Q&A with Bride and Groom: 

How did you meet?

William and I met in San Antonio at a bar tab hosted by our law school during our first week of class. I noticed him from across the room and knew I wanted to talk to him- he was SO handsome. Thanks to some encouragement from my girlfriends, when he turned around I was standing RIGHT behind him, and we immediately hit it off. We found out the other had a deep love for Colorado since childhood, and we talked for hours that night about everything in the world. The next night we went dancing and the rest is history!

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

After the dust settled from the engagement weekend, we started talking about wedding plans. I'm from South Louisiana, so my original vision was a big plantation wedding back home. Then we started talking to several of our friends who had just gotten married. The common theme for every one of them was "we loved our wedding, but we didn't see each other the entire time." and "you don't remember a thing." They we so busy saying hi to tons of family and friends that it seemed like some of the intimacy and gravity of the wedding itself was lost. Don't get me wrong - they all loved their weddings. But it wasn't for us. We decided to only invite our immediate family and their significant others. All in, it was 11 people total. This decision made us feel a million times better, because we knew with this number we'd be able to really focus on each other, and our moms, dads, sisters and brothers. Best decision ever.

For location, Crested Butte was an easy choice. William's family has a cabin in outside of Gunnison and he grew up vacationing in that area. I traveled around Colorado as a kid, and worked on a ranch in Crawford (near Crested Butte) after college, where I made some of my best friends and memories. We love Crested Butte and every time we visit we're just in awe of its beauty and it's homey, fun, small town feel.

For vision, color and style, we were clueless. I have always been drawn to a boho outdoor wedding with tons of flowers, but that's as far as I got. I admittedly have zero eye for color and style. That's where Ciera Freson with Lucky Penny Events came in. We found her online after searching "Colorado Elopement Planner." I literally do not have enough words to describe how awesome she was to work with. Over the course of a year, Ciera helped us put together the most beautiful little wedding imaginable. Lucky for me, she has an eye for color and style that can't be beat. She listened to what we liked and our ideas, and she made it happen- in the most gorgeous way. She was incredibly organized and always upbeat and excited for us, and I can truly say that our wedding planning experience was a blast.

Tell us about your attire choices.

I knew that I wanted a long sleeved vintage dress with lots of lace. I gravitate toward very feminine looks, so when I found a dress online that fit all of those criteria, I snatched it up. It was perfect and it was so wonderful to wear. For shoes I wore white sneakers from Banana Republic-ha! The dress covered them completely. I was able to walk around confidently all night, and my feet never got tired. Best decision ever!

William wore a beautiful blue tux from our favorite tux store in Dallas, Mr. Tuxedo. We can't recommend them enough. They were so helpful in guiding us on style, fit, and color. He paired his tux with brown cowboy boots (Long Live Texas!), and a Brackish bow-tie. He looked incredibly handsome, and look went perfectly with the relaxed feel of the wedding.

What were your favorite parts of the day? (memories and stories)

One of our favorite parts of the day were the minutes leading up to the ceremony. In lieu of walking down the isle to William, Ciera helped us orchestrate something way more fun: Our venue was a complete surprise to all of our guests, so when they were being driven to the wedding site, they had no idea where they were going. The drive for them was incredible. From town, it was 20-30 minutes of winding down Kebler Pass with all the Aspen trees changing. They got to the site and everything was set up- our beautiful flower arch, the Horsefeather Bar, Tyler was playing music and the cake table. They got to take it all in before being seated. All the while, William and I were down a wooded trail out of sight. They didn't know where we were or how we would arrive. We could hear them arriving and laughing and getting drinks. Then we heard Tyler playing our Processional Song, which was our cue. We walked up the trail and to the arch together, hand in hand, as our family saw us for the first time.

Those few minutes we had together hiding in the woods and hearing our families arrive was such a magical time. Our adrenaline was pumping and we kept whispering to each other "Its happening! We're getting married!" That time together will always to so special to us, and was easily the most magical part of the day. It was the moment where a years worth of excitement and planning came together, and we were perfectly in the moment.

Did you include any family heirlooms or special traditions?

The morning of the wedding my mom gave me a sweet handkerchief that belonged to my Aunt Brooksie, who she was very close to. She had it engraved with my married initial, B.

Do you have any advice for couples planning their weddings now?

1. Get a wedding planner, and trust them to do their job. They're professionals and they'll keep you on track with your timeline, and help you create your vision. Hiring Ciera was the best money we spent on the wedding.

2. Wear comfortable shoes! I wore sneakers because you couldn't see them with my long dress, and it made the day so much fun because I was never worried about falling over or my feet hurting.

3. Don't take the details too seriously. It will be a wonderful day if you let it happen. Everyone will have fun and you're in love! That's the big stuff.