanted a beautiful flowy, comfortable dress that I felt beautiful in and could dance the night away in.
THE BRIDESMAID DRESSES
My bridesmaids chose the style dress that best fit them in the color silver sage from Show Me Your Mumu.
THE VENUE
My parents went to Durango for their 30th wedding anniversary and told us how beautiful it was. While visiting Purgatory Resort, we found the 360-degree mountain top views breathtaking. I knew it was the place to say, I do!
THE CEREMONY
We got married at 10,000 feet at Dante’s Peak with amazing mountain views. The ceremony aisle was lined with flowers and greenery. Our beautiful floral-filled birch arch was the focal point for the stunning backdrop. We initially worried about it raining, but as our ceremony started and we began to say our vows, the sun came out and shined beautifully on our ceremony. It was a magical moment!
THE RECEPTION
The décor included lots of twinkling candlelight, mercury glass, wood, and greenery. During the speeches, we lost electricity(wind had knocked out a power line) but we just kept rolling. Thank goodness we had planned to use lots of candles. We had so much fun dancing the night away with nothing but candlelight. Obviously losing electricity wasn’t planned but it ended up being really romantic!
ADVICE
Do whatever makes you happy. Others will have opinions but the bride and groom’s are the most important. Try and enjoy the planning process. Make sure to tell your mom how much you love her.
THE WEDDING TEAM
Venue, Caterer & Lodging: Purgatory Resort. The food was amazing! Loved having the shuttle at Purgatory Resort to shuttle guests to and from the wedding!
Photographer: Shutterfreek. Paul and Katie are the nicest people and so easy to work with. Highly recommend them.
Floral Designer: April’s Garden. We loved our flowers. April’s Garden was so amazing to work with. Having a destination wedding, we had to coordinate everything through phone calls and emails. Colleen and the whole team were easy and professional to work with. Everything looked beautiful. It was exactly what I wanted.
Cake: Skillfully Decadent Dessert | DJ: Stand Alone Entertainment
Reprinted from the 2019 issue >>
The 2019 issue cover wedding – Ashley & Joel
From the bride… Our inspiration for everything about our wedding is what brought us together, strengthens our relationship, and inspires our love – the mountains. We believe southwest Colorado is one of the most beautiful places in the world. We have a cabin outside of Silverton, it is our own personal base camp for most of our adventures. We got engaged while back country skiing at the top of the peak behind the cabin. It is our “happy place”, the foundation of our relationship and love.
THE CEREMONY
The ceremony was held in the Minnehaha basin. It isn’t the easiest place to get to, it is about 7 miles outside of Silverton and then another 2 miles up a mining road. Given the difficulty of getting to the ceremony site, we only invited family. We desperately wanted them to experience the beauty and magic of the San Juan Mountains that we get to experience every day. Getting them safely up the mountain during monsoon season was no easy feat!
THE WEDDING DAY
We chose a morning ceremony to avoid the afternoon mountain monsoons. The mountains had other plans and there were significant monsoons all morning. We started feeling defeated thinking we may not get to have our family up on the mountain because of the storm and the danger of lightning. Luckily for us, bright blue skies were on the horizon. Using our satellite phone (because there’s no cell service at 11,400 feet), we texted our family to hurry up and get to the base of the mountain. Mild to Wild Rafting & Jeep Tours shuttled everyone up to the ceremony site. We rushed to get everything ready for the ceremony. As we were wrapping up, a thunder storm was rolling back in. We finished the ceremony in the nick of time and rushed everyone back off the mountain before another thunderstorm rolled through. We truly found the perfect window of time to pull off our mountain ceremony.
Our ceremony was the most personal part of the day.
THE FLORALS
I remember always dreaming of having a ridiculous amount of flowers at my wedding. I absolutely love the wildflowers that grow in the mountains here – so the theme was to try to have my flowers look like mountain wildflowers within my color scheme.
THE RECEPTION
The Kendall Mountain Community Center was the perfect place to accommodate all our guests in the town of Silverton. The highlights were the dance party and our western themed photo booth – it was hilarious! I also loved the speeches and just spending time with all our friends and family.
THE FAVORS
Our favor were lavender satchels all the way from Joel’s parent’s lavender farm in Pennsylvania.
ADVICE
No matter how hard it is, remember that the day is about celebrating your love and the start of your family. While it is easy to do, don’t get wrapped up in the details.
THE WEDDING TEAM
Photographer: illuminarts. Drew is absolutely amazing to work with. I knew from the beginning, that capturing the memories of the day was truly important to Drew. He wanted to know about Joel and I beforehand to ensure that we had an authentic, memorable day; it really meant a lot to me.
Caterer: Oh my goodness – Durangourmet all the way! Our food was OUT OF THIS WORLD. No joke, I would have ordered our food at any restaurant any day of the week. While I may be biased, I have never had such good food at a wedding before. The staff was amazing and professional as well. Can’t recommend Durangourmet enough.
Rentals: Durango Party Rental. Jill Davis from Durango Party Rental is absolutely amazing. I love her. She tells it like it is. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience working with different vendors and weddings in this area. I reached out to her multiple times a week and she was always so incredibly helpful.
This wedding is featured in the 2019 issue.
Kaycie & Alex | October 13, 2018
From the couple… Meeting in the fall of 2014 it gave us a new love for the “changing of seasons”. We wanted a fall wedding with a rustic, mountain vibe. Something very casual, simple, and inviting that felt warm and cozy. Our colors were pumpkin orange, mustard yellow, and deep navy. We chose the Ridgewood Event Center because we saw it featured in Durango Weddings Magazine and knew right away the wedding would be held there, it gave us the rustic atmosphere and warm fall feeling we were after.
THE CEREMONY
We wanted to have an outdoor location with snow-capped mountains in the background. The day of the ceremony was pleasant and warm, the mountains got their snow earlier that week. It was the perfect time of year, looking back we feel really fortunate.
Aside from the first look, which truly was a magical moment, we enjoyed looking out into the crowd of people that came to support us. It was very emotional to know that many people love us and were there to be a part of our special day. The exchange of our vows was a sentimental moment that we will cherish forever.
We loved our first dance together because we were able to be present together, just the two of us, dancing to our favorite song “The Girl”.
LOOKING BACK
Alex broke her hand one day before the wedding which created a lot of obstacles to work around. We had to postpone our honeymoon due to her needing immediate surgery. What’s a wedding without a little chaos.
ADVICE
Give yourself plenty of time to work out the kinks and obstacles that you may face. Plan for unexpected expenses, there were several little expenses that we did not account for.
THE WEDDING TEAM
Venue: Ridgewood Event Center was the perfect fit for our rustic wedding. We stayed at Blue Lake Ranch in the Upper and Lower Spring house to keep our bridal parties separate, yet within the same space. It gave us a mini vacation getaway, we could relax leading up to the big ceremony and get ready surrounded by beautiful scenery. Most of our guests stayed at Blue Lake Ranch as well.
Caterer: Zia Taqueria
Photographer: Eppich Photography | Officiant: Brian Burke | Hair & Makeup: Gabby Cowan | Liquor: Star Liquors & Ska Brewing
This wedding is featured in the 2019 issue.