Q&A with Bride and Groom:

How did you meet? 

We met during our first year of dental school at the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine in 2015. Our first conversation was at a Colorado Rockies Baseball game. We started dating shortly after meeting and the rest is history!

What is your proposal story?

Nick asked my dad for permission to marry me at an annual party that my family hosts in Montana. It wasn't until six months later that he asked me to marry him at Lake Powell, a location that has been special to Nick and his family since he was very young. We were on our annual week-long house-boating trip at Lake Powell, Utah and we went on a hike to the top of the gorgeous red rock cliffs overlooking the water. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him with the most beautiful view surrounding us. The rest of the vacation was spent celebrating, dancing, playing games, boating and enjoying the special moments. It was nice to be on a vacation that really allowed us to soak it all in.

Tell us a little a bit about your wedding (your vision, color, style, and location choices).

We wanted a larger wedding in order to be surrounded by as many family members and friends as possible. We found The Woodlands venue when it was still under construction. We loved it because it was in the mountains (which was very important to us!) but still just a short drive from Denver. We wanted to mix rustic elements that represented my Montana roots with a romantic theme to make it feel more soft and elegant. We had many rustic elements included such as wine barrels, antlers from our family ranch, and rustic wood pieces incorporated into the centerpieces. We combined all of this with soft pink, champagne and cream colors to soften the rustic feel.

What was the most important to the two of you while planning? Was there anything that you chose to splurge on or skip?

Nick and I wanted to make sure that we had time before the ceremony for a "first look" and to exchange our personal vows privately. This time together meant so much to us, to be able to just take a quiet moment together to express how much we meant to each other.

Another important thing to us while planning was to make sure that our families were included in the process and we really planned the entire weekend as a team.

Please describe any DIY, handmade, or personal details.

We used old rustic wood from my family's ranch and branded it with a custom branding iron during our unity ceremony. We had a branding iron made to brand "SW" which is both of our initials, and the our wedding date, "5-18-2019." This was so fun and unique and we had to be really careful to not set my dress on fire! Ha!

Did you include any family heirlooms or special traditions?

I wore my grandmother's sapphire necklace that was passed down to me by grandfather after she passed as my "something blue." My engagement ring was passed down in our family and was my great aunt's engagement ring in 1931. We used my grandparent's wedding topper on the top of our cake. We had a table set up with photographs of our parents, grandparents, and even great grandparents on their wedding days. Both sides of our families have such strong marriages to look up to! Lastly, Nick's father was his best man!