Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park is a magical place. Driving through Estes Park gives a glimpse of the scenic beauty, but once you drive through the Bear Lake corridor, and walk out onto the lake, the view takes your breath away. The alpine lake sits beneath the sheer flanks of Hallett Peak and the Continental Divide, the air is fresh and the water is sparkling–it’s the perfect place to celebrate a wedding!
Whitney shares, “Ten years ago we met on a camping trip in the mountains of Northern California through my best friend, Jessica. Our life together has been incredible and unorthodox in the last decade. We lived in California for three years before deciding to move halfway across the country to live in Wisconsin. In 2017, we bought our first home together. Our business was still new and fresh and I was dedicating a lot of time to work so Dillon was in charge on moving day. I had been at work for nearly twelve hours and was exhausted, so we ordered pizza.
When the door bell rang, I answered to find that Dillon had secretly flown my best friend out from California to surprise me! The next morning, Jessica wanted to take our picture in front of our new home (in the middle of January…in Wisconsin). He wasn’t paying attention to the camera and kept saying how much he loved me and I kept telling him to take the picture until he finally said, “Whitney! Pay attention!” I looked at him and he had his grandmother’s wedding ring in his hand. I was completely shocked and surprised by the entire weekend.”
Whitney and Dillon, thank you for being up for anything!
They scaled boulders, hiked up the side of a mountain, and walked through the forest and just kept smiling! And it was totally worth it.
Congratulations Whitney and Dillon!
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I met Dana and Garret and their sweet pups, Hazel and Harper at Table Mountain.
Just North of downtown Golden, along the eastern flank of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, sits Table Mountain. Lava flows formed the mountain about 60 million years ago. The trails offer beautiful views and wildflowers and it’s a great place to bring your dog (on it’s leash, of course!).
Congratulations Dana and Garret!
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I met Leenae and Chad at Red Rocks for their engagement session. The wildflowers were all in bloom and we had a beautiful evening to celebrate!
Leenae shares, “Chad and I went on our first date in March of 2015, but didn’t officially start dating until July of 2016. At the time of our first date, I was traveling quite a bit for work and thought a relationship may be difficult to manage so I decided to stop seeing Chad. A year after our first date, I reached back out to him because I felt like he was someone I cut loose too soon. Chad then told me he was too busy and traveling too much for a girlfriend. It took him a few months, but he eventually came back around and we began seeing each other more regularly.
We steadily dated for 4.5 years before Chad proposed. We planned a trip to Arizona with his friends in March of 2020 and planned to leave immediately after our workdays. Throughout the day, I packed my bags in between meetings to make sure I was ready to go at 5 pm. At noon, I noticed that Chad had only packed his frisbee golf set. As we were approaching 5 pm, Chad had asked me to help him organize his suitcase since he wasn’t able to do it throughout the day. While I agreed to help, I was extremely frustrated with him. Tucked away in our luggage, was a ring box that I initially missed. Once I discovered it, Chad had asked me to marry him and he had secretly set up a camera to capture the moment (although apparently I was standing in the wrong spot, so the quality of the video wasn’t great). With the quick turnaround for the airport, we called our friends and families on the road. Needless to say, the proposal was everything I had wished for: a moment that I’d least expected, in an intimate setting that is our private memory to share, in the first home we had shared as a couple.
With both of us being Colorado natives, we wanted to take full advantage of all the scenery Colorado has to offer. Our wedding ceremony will take place in Evergreen to enjoy the front range with the reception being in Golden, where Chad went to school. In August, we are moving to Chad’s hometown, Brush, to be closer to his family. We’re currently in the process of renovating an old farm house that has been in Chad’s family for nearly 100 years. In order to move this city girl to a farm town, we’ve compromised to raise Pygmy goats and eventually (hopefully) alpacas and pigs.”
Congratulation Leenae and Chad!
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Anna and Pete held a joyous wedding celebration at the Lyon’s Farmette in Colorado.
Betty, the beverage burro, made a very special appearance during cocktail hour. All the guests really enjoyed having their photo taken with Betty.
This lovely story was shared with their guests on their wedding website, “Anna and Pete began talking on eHarmony in the fall of 2015. Pete was an electrical engineering student at the Ohio State University and Anna was working in marketing at an engineering firm nearby. The commonalities they shared were intriguing — not only did they both live abroad in Japan at the same time, but both spent childhood summers near the same small town in northern Wisconsin. Not many people know what a hodag is, but Pete and Anna both did.
The twist in this story is that Pete and Anna almost didn’t meet in person. After a week of emailing with Pete, Anna went camping in Glacier and Yosemite, where she tragically/ridiculously got bear-sprayed in the face by a defective can of CounterAssault. Returning home with a hideously swollen face and blurred vision, Anna made a point of avoiding Pete all week.
Fortunately healing happened fairly quickly and the two met up for coffee and walk. Things went well, so they had their first official date on October 15 at Aab India. One date led to another, and soon they were in love.
Five months after the relationship started, Anna and Pete took a chance on each other and relocated to Colorado for work. Second to online dating (yikes), it was the best risk they’d ever taken.
Today Pete and Anna live in a sunny little house in Arvada with two “dingos” (a dingo-looking mutt named Luna and an Australian cattledog named Apollo), a bettafish named Taki, and a bunch of houseplates. They’re also sneakily married already. Life is good.”
Anna and Pete had planned on getting married in 2020, but had to postpone the celebration. However, they did not postpone the wedding. Anna shares, “We tied the knot with just two friends and a neighbor as witness on May 1, 2020. We did this because after a year and a half of engagement, we were ready to be married, and because we were planning to buy a new house. However, because it was important to formally thank our friends and family for supporting us, we decided to hold a reception a full year later to treat everyone to food, drink, and adorable animals. A vow renewal ceremony also took place prior to the reception so we could celebrate our joy all together.”
The reception was held outdoors and included many special, personal touches, including these gorgeous handmade paper flowers.
The bride’s father and brother and the groom’s father all shared very special toasts. The groom’s father included a reading from a poem by Mary Oliver,
“When it’s over, I want to say all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument.
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.”
Elle and Sheldon love Colorado. They traveled from Texas for their wedding and I met them at Lookout Mountain to celebrate their engagement. Their laughs were infectious and their love was palpable.
I had so much fun with you guys!
Elle shares, “We met on a dating app! It was that good ole TINDER, love and care! Our first date was actually at one of the most amazing places ever….Chick-fil-A! Who would have thought we were a chicken sandwich away from falling in love?”
She continues, “Sheldon planned the most AMAZING proposal EVER! He planned a trip to Cali for us in the spring of 2018. We had anticipated our trip for months! He told me he planned a romantic date night and picked out a red dress for me to wear (I never wear red). It was around 7 or 8pm and we headed to downtown LA for our dinner date. We finally make it downtown, and I said, “WOW, the Intercontinental building, can you imagine if we went there?” Sheldon smiled and said, “I can imagine it.” Seconds later we pulled into the Intercontinental parking garage! Talk about MAJOR butterflies; I couldn’t believe it!
Of course, I had the BIGGEST smile on my face. We headed up to the 71st floor to a restaurant called La Boucherie! My jaw dropped; this place is FANCY! The host took us back to a private section where we wined and dined on lobster and other fancy stuff! I was shaking and just anticipating something crazy to happen (like being proposed to)…but NOTHING! Dinner ended and we left. I just knew he was going to propose after bringing me to a place like that but NOOOO! I was slightly bummed, but still on cloud 9. We drove off and he said we have one more stop!
We drove to the brightest place in downtown LA, “Urban Light.” I was walking around like a big kid amazed at all the lights and feeling grateful to be experiencing something new with my best friend. Sheldon asked if I wanted to take pictures and, of course, I did! I’m a woman! He suggested so many poses, and I was like oooookaaaaay yaaassss I love all of these ideas. Then he said, “take one from the back.” Of course, my response was, “oh yeah, you’d like that huh.” LOL
I took my shots, turned around to check out my masterpiece, and there he was on one knee. People were applauding, and I noticed a photographer taking photos of everything; even my ugly cry! It was absolutely magical!”
Congratulations Elle and Sheldon!
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