Rocky Mountain Summer Wedding – Kelley + Doug
Kelley and Doug traveled to Colorado form New York City (how awesome is that??) to celebrate their wedding day at Wild Basin Lodge surrounded by their closest friends and family. It was a magical day to say the least…I have been photographing weddings for 11 years and this has got to be without a doubt a wedding for the books… First, Kelley showered me with compliments and encouragement in my role all throughout the day. Saying things like “YOU are awesome” and “We have complete trust in you”. Those are things that give me such confidence on a wedding day. Not because I lack the confidence but because it is wonderful to hear from a glowing bride just how much she believes in your ability to document her special day. I soon learned that this was one of the qualities Kelley possesses that others praised her for as well. It became evident during Doug’s vows and Rechanda’s (maid of honor) toast.
I LOVED meeting Kelley and Doug and had the best time at their wedding. The joy that radiated from everyone was truly inspiring.
They had their ceremony at the beautiful meadow site. The view of Mount Meeker is breathtaking.
The Copeland room at Wild Basin is stunning!
Seriously the biggest party EVER. I have never been to a wedding where the crowd danced the ENTIRE TIME! Not to mention they played the best dance songs!!
This wedding was truly one of a kind!
xoxo
Meghan
Some words from Kelley…
We actually went to high school together, but didn’t become friends until we both went to college at the University of Pittsburgh. About 2 years after graduating, having seen the best and the worst of each other, we found ourselves dating! It started out as a secret as to not weird out all of our mutual friends, but it quickly became evident that it was the real deal.
We got engaged at the end of June 2016 while hiking in the Rockies. We had a 3-4 day hike planned and Doug’s goal was to propose at a lake on day 3. Unfortunately the snow was too deep for us to make it through day 2 of the hike, so we were forced to turn back. He improvised and managed to get us back to Maroon Bells where he ended up proposing by Maroon lake at sunrise. A few minutes after I said yes, we turned to find 2 moose walking around in the lake and watched them for an hour. It was almost as if he rented them for that moment specifically.
We knew we wanted the wedding in the mountains, and we both have a love for Colorado. I love Estes Park and have great memories of it, so I began looking into venues in the area. Wild Basin came up in my search and I fell in love minutes after taking the virtual tour. We booked it without even seeing it in person.
Wedding planning was fun!! The internet and sites like Pinterest and Etsy have made anything possible. I really enjoyed looking at other people’s photos and decorations for inspiration because It really let me get a good feel of exactly what I wanted. I loved picking decorations, ties and gifts for the bridal party. I Basically loved everything. My least favorite part was definitely dealing with other people’s opinions. Lots of people have opinions and there was never a way to make EVERYONE happy.
We’re planning to go to Chile to hike in Patagonia for our honeymoon, but we can’t go until the spring when their seasons change. We wanted to do something immediately following the wedding though, so we’re heading to Puerto Rico for a week and staying in tree houses and AirBnBs. It was an affordable location for a mini-moon and was an easy trip from NYC where we live.
Venue – Wild Basin Lodge
Photographer – Visual Poetry
Flowers- Floral Design of Europe
DJ- Jahsonic
Shuttle- Estes Park trolleys
Cake-You Need Pie
Cupcakes- Baked by Melissa (NYC)
Hair & makeup – Estes Park Bridal Company
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