Couple Stops At Nothing To Have The Wedding Of Their Dreams
Kelly & Michael | June 29th
From the bride…
THE VENUE
Michael is an amazing snowboarder and skateboarder. He taught me everything I know, at Purgatory, when we were only 14. Since then, he has had four knee surgeries (among others) that make these sports more difficult to do these days. Getting married here was a way to make this place even more special to both of us. We wanted to share the happiness it brings us with our friends and families and be able to bring our kids there and spend anniversaries there. This is one of the reasons we were not about to move our wedding venue three weeks before the date when the fire started. We also didn’t really have any options with such a large guest list and little notice. And we wanted our out-of-town family to have a destination vacation, ride the train, get on the river, go hiking, and none of those were possibilities in such turmoil. Not to mention, half our wedding party and vendors were evacuated. We wanted our home to heal so we could do our wedding right instead of having to stress and settle for whatever worked to get it done. Waiting was well worth it!
THE FLORALS
Red roses and white lilies! My bridal bouquet had a garter wrapped around it that was made from my maternal grandma’s wedding dress, and two broaches, one from my paternal grandma and one from Michael’s maternal grandma. His paternal grandma gave me the diamond earrings I wore.
THE CEREMONY
The ceremony was in the grass overlooking the beautiful San Juan mountain tops. We built the ceremony arch (a 12-foot wooden structure shaped like a mountain) with my dad, that was special. It had two large flower arrangements on it, and we had flower petals sprinkled down the aisle, as well as bouquets on each chair row.
THE WEATHER
It rained, all the way up until the ceremony started, then stopped and never rained again the rest of the night.
THE VOWS
The sun literally came out while we read our vows! Michael’s vows were amazing; he recalled a story from when we were barely teens and parts of our relationship in the beginning that defined it all. He went total ‘Notebook’ on me, and I’m so impressed.
I accidentally wrote the wrong initials on our vows so Michael started to read mine, that was a laughable moment!
FAUX SNOW TOSS
Instead of having confetti or rice thrown, guests had goodie bags filled with biodegradable faux snow to throw as we walked down the aisle. After all, we were at a ski resort and surrounded by actual snow! Nearly in July!
MEMORABLE MOMENT
Dancing with my dad was very special. There was not a single dry eye in the crowd!
ADVICE
Do what you want. We had so many situations where other people’s opinions were taking precedence over our own. Each time we made our own decision, it was the better choice in the end. When the fire was going on, we had people telling us to just move the venue, push to the fall, elope. Our instincts told us to wait until we could do it the way we always envisioned, and it worked out so much better. We debated over members of the wedding party, vendors, timeline, etc., and each time we made a decision based on someone else’s input, we regretted it. It should be self-explanatory, but it’s not. This is YOUR day. Do it how the two of you want.
LOOKING BACK
Everyone says the day flashes by in the blink of an eye, and it did. Yet I can recall every moment in the 14-hour day as if it were happening right now. It was everything we ever dreamed of. One moment I remember was at 3:00 pm when the ceremony was supposed to begin; no one was outside because it was raining. Even then, it was impossible for me to feel stressed. We had so much appreciation for everyone being there with us; some even traveled twice from flights booked before the fire. We waited so long for this that nothing could ruin our day. Michael is a pretty shy guy, but he was walking around bright-eyed and bushy-tailed like he just won the lottery, it made every single headache worth it.
THE WEDDING TEAM
Venue, Caterer, Lodging, Transportation: Purgatory Resort
Floral Designer: Adela Floral
Photographer: Alexi Hubbell