We are going crazy over this wedding. Seriously, on the smitten scale, this is off the charts. We LOVE the peaches. We love the great outdoors backdrop and the incorporation of ski lifts (completely awesome). But the thing that is really getting us, really making us fall hard – that would be all of the perfect, perfect moments captured by Erin Kate Photography. It is almost as if we were there, sitting on top of that mountain watching the festivities unfold. See even more of the pretty details and perfect moments in the gallery.
see all the pretty details here!
From the Bride:
Jim and I first met while skiing in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, where we both lived at the time. Six years later Jim proposed as we toured the beautiful vineyards of northern Italy. We knew we wanted our wedding to be a reflection of US – our favorite foods, music, people and memories — so we took pieces of two of our favorite places, the rustic Utah mountains and the classic, romantic Italian vineyards to create our inspiration … Utah — We immediately fell in love with Empire Canyon Lodge, in Park City, Utah. The lodge is nestled in a little valley, surrounded by towering mountains and dotted with wildflowers. It was a perfect fit with our passion for the outdoors (and Park City was an awesome spot for a destination weekend for our guests!). While in Utah last summer we wandered through the Salt Lake farmers market and smelled the sweet fragrance of fresh peaches before we even saw them. The peaches melted in our mouths and Jim immediately began working with a farmer from Tagges Farms to supply hundreds of Bear Lake peaches, plums and raspberries for our celebration. We served the fruit with our favorite cheeses, made peach iced tea and studded our lemon cake with fresh raspberries. Italy was the source of our color palette and, of course, our menu. Our colors (navy, peaches and pinks) were inspired by a stunning sunset over Barolo. We worked with our florist to use variations in peaches and pinks to create soft, romantic bouquets that felt like they could have just been picked from a garden and we rented navy cloths for all of our tables. For our menu, we worked hand in hand with the chef at Deer Valley to incorporate flavors inspired by our travels (and by Jim’s mom’s incredible Italian cooking). Prosciutto y melon, Utah tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, fennel & citrus salad and dry-aged ribeye were among the Italian inspirations on our menu … yum! Wine was another mini-theme in the wedding – we love drinking and learning about wine and some of our best friends in the world have been made drinking wine. We included our favorite Italian wine, Vietti Nebbiolo and served Prosecco instead of champagne for toasting. One of our friends in Salt Lake was amazingly helpful and collected wooden wine boxes for us. By the big day we had dozens to use throughout the lodge to hold peaches and even to use as a cake stand. For favors we etched wine glasses with mountains and the date of the wedding. Note – if you are going to try this, make sure you double check the logo for the right date BEFORE you have the glasses printed :)
We knew that the ceremony was particularly important for us to make ‘ours.’ My younger brother passed away three years ago and the sting of his absence was difficult. Jim surprised me before the wedding by having cufflinks for all of the groomsmen engraved with my brother’s sports number, 33, to represent his presence as a groomsman. He also gave me a simple gold band with the number 33 engraved within it so that I could carry him with me throughout the day. We also incorporated wine into our wedding ceremony, where we used it as a symbol of our rich family histories, then combined two wines into one glass and drank from it to symbolize our marriage. Two days before the wedding we got a wild idea, and inquired whether we could fire up one of the Deer Valley chairlifts and move the ceremony from a mid-mountain meadow to the ridgeline. Deer Valley scrambled to achieve our request in record time (thanks to the amazing Karen Gibbs!!) and got staff to man the lift and set up our event at the top of Flagstaff mountain, at 9100 ft! I rode the lift up with my dad before we walked down the aisle and Jim and I said our vows overlooking hundreds of miles of mountaintops and valleys with a mountain wind filling my veil. The location couldn’t have been more perfect – and all of our guests had a blast riding a chairlift in their stilettos! Jim and I had the best day of our entire lives, surrounded by our favorite people in the world. Planning all of the pieces of the wedding, designing all of the paper elements, deciding on themes, and putting every last detail in to place was serious work, but we enjoyed every moment of it. It seemed impossible that we would be able to capture all these details and the incredible energy of the day in photos, but Erin Kate did that … and even more. I am thrilled with her artistic eye and stunning photos of our day! We wouldn’t change a thing and feel so lucky to have to support of all of our friends and family in making it happen!!
Photography: Erin Kate Photography / Ceremony and Reception: Empire Lodge, Deer Valley, UT / Wedding Gown: Pronovias / Bride’s Shoes: Butter / Groom’s Suit: Brooks Brothers / Hair & Makeup: Megan Linihan & Facing Thayer / Bridesmaids Dresses: Jim Hjelm / Floral Design: Language of Flowers / Caterer & Wedding Cake: Deer Valley / Peaches & Berries: Tagge Farm / Invitations: Designed by Bride, Printed by Blush Paperie / Officiant: Tom Goldsmith / Music: Craig Larson Trio
