Rustic Colorado Ranch Wedding Infused with Southern Charm
What do you get when you have a Bride with a vision and a team of incredible vendors like Brett Heidebrecht, Elysium Productions, Love This Day Events and Wildflower Linens? Wedding day magic. True to the Bride's vision, Devil's Thumb Ranch was transformed into lush, elegant, blush and romantic wonderland. Head to The Vault to see all the gorgeous details, including a stunning invitation suite, beautiful florals and some killer cowboy boots!
From Love This Day Events... Katie and Tom's Colorado Ranch wedding was absolutely one of the best weddings I have ever had the pleasure of working on. Katie and Tom (and Katie's amazing mom Paula) are the kindest, funniest and quite frankly, loveliest of families. The inspiration for this gorgeous day was a celebration of Colorado (thank you Devil's Thumb Ranch) chocked full of southern charm.
From The Bride...Tom and I met in 2011 in Winter Park, Colorado at Ullrs Tavern. My best friend had a little too much to drink and got sick in the hallway. As I was frantically trying to clean it up and close our tabs so we could get out of there I look over and see a guy (Tom) talking to my friend. I quickly went over and told him he needed to leave her alone because she was intoxicated and he ask me if he could give her a ride home. I said absolutely not because I thought it was a bad idea to ride home with a stranger. He assured me that his friends wife was sober and they could get her home safely. After securing a reference (his Mom) and his social security number I let my friend get a ride home with these seemingly nice, complete strangers. Moments after they drove away I panicked and couldn’t believe I had let my friend leave with complete strangers (I stayed behind because I had paid a $30.00 cover to see Trampled by Turtles and I wasn’t going to leave 10 minutes into the show) so I ran home to make sure she was safe. Upon arrival I found my friend tucked under a blanket on the couch with a cup of water and the trash can beside her and a note from Tom. I thought…wow. What a truly amazing guy and I was very intrigued to see more of this guy and hook him up with my friend….Well that was a failed attempt but in the following weeks Tom and I started to meet up at the mountain to ski. I quickly fell for Tom because he was such a gentlemen which was a rare find in a mountain town. Following that winter Tom and I started spending a lot of time together, going on hikes, bike rides and other mountain adventures and we really just became best friends! That is what our relationship started out as, just two great friends having fun and enjoying the mountains together. After about 2 years of this madness I went home with Tom to Kentucky. At this time I was head over heels for him but had no idea where we stood. I quickly found out that Tom had told his family and friends that I was his girlfriend so after years of stalking and hard work I finally had a BOYFRIEND! I continue to fall more in love with Tom every day. We complement each other in every way and we are so blessed that God put us in each other’s lives, we can’t wait to continue on this beautiful adventure together!
So I had been begging Tom to go on my favorite hike all summer and every time I brought it up he came up with something else he wanted to do that day. The hike is to Columbine Lake and it was the first hike I did when I moved to Colorado and I made it a point to do the hike again every year after that, so I understood that we had other things to cross off the bucket list since we had already done that hike 5 times but I still had to get it done! So…suddenly Tom wants to go on the hike. The weather was not looking good and our dog had just had emergency surgery 3 days earlier but he insisted that this was the day and that the dogs had to come with us. So….annoyed with him…we set out on our adventure. He was acting weird all morning and when we reached the summit he was so worried about getting the camera set up just right so that we could get a perfect picture. With a storm rolling in I was just ready to get down and knew that our dog that had just had surgery was struggling. As I was looking out over the lake and taking in the beauty I hear some rustling behind me and turn around to find Tom on one knee holding the most beautiful ring I had ever seen in my life! He was so nervous he couldn't even get a word out! I said, “you have to say something!!” He replied “Katie, will you marry me?” and I obviously said yes followed by lots of tears and “Is this real life?!?” It was the happiest most beautiful moment of my life and he couldn’t have planned the occasion more perfectly! (Oh and we have perfect pictures too!)
I have known since my first visit to Devil's Thumb Ranch that I wanted to get married there and so when searching out Pinterest ideas I found Kara Delay and Love This Day Events. I called her the day after Tom proposed and she started creating my dream wedding! Immediately after talking to Kara I knew that Devil's Thumb was the place and Kara was the gal to make it happen. It was a fairly simple process for me.
My favorite part of the day was after the ceremony and all of the pictures when Tom and I got to have a few moments just by ourselves and reflect on all the craziness that just happened. Kara (our wedding planner) took us into the reception area and it was like a fairytale. The room was so perfect and beautiful and it was just Tom and I in there. We got to enjoy each other in this beautiful space and just be in love and happy and married. It was such an amazing moment that we got to share. I will never forget those first few minutes as Mrs. Strohmeier when I just got to be with my husband and celebrate all that we had shared together and dream of all that the future would hold following the commitment we made to each other that day. It was truly amazing and reminded me why we worked so hard and planned such a perfect day to celebrate our love!
Something that was really important to me was romantic lighting so that was where my vision started. Also, I really didn't want to take away from the rustic beauty of Devils Thumb and after we were engaged in a field of wildflowers I wanted to carry that over into our wedding day. When meeting with Kara and Rachel I told them these few tidbits and that I wanted to stick with a neutral/blush/gold theme they took it away and created the perfect vision for what I had in my mind. Lush, elegant, blush and romantic!
My biggest piece of advice for brides is just have fun! Really I had so much fun with Tom, my Mom, Kara and Rachel planning the wedding. I think so many brides get all worked up in every little detail and forget the purpose of planning the perfect day! Remember that in the end no matter what flowers, centerpieces or linens you pick the day is all about you, your spouse and the commitment that you are making with each other and God. Don’t forget to just love your spouse while you are planning and take in every silly moment because in a blink all that planning will just be a bunch of amazing memories. I think with Pinterest and social media we are all so wrapped up in the details when really the most important detail is the love shared between the two people getting married that day! So remember just to love your Husband and if you keep your eye on the reason for the big event everything else will fall in place perfectly!! Oh and… hire an amazing wedding planner. That will help too! :)
From The Bride...Tom and I met in 2011 in Winter Park, Colorado at Ullrs Tavern. My best friend had a little too much to drink and got sick in the hallway. As I was frantically trying to clean it up and close our tabs so we could get out of there I look over and see a guy (Tom) talking to my friend. I quickly went over and told him he needed to leave her alone because she was intoxicated and he ask me if he could give her a ride home. I said absolutely not because I thought it was a bad idea to ride home with a stranger. He assured me that his friends wife was sober and they could get her home safely. After securing a reference (his Mom) and his social security number I let my friend get a ride home with these seemingly nice, complete strangers. Moments after they drove away I panicked and couldn’t believe I had let my friend leave with complete strangers (I stayed behind because I had paid a $30.00 cover to see Trampled by Turtles and I wasn’t going to leave 10 minutes into the show) so I ran home to make sure she was safe. Upon arrival I found my friend tucked under a blanket on the couch with a cup of water and the trash can beside her and a note from Tom. I thought…wow. What a truly amazing guy and I was very intrigued to see more of this guy and hook him up with my friend….Well that was a failed attempt but in the following weeks Tom and I started to meet up at the mountain to ski. I quickly fell for Tom because he was such a gentlemen which was a rare find in a mountain town. Following that winter Tom and I started spending a lot of time together, going on hikes, bike rides and other mountain adventures and we really just became best friends! That is what our relationship started out as, just two great friends having fun and enjoying the mountains together. After about 2 years of this madness I went home with Tom to Kentucky. At this time I was head over heels for him but had no idea where we stood. I quickly found out that Tom had told his family and friends that I was his girlfriend so after years of stalking and hard work I finally had a BOYFRIEND! I continue to fall more in love with Tom every day. We complement each other in every way and we are so blessed that God put us in each other’s lives, we can’t wait to continue on this beautiful adventure together!
So I had been begging Tom to go on my favorite hike all summer and every time I brought it up he came up with something else he wanted to do that day. The hike is to Columbine Lake and it was the first hike I did when I moved to Colorado and I made it a point to do the hike again every year after that, so I understood that we had other things to cross off the bucket list since we had already done that hike 5 times but I still had to get it done! So…suddenly Tom wants to go on the hike. The weather was not looking good and our dog had just had emergency surgery 3 days earlier but he insisted that this was the day and that the dogs had to come with us. So….annoyed with him…we set out on our adventure. He was acting weird all morning and when we reached the summit he was so worried about getting the camera set up just right so that we could get a perfect picture. With a storm rolling in I was just ready to get down and knew that our dog that had just had surgery was struggling. As I was looking out over the lake and taking in the beauty I hear some rustling behind me and turn around to find Tom on one knee holding the most beautiful ring I had ever seen in my life! He was so nervous he couldn't even get a word out! I said, “you have to say something!!” He replied “Katie, will you marry me?” and I obviously said yes followed by lots of tears and “Is this real life?!?” It was the happiest most beautiful moment of my life and he couldn’t have planned the occasion more perfectly! (Oh and we have perfect pictures too!)
I have known since my first visit to Devil's Thumb Ranch that I wanted to get married there and so when searching out Pinterest ideas I found Kara Delay and Love This Day Events. I called her the day after Tom proposed and she started creating my dream wedding! Immediately after talking to Kara I knew that Devil's Thumb was the place and Kara was the gal to make it happen. It was a fairly simple process for me.
My favorite part of the day was after the ceremony and all of the pictures when Tom and I got to have a few moments just by ourselves and reflect on all the craziness that just happened. Kara (our wedding planner) took us into the reception area and it was like a fairytale. The room was so perfect and beautiful and it was just Tom and I in there. We got to enjoy each other in this beautiful space and just be in love and happy and married. It was such an amazing moment that we got to share. I will never forget those first few minutes as Mrs. Strohmeier when I just got to be with my husband and celebrate all that we had shared together and dream of all that the future would hold following the commitment we made to each other that day. It was truly amazing and reminded me why we worked so hard and planned such a perfect day to celebrate our love!
Something that was really important to me was romantic lighting so that was where my vision started. Also, I really didn't want to take away from the rustic beauty of Devils Thumb and after we were engaged in a field of wildflowers I wanted to carry that over into our wedding day. When meeting with Kara and Rachel I told them these few tidbits and that I wanted to stick with a neutral/blush/gold theme they took it away and created the perfect vision for what I had in my mind. Lush, elegant, blush and romantic!
My biggest piece of advice for brides is just have fun! Really I had so much fun with Tom, my Mom, Kara and Rachel planning the wedding. I think so many brides get all worked up in every little detail and forget the purpose of planning the perfect day! Remember that in the end no matter what flowers, centerpieces or linens you pick the day is all about you, your spouse and the commitment that you are making with each other and God. Don’t forget to just love your spouse while you are planning and take in every silly moment because in a blink all that planning will just be a bunch of amazing memories. I think with Pinterest and social media we are all so wrapped up in the details when really the most important detail is the love shared between the two people getting married that day! So remember just to love your Husband and if you keep your eye on the reason for the big event everything else will fall in place perfectly!! Oh and… hire an amazing wedding planner. That will help too! :)