Tell us about your wedding! What was the inspiration behind your day? Did you have a specific theme, style or color palette? Did you incorporate any cultural or religious traditions in any part of your day? 

When we were planning our wedding day we thought very intently about what we wanted, what we didn't want, what we were comfortable spending & what our wedding was actually about. If we were going to be spending so much time & money on such an important day we wanted to be sure it was what WE wanted as a couple. Not what our parents wanted, not what our friends wanted, our neighbors wanted or what the dog wants. US! We are both avid outdoorsman so we knew for sure that we wanted to be outside. We knew we wanted to keep things simple & we knew after being apart of other friends wedding day's we didn't want to mess with a wedding party. When we began looking a venue's nothing appealed to us, they were unmeaningful & just not us. We started to get creative looking at outdoor options we began looking at options in Colorado since we spent a lot of our dating life taking trips there & decided on Rocky Mountain National Park. We loved the idea of donating the money to the National Park & being able to bring our kids & possibly even grandkids back one day to the same spot we got married instead of just the wedding venue we picked that we would never see again. We invited just our closest family members to make the journey from Texas to be there on our special day. We had a quick very meaningful ceremony in the picturesque Moraine Park in RMNP, gorgeous photos afterwards by Stacy & a quaint dinner reception under the stars at a cabin in Estes Park. We absolutely loved it! 

Let's talk wedding decor. How did you decorate your space for the ceremony and the reception? Was any part of the decor DIY? 

One of the other things we loved about our ceremony space is that we weren't allowed to do any decorating of the space. It was one less thing for us to pay for or coordinate so I was very thankful! At our dinner reception we dressed it up some with lots of greenery, lilac table runners, photos of us throughout our childhood & dating, brass candlesticks, string lights, fire pits, etc. It was very intimate & special! 

What were the florals like in your wedding? Did you use flowers in any of your design elements like the bridal bouquets, centerpieces or ceremony backdrop? Did they play an important part in the overall style of your wedding? 

Boulder Blooms did a phenomenal job designing my wedding bouquet & Brett's boutonniere. I have a love affair with flowers & I'm an amateur backyard flower gardener myself so this was something that was very important to me! I told them what I was envisioning & they made that boho flower filled dream come to life. 

Did you personalize the day in any way (food trucks, guest entertainment etc.)? What were some of your favorite parts of your wedding? 

With less details to worry about we were able to make every detail as personal as possible. Choosing our wedding location in not only the outdoors but in Colorado was very symbolic for our relationship because most of our relationship has revolved around the outdoors & we made so many trips to CO through the years it only seemed right! My dad & I planned a special moment for him to have my stepdad help him walk me down the aisle, SO EMOTIONAL!! Brett's dad was our officiant which was so special to us. My mom surprised me with the earrings my papaw had given my granny on their wedding day & a small frame with my favorite picture of him to hang on my bouquet. My grandparents actually smoked all of the meat for our wedding reception & it was not only so delicious but so special to have them do that for us!! 

Let's talk fashion. How did you both choose your wedding day look? Describe the looks in detail. 

My look was something I was looking forward to the most. I of course had this vision in my head of what I wanted to wear & look like but after trying on so many different gowns I landed on a gorgeous embroidered tulle long sleeved boho-woodsy feel dress from BHLDN (The Golden Hour Dress). It was actually the very first dress I tried on & was nothing like what I had envisioned myself wearing! Even though I loved it so much & felt so beautiful in it since it wasn't what I had imagined for so long I had a really hard time committing to the dress. I ended up trying on about 20 more dresses in a few different stores & slept on it for the night only to decide in fact that was the dress for me! A local custom dressmaker (Moonlight & Moss) near me did my alterations & helped find a romantic veil to make the dress look more bridal. Brett is a very fashionable & particular man so I was shocked when he told me he will wear whatever I ask as long as he doesn't have to wear a tie. I was perfectly okay with that! We ended up picking out his suit by Michael Kors, I loved how the blue of the suit brought out the blue in his eyes. He wore a small gingham purple shirt (purple is the groom's favorite color!) & his favorite Lucchese ostrich quill cowboy boots. Looking back we realized we both chose the very first things we tried on! 

How did you meet? Tell us about the proposal. 

Brett actually hired me my freshman year of college at Cabela's! We worked together for quite a few months, Brett was interested but I was not.  We became friends but it wasn't until the following summer Brett asked me 3 days before leaving for family vacation if I wanted to join him. It was so random, we had never really even spent time together outside of work but my gut told me to go & enjoy myself. Remember how we worked together? Yeah our boss wasn't to keen on the idea of letting me off the same weekend on such short notice & I did something so uncharacteristic for me - I quit my job!! I quit my job to go on vacation with a man I only had a working relationship with.  Looking back I am SO glad I took that risk because we ended up having  the absolute best time together. It was on that trip that we both realized we wanted to marry each other. It was not a smooth road to the proposal by any means but we made it there 6 years later! Fourth of July 2018 (my favorite holiday) we woke up to go on a kayaking trip before the crowds got out & kayaked to our usual spot. When we arrived at our normal turn around point we got out of our kayaks to rest & Brett convinced me to explore a little further. When I turned around to come back he was on one knee waiting for me! 

What was the most anticipated or special moment of your wedding day? 

Just being married!! I was really looking forward to walking down the aisle to Brett & feelings all of the feelings. Brett says that the most special moment to him was watching me dance with my dad, he said he loved seeing how much it meant to him. 

Do you have any wedding planning or marriage advice that you'd like to share with other couples planning their day? 

I know this is so much easier said than done but genuinely take the time to talk to your future spouse & evaluate what is important to you & what is not important to you. Take the things that are not important to you & forget about them! If it is not important to you or your fiancé there is no reason to spend the time, energy or money on it just because it's expected by others or the traditional things to do. We both hate cake so we didn't serve cake! Also - Weddings & funerals bring out the best in people & the worst in people so be prepared, you'll be surprised by what happens! Take some deep breaths, move on & enjoy your day.