An Idyllic Durango Wedding

From the bride… Our wedding day ended up being infused with all of our favorite parts of Durango. We held our ceremony at a grassy spot alongside the beautiful Animas River, where local wildflowers were the stars of the bouquets. The happy kids, dogs and occasional rafters floating by made it feel like an idyllic, lazy Durango summer day.

SPECIAL TOUCHES

The ceremony was filled with meaningful touches. From the on-site blooming garden that the mother-of-the-groom planted and catered for months preceding, to the arbor she built from scratch that was our stunning green backdrop. To the thoughtful bridesmaids who each chose a symbolic flower to include in the bridal bouquet, and the three generations of women who stood by the altar.

RING BLESSING

Because we had so many loved ones in one place, the majority of whom traveled thousands of miles to be here, we wanted to find a way to incorporate them meaningfully into our ceremony. So, we took a chance and decided to do an interactive “ring blessing” during the ceremony, where a thread is passed to every guest and our rings passed along it, giving each guest a chance to bless them in their own way. Even paired with a reading this ended up taking a lot longer than we thought! But it actually gave us this unplanned, precious silence and reflection during the ceremony that has been the most solid memory we have looking back. In a moment when our adrenaline was rushing, we are grateful for that pause, it let us soak up and be in the moment and even laugh a little with our guests!

THE RECEPTION

After our ceremony, all of our guests were bused to the Powerhouse Museum for a night of cocktails, outdoor games, dinner and dancing (and the occasional science experiment)! We chose Zia Catering because it’s one of our favorite weeknight meals, and the Powerhouse Museum where we’ve spent many nights playing trivia.

LOOKING BACK

We loved having our reception at the Powerhouse, it gave a few extra layers of entertainment and diverse backdrops to our party. Plus we got to install our own decorations (like hundreds of dyed coffee filter “petals”) to bring the feeling of a “garden” into the museum! We decided early on to make our focus the ceremony and “getting married” in the support of our family and friends, which enabled us to go with the flow on the day-of, ignore the inevitable snags, and enjoy everything else as frosting on the cake.

ADVICE

-Pick a few elements about your wedding that are the most important to you, and spend most of your energy and money on those things.

– Find a moment to “soak it all in” during your ceremony.

– Take time to plan extra self-care in the weeks leading up to the big day, in whatever way that looks like for you both.

THE WEDDING TEAM

Venue: Powerhouse Science Center | Caterer:  Zia Catering | Hair & Makeup: Hair Fusion | Photographer: Allison Ragsdale | Flowers: Grand Fete | Planning: A-Frame Communications | Décor: ReLove

Shout out to Flexible Flyers Rafting who bused our guests and took us on an epic next-day tube float!

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