I had the opportunity to visit Montana a few years ago to speak at a wedding planners’ workshop and still to this day, believe that I witnessed some of the prettiest views on this planet. This stunning state was made for rustic mountain weddings and that’s exactly what Braedon Flynn is delivering today in all of his photographic genius – PLUS, an in-depth interview with the Bride & Groom. After this read, you’ll feel like you were there—and you’ll 100% feel all the love.
Bryan popped the question on a deserted beach on Martha’s Vineyard, MA on Thanksgiving Day 2016. A nasty winter storm was coming and it was freezing cold outside but he insisted on a beach walk. We were totally alone and he set up his phone on a rock to secretly record the whole thing. I was totally surprised; which I confirmed to him because I didn’t even have my nails done in anticipation (which was a tall tale sign I wasn’t lying)!
What was your vision for your wedding?
We were aiming for minimalist yet chic, but appreciating the natural décor around us for its rustic vibe however not wanting to play into it too hard. We wanted it to feel relaxed and effortless, but also highly designed. The idea was for the guests to leave the weekend feeling they had had their own vacation, with just a nice wedding sandwiched in the middle of it. I guess what I’m trying to say is we wanted the weekend to be as much about them as it was about us.
Tell us a bit about your wedding dress…
Wedding dress designer: Marchesa Couture, Spring 2017
How did you know it was the one?
I tried on numerous dresses… one because I live in NYC and this is the place to indeed try on every dress there is (which I would totally recommend to anyone, no matter where you live).. and two, I knew it was the one because I finally brought my mom to the two runner ups.. and she cried only to this one…and that means it’s the one, no questions asked!
What was your color scheme and/or theme?
We had neutral and organic colors for our ceremony. We wanted to focus on the natural beauty of the Bitterroot Valley.
Can you tell us a bit about the ceremony décor?
The focus was to be simple and chic throughout the weekend and to blend seamlessly into the natural setting of the ranch. The ranch also had some surprise décor ideas up their own sleeve which turned out beautiful. Triple Creek bore holes in large tree trunks and placed wild flowers at the end of each aisle. The aisles were hay bales from the ranch with horse blankets on top. They created the altar with two flower beds that they grew themselves and then, in the middle, put a handmade sign with our wedding logo on it (which was a gift to us to second as a home décor piece). We did the whole ceremony on top of a hill in one of their horse pastures overlooking the entire valley. That setting itself did not need much more decoration then that!
How did you personalize your wedding day to reflect who you are as a couple?
First, we had a bar at every stop – which being New Yorkers, we felt was an important detail for our guests. The ceremony itself had a full service and staffed bar in the middle of the field prior to the ceremony, which we felt was a well-appreciated detail during the hot afternoon.
Bryan has a tendency of leaving love notes on Post-its before he travels. So, I surprised Bryan by having our cocktail napkins printed with some of the best ones. I personally think that was a huge hit not only with him but also for our guests.
HOWEVER… My most favorite thing we did however was to hunt down the only Gospel choir in the entire state of Montana (called “The Great Falls Community Gospel Choir”) to surprise our guests with some seriously soulful pre-ceremony song and dance. That was probably one of the absolute highlights of the weekend hands down.
Reception décor (centerpieces, linens, place settings, lighting):
Same as above—trying to stick with the idea of being very simple yet chic. The ranch was beautiful enough! We held the reception dinner in the main dining hall which was already decorated with prized trophy heads from a collection made many many years ago. After dinner we moved to the upper lodge bar where we had a live bluegrass band play silhouetted by the roaring fireplace behind them.
Why did you pick the venue and what did you love about it?
We wanted to focus on having our wedding be about our friends and family, and, mostly, we wanted to create a community experience over a few days. We also wanted it to be pretty intimate so we knew it needed to be in a place where we could all be close and ultimately living together, but also have privacy. We had not heard of The Creek Ranch before the “dark web” of internet venue researching, but when we landed on the ranch and saw it was voted as the #1 hotel in the world in 2014 by Conde Nast, we knew it was our spot. We had always toyed with the idea of a mountain wedding since I grew up skiing out West and Bryan’s obsession with fly fishing so it was the easiest decision for us to choose them.
Simply put, the resort was immeasurably outstanding in every respect. They greeted us by name when we drove up for the first time for our site visit like they had known us for years. They did all of the little (and big) things right. For instance, we both have quite an affinity for hot sauce, so after our first request for Tabasco with our meal, there was 4 different sauces to choose from at our table for the rest of the weekend. The service was simply impeccable not to mention it is located on 30,000 acres of completely wild Montana country. They not only provided a sense of community where our closest friends and family could be together, but they were also so accommodating, luxurious and hospitable. I guess you could call it a premier “glamping” ranch experience but I don’t know of any “glamping” with individual saunas, steam rooms and turn down service!
Did you work with a wedding planner or day-of coordinator?
We worked with the onsite events manager Catherine Reed from the Triple Creek Ranch. She was exceptional in all things from the weekend itinerary to the day of wedding events. Her motto was “tell me what I can’t do for you.” She is, no joke, a living doppelganger of Melissa McCarthy with all the sass, charisma and red hair to boot. I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else in my corner during my wedding weekend then her as she executed the weekend effortlessly (the 100 staff walkie-talkies with constant chatter sure helped I am sure).
What was the planning process like?
It was so easy for us! Bryan and I loved every moment of it. We did a 1.5 year long engagement and really enjoyed all aspects of the planning process. Since we were having the wedding in a remote area (1 hour south of Missoula, MT), Triple Creek really had most of the bases covered. We didn’t need a caterer (they have a 24 person team headed by a chef from the French Culinary Institute and a James Beard Foundation Dinner winner), we didn’t need a lot of flowers (focused on what was already outside), we didn’t need to bring in any activities (on-site horse rides, fly fishing, archery, sapphire panning, and much more were already apart of their program) and our photographer was Bryan’s roommate from USC (Harpers Bazaar Top 100 Photographers Worldwide, Braedon Flynn). All we had to do was pick which local bluegrass bands we wanted and how we were going to convince the ranch to let us have a surprise fireworks show at the rehearsal night (which we somehow did and it was a total blast)!
For us this gave us an opportunity to focus on the little meaningful details which Bryan and I love to put our time into. For instance we wrote a “thank you manifesto” for every single guest which they all got on arrival telling each of them why we were thankful for there friendship. This was our way of introducing everyone to each other which we think really set the intention for the weekend.
Did you tackle any DIY projects? If so, what were they?
We incorporated our wedding logo to reflect the ranches cattle brand. We really wanted to be as authentic as possible, so we hand cut Pine springs while back home over the holidays and tied them to our custom wood veneer invitations. My intention was to make sure the invites smelled like pine when they arrived to our guests!
Did you have a signature cocktail?
“The Minx”- (Bryan’s nickname for me with his friends) – Sangria
“The Asian Buttcheek” – (This was Bryans drink, nodding to his Asian heritage but more importantly because we thought it’d be funny to hear people ordering it)– Japanese Highball (block ice, whiskey, soda water)
Tell us about the food you served!
Well it is honestly hard to describe just one since each of our three main events had such awesome menus. We had our Thursday welcome dinner with full Mexican food spread including carne asada and home made tortillas with a variety of house-made salsa from the chef. Friday we had a lunch in their organic orchard the ranch sources their food from. We had hayride entrances for the guests and horse rides into the hills, followed by a rehearsal dinner that was focused around a whole hog on a spit BBQ, country sides, strawberry shortcake and a chocolate chip and vanilla ice cream dessert which was cooked in cast irons over the fire pits. For our wedding reception dinner, we focused on Montana game meat including pheasant, bison, wild trout and local vegetables.
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Photography: Braedon Photography | Videography: Tom Aiello | Floral Design: FLOWER HAPPY | Wedding Dress: Marchesa | BRIDE'S SHOES: Alexandre Birman | Groom's Attire: DAZI | Fireworks: Northwest display Co. | Gospel Choir: Great Falls Community Gospel Choir | Rehearsal Dinner Band: Lochwood Band | Veil: Marchesa | Welcome dinner band: Band of Drifters | makeup/Hair: Electric Beach
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