I may be in the minority, but I love winter. There isn’t a season as cozy or as intimate, forcing you to layer beautiful textures to keep out the chill. It just screams romance to me. So I think it’s pretty obvious that I am head over heels for winter weddings – and winter weddings in Vail planned by Love This Day Events and captured by Brumley And Wells? Well, that’s my perfection.
From The Bride… After we got engaged over the summer, we didn’t want to wait a whole year to get married during the popular summer months, so we started thinking how amazing it would be to have a winter wedding. Vail is one of our favorite ski destinations because the mountain offers such great skiing and the Village has amazing lodging, dining and shopping. We had spent a few weekends at The Sebastian and we loved the design and feel of the hotel and thought our wedding would be so much fun there. We pictured a wedding weekend with our family and friends in Vail and it just seemed perfect.
We had so many favorite parts of the design but I especially loved getting married outside in the middle of winter. It was chilly but we made sure our guests were warm and happy before they were seated and moved inside quickly as soon as the ceremony was over. In the end, everyone said they loved the ceremony outside and it was such a unique twist on winter ceremonies. We also loved the gorgeous flowers Love This Day put together on our rectangle tables which were perfect. I also spent time trying to think of ways to make the day personal for us; I had the band learn a horrible 90’s song that is one of his favorites and surprised him with it during the reception, I called the restaurant in Austin that makes one of his favorite cocktails and asked for the recipe and used it as one of our signature drinks and knowing he and my daughter are doughnut lovers, I asked my pastry chef to make fresh doughnuts at the end of the night as a send off for our guests which was a huge hit.
My favorite moment of the day was standing at the ceremony with the love of my life. We worked with our officiant to create a ceremony that was special for us. She read aloud advice that our families had given us about marriage, we had my daughter read a poem about “things that go together” to the guests and we recited our handwritten vows to one another. We were anxious about writing our own vows but it was important to both of us so we spent quality time crafting what we wanted to say. It will always be so special to remember that we spoke from our hearts that day, to one another, words that will never be the same as any other bride and groom.
My practical advice is to first hire a professional wedding designer; I was planning from a different state, working full time and I’m a lawyer, not a wedding planner. I left the details to the professionals and took their advice on room design, flow of the day and it was so nice to have one person to rely on the day of to solve all of the little last minute questions. It let me enjoy the day and really take in everything that was happening.
Second, negotiate with all of your vendors; band, flowers, cake, photography, video, menu, etc. Weddings are so expensive and you never seem to get everything into your beginning budget which means you’ve gone over your budget by the end. If you try to negotiate with each of your vendors you will win some and lose some, but it will help you make an informed decision about whatever piece you’re planning. I saved 50% on my photobooth vendor by telling him what the competition was offering, but ultimately decided not to skimp on my cake design because saving a bit of money there would have taken away from the look I wanted.
Lastly, while we all try to keep our guests and family in mind when planning our wedding, you and your groom ultimately have to do what makes the day special for you. After it’s over, guests will talk about how fabulous your wedding was and that makes you feel great, but really what matters is that you and your groom remember the time as an amazing start to the rest of your life and enjoyed every minute of it.
Photography: Brumley & Wells | Cinematography: Cinematique Films | Wedding Gown: Anne Barge | Cake: Megan Joy Cakes | Stationery: Mink Letterpress | Reception Venue: Carrie Clark From Bloom Spa | Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Rings: Ashley Morgan | Makeup: Laura Anzalone | Hair: Kacee Picot | Groom's Jacket: Hugo Boss | Tuxedo: Armani | Earrings: Gilt Groupe | Event Design / Floral Design / Planning: Love This Day Events | Flower Girl's Dress: Marchesa | Fur: Central Park Vintage | Photobooth: Lightbooth