I may be an odd bird, but I absolutely adore winter. The coziness of days spent fireside, the beauty of a freshly fallen snow – it just never gets old to me. Everything has a way of feeling a bit more romantic when the temperature drops outside, so a winter wedding is right up my alley. Particularly a winter wedding as pretty as this one from Love This Day Events. Devil’s Thumb Ranch provides one stunning setting for all the pretty to take place, and with a with a dash of pastel added in for good measure, I couldn’t be more in love. I blame my obsession on Laura Murray and her gorgeous images of the day which fill the gallery to the brim and have me singing let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
From the Bride… Austin and I had been dating for two years when he proposed. Although we hadn’t been together that long, I had been expecting for him to pop the question the whole second year we were together. However, after birthdays, a trip to Bermuda, and Christmas passed with no engagement, I was getting impatient. With so much pressure on those big potential moments, Austin completely surprised me by proposing with a simple, sweet proposal at home on a weeknight. I had been lounging around in workout clothes with no makeup on and messy hair. After dinner he said he had a surprise dessert for me and went to get it. He returned with a box of cupcakes from my favorite bakery with a beautiful ring amidst the sprinkles on my favorite flavor! I was so happy that even after so much anticipation he was still able to completely surprise me with the perfect surroundings of our home and two dogs!
We honestly only looked at one venue because we knew it was perfect for us. We spend a lot of time in the mountains fly fishing, so we wanted a place that captured what we love so much about Colorado and no place could do that better than Devil’s Thumb Ranch. Between its stunning views, private fly fishing and amazing food, Devil’s Thumb Ranch provided the perfect mix of laid-back elegance. It was also perfect because it was an hour and a half from Denver, so most of our guests were able to make a mini vacation out of it and we were able to spend a lot of quality time with our friends and family. The staff at Devil’s Thumb Ranch was absolutely amazing every step of the way. We are excited to celebrate many anniversaries to come there!
We wanted the design to incorporate both of our styles and personalities. We combined soft feminine and neutral colors for the flowers and juxtaposed them with rustic elements and our love of fly fishing by incorporating burlap, wood, fly fishing gear, maps, etc. Our coordinator and florist, Kara Delay, with Love this Day Events perfectly executed our vision. We were completely speechless when we saw the reception. I especially loved some of the fly fishing elements we were able to incorporate that made our wedding more personal and unique. We used a vintage drainage map of Colorado as our guestbook, a fishing creel to hold cards, a fly box to hold the rings, and we used our favorite rivers in Colorado as our table names. I am not crafty by nature, but we did manage a few DIY projects with the help of family and friends. I loved our “here comes the bride” and “Mr. Right and Mrs. Always Right” signs. Austin and his Dad cut the wood slices that held escort cards and table names from an aspen tree in our backyard. Austin was also very helpful by making tins full of his famous steak rub to give our guests for favors. My advice for DIY projects is to keep them simple and do them early!
I have so many favorite moments from that day; from our first look, reading our vows to each other, the toasts, and enjoying the hot chocolate bar I had dreamed of during cocktail hour. Your wedding day goes by so fast and there are so many wonderful moments. Thanks to the advice of our coordinator, I think my favorite moment was waking up early to a beautiful snow fall and meeting Austin to take our dogs on a walk through the woods. It gave us a chance to relax before the craziness ensued. She saw my stress level at the rehearsal and recommended that we have some alone time the next morning so we could be more relaxed before everything started. If you aren’t worried about seeing each other before the ceremony, I would recommend something like this since it was really the only time we were alone all day. I can assure you, that after you get ready, the first look will still be a magical moment and walking down the aisle will be even better.
Wedding Photography: Laura Murray Photography / Wedding Venue: Devil’s Thumb Ranch in Tabernash, Colorado / Wedding Planning, Event Design + Floral Design: Love This Day Events / Wedding Cake: Indulge Bakery / Music: Elite DJ / Wedding Dress: Monique Lhuillier via Anna Be / Bride’s Bolero: Foxtrot Topper via BHLDN / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Twist Wrap Dress via Dessy / Hair: Harmony Kilgore / Makeup: Natosha Cooke