Vail Colorado Weddings - Western Colorado Wedding Guide

(All photographs by Avi Baram Photography )

Tricia & Michael Wolpoff of Huntington Beach, CA
Married 6/10/07 - Vail, Colorado

Since we met skiing in Vail we decided to get-hitched in the Vail Valley. We could not have asked for a more beautiful day – the sun was shining, the sky was clear blue, the mountains were green, and we said "I do"!

THE DETAILS

How long to plan the wedding: 5 months. Planning the wedding from California meant that we made two trips to Colorado to meet with vendors and finalize the plans.
Budget: $20,000
Number of Guests: 130
Ceremony Site: Beaver Creek Chapel
Reception Site: Donovan Pavilion

The Theme
We started out planning a traditional wedding, but it ended up being modern! Our color scheme was green, purple, pink and ivory. We incorporated polka dots in the décor, cake, invitations and place holders. We also included elements of Disneyland.

The Planning
The internet was an invaluable resource for our planning. Most communication with the vendors was accomplished via email.

Difficulties in planning a Destination Wedding
Making sure what we conveyed verbally and via email to our vendors actually translated into the final product. Not being able to physically see the flowers and arrangements, for example, made modifying bouquets and centerpieces difficult.

The Flowers
Our centerpieces were three different heights of vases with green, purple and pink hydrangeas. The smallest centerpiece was a flowerball, the middle size vase had orchids suspended down the center of the vase with a hydrangea ball on top, and the tallest vase had both suspended orchids and a flowerball, as well as looping bear-grass. We had orchids with bear grass for the boutonnieres. My bouquet consisted of purple hydrangea pieces, ivory roses and pink calla liles.

The Food
We went with a dual plate: Beef tenderloin and chicken remoulade with bundled veggies tied with a chive, and cream cheese garlic mashed potatoes. We also offered vegetarian lasagna, and sliders and chicken fingers for the children.

The Cake
Our square cake had four different layers, each with a unique filling: chocolate mouse, white chocolate mouse, marzipan and strawberry. The frosting was white chocolate fondant and each layer had a different design - polka dots, scrolls, quilting and I wanted to incorporate my Irish heritage so the bottom layer had a Celtic knot and triskelle design. We topped it with a Minnie and Mickey Mouse bride and groom figurine!

The Favors
We made our own favors - pink, purple and ivory organza bags filled with different types of candy!

Special Touches
We love to travel and thought a fun way to give our guests something to talk about, as well as label our tables, was to place photos of places we had visited together at each table. Marking our adventures to Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, and Colorado sites as well as fun places we are seeing now in California, like Catalina Island, was a great way to start conversation and at the same time share a bit of ourselves with our guests.

We live close to Disneyland, are annual passholders and love visiting the park. No surprise Michael popped the question on Main Street, USA Disneyland! So we wanted to include Disney themes - the ring bearers carried Mickey hands as their pillows and we used a Mickey and Minnie cake topper.

Michael is a Golf Course Superintendent so we wanted to tie that in as well. For our placecard table we covered the table with a rectangle of sod and then placed our colorful placecards on the "tee"! Next to this we placed a picture of both of us teeing off which read "Just Teed Off, Michael and Tricia, June 10, 2007," and instructed guests to locate their cards and their table.

What would you do Different?
I wish we would have hired a professional videographer.

My Advice
Have fun with it! Your wedding should be an expression of the two of you. Find things that you both enjoy and that will make the day meaningful for you!

Honeymoon Locale
Tahiti – highly recommended! It was GORGEOUS! We stayed in a glass-bottom bungalow over the water and did lots of snorkeling!

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