(All
photographs byForever Yours Photography)
Ericka & Aaron Clark
Married September 23, 2006
Ridgway, Colorado
Although it snowed the morning of our wedding and we had to move the ceremony indoors, we could not have asked for a more amazing day. The fall colors on the San Juan Mountains were at their peak and absolutely gorgeous. With the majority of our guests flying in from the Midwest, it was a real treat for them to experience fall in Colorado.
THE DETAILS
How long to plan the wedding: Nine (9) months.
Number of guests: 125 – 80% from out-of-town.
Budget: $10,000
Venue: Ouray County 4-H Community Event Center. The event center had such a gorgeous view of the mountains and endless amenities.
The Planning
I planned everything myself using the Western Colorado Wedding Guide Publication and website where I found so many great ideas for an outdoor and fall themed wedding.
Biggest planning challenge
Trying to get everyone to the wedding site. Because most of our guests were from out of town, some of our guests got lost and actually sat in on other weddings before realizing it wasn’t ours. We had a problem explaining how to get to our wedding location of which they had never seen or been to before.
The Theme
Rustic autumn in the mountains.
The Flowers/Decor
The bride’s bouquet was filled with dark orange, light red, yellow, and deep red roses, accompanied by purple highlights of mountain flowers, and lots of green lily leaves. The bridesmaid’s bouquets were filled with wildflowers in red, yellow, orange, rust and chocolate. The boutonnieres were a mixture of roses, wild flowers, and green lily leaves to bring the mountain colors inside. We made our own floral centerpieces using floral foam, rustic silver pails, and a variety of fall colored roses, Gerber daisies, purple sprigs, and baby’s breath. We then tied each pail with a raffia bow.
The Food
We served comfort food - pot roast, mashed potatoes, green beans, homemade rolls, and fresh garden salad.
The Cake
We had a three tiered chocolate and white swirled cake covered in white butter cream frosting decorated with swiss dots and fresh fall flowers. It was breathtaking.
The Favors
Burnt orange purse boxes embossed with our names and wedding date, filled with M&M’s of our wedding colors.
Special Touches
We had a 16 x 20 canvas frame with an engagement picture of us for everyone to sign as a reminder of our big day in the many years to come.
We had a video put together of each of our stories of how we met, our families, each of us growing up, and the combining of our lives; along with personal messages to each other at the end. It was a wonderful way to entertain and everyone loved getting to know “us” in the process.
The morning before the wedding, the entire wedding party filled dozens of leaf stamped paper bags with golden aspen leaves. We then distributed the paper bags to each guest to use instead of bubbles for our departure.
I, along with my bridesmaids and the groom, handmade each wedding invitations. We used card stock, vellum, a leaf stamp, embossing powder, ribbon, and our engagement photo to create a unique and personalized invitation.
Best thing about the Day
The entire process of planning all coming together in one day… it was so nice to sit back and enjoy our hard work.
What would you do Different
Truly nothing!! Although we did have a chocolate fountain in which the kids attacked before the reception. Needless to say, chocolate was everywhere and all the dipping foods had been devoured. It was a mess!
- Plan for your marriage as well as the wedding- I highly recommend Pre-Marital Classes.
- Don’t let the little things get to you- remember the initial reason you’re planning the event.
- On the day of the wedding, enjoy YOUR day. Ask that you not be told if something goes wrong.
The Bridal Shower
Since we were honeymooning in Hawaii, my bridesmaids threw a Hawaiian themed shower complete with grass skirts, coconut bras and lais.
Honeymoon Locale
Kauai, Hawaii. We stayed at the gorgeous Marriott Beach Resort & Club. Highly recommended- amazing views!!
RECOMMENDED WEDDING PROS Venue: Ouray County 4-H Community Event Center. They were very accompanying and easy to work with. They helped organize every detail of the location. Photographer: Michelle Means; Forever Yours Photography. Michelle was excellent, quick, punctual, thorough, and the pictures were incredible! Florist: Willowcreek Floral. Judi created exquisite bouquets. DJ, Recording, & Video Production: Michael Packard; Practically Righteous Studios. Michael made the interview movie making process fun, meaningful, and memorable. The music was perfect and he delivered just what he promised through out the event. Cake: Homestyle Bakery. The cake was beautiful AND tasted delicious. They were very helpful in finding a way to transport the cake to the location in one piece. |
Thumbs Up
The Photo
Album
All photographs by Forever Yours Photography
View more Featured Colorado Weddings