Is this not the most stunning location for a summer wedding?
Michaela and Kyle exchanged vows early Saturday evening on the top of a mountain in Winter Park, Colorado. The weather was perfect, the bride was absolutely gorgeous and the way the groom looked at her when she walked down the aisle made me cry.
Our day began just after 10:30 a.m. when the bridesmaids met up with the bride, her mother and her sister at The Salon at Winter Park to get our hair done. We snacked on bagels and fresh fruit and sipped on mimosas made with grapefruit juice while we took turns in the salon chair.
For every wedding I’ve been in, including my own, I’ve worn my hair up, so this time I decided to make a change and went up with a half up, half down undone look. I told the stylist I just wanted my hair to look voluminous and I didn’t want the curls to look too tight and “promy.”
This is the look she came up with:
Two and a half hours later, everyone’s hair was done and we drove back to the Zephyr Mountain Lodge to do our makeup, eat lunch and slip into our dresses before it was time for pictures.
When the flowers arrived, everything started to really feel real. Michaela and her sister and maid of honor, Maggie, carried vibrant bouquets while the rest of the bridesmaids walked down the aisle with bouquets of baby’s breath.
I thought the baby’s breath bouquets were so romantic and such a neat alternative to typical bridesmaid bouquets. We loved them!
Once the flowers arrived, we put on our dresses and waited for Michaela’s mom and sister to help her into her gown.
Our dresses were silk chiffon bridesmaid dresses from J.Crew. Michaela picked out the fabric and color and were were allowed to choose which style we wanted to wear for her wedding (as long as it was short) which I think we all really appreciated. Everyone could choose a dress that made them feel more comfortable, whether it be a strapless, v-neck or one-shoulder dress.
Michaela’s dress was breathtaking and when she walked out of the bedroom to show us, I cried. I think we all did!
Michaela looked so beautiful and I couldn’t help but think back over our 20 years of friendship. I couldn’t believe I was looking at Michaela the bride. She looked gorgeous!
Once Michaela was in her gown, it was time to head to the ski lift to ride up to the mountaintop for pictures.
When we arrived at the top of the mountain, Michaela and Kyle met privately with the photographer for their first look pictures. Of course we made Michaela give us all the details before the ceremony and she said she walked up behind Kyle and tapped him on the back. When he turned around and saw her he cried which made all of us smile! You gotta love a groom that cries at the sight of his bride!
As Michaela and Kyle were taking their pictures, we rounded up the bouquets for the bridesmaid pictures that were supposed to happen immediately after the first look photos. It was then that we realized Michaela’s bouquet was missing! Everyone was responsible for bringing their own bouquet up to the top of the mountain, but somehow the bride’s bouquet got completely overlooked. Yikes!
I made a quick call to Ryan who was hanging out with the other bridesmaid’s husbands and boyfriends after a day of mountain biking and gave him directions about where to look for the missing bouquet in Michaela’s parents’ suite. He had the woman at the front desk of the hotel escort him to the room, grabbed the bouquet and headed immediately up the ski lift to deliver it to the bride safe and sound.
Phew!
With the bride’s bouquet back in her hands, we walked around the other side of the lodge to take pictures with the most gorgeous mountain backdrop.
With pictures done, we headed back inside the lodge as the guests started to arrive and hid the bride in a big closet so no one would see her before the ceremony began at 5:30 p.m.
At this point, all of us were absolutely buzzing! It was almost time for Michaela to get married!
Soon the music started playing and it was time for us to walk down the aisle.
Michaela’s adorable nephew, Seamus, walked down the aisle right before her carrying two bright flowers to deliver to the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom.
The mother of the groom’s name is Jackie and Seamus also has an Uncle Jack, so he got a little confused about who was supposed to get the second flower after he gave the first one to his grandma. It was adorable to watch him walk over to his dad, his Uncle Jack and eventually make his way to Jackie.
Then it was time for Michaela’s father to walk her down the aisle.
She was gorgeous!
Once she joined Kyle at the alter, the officiant began the ceremony and then told everyone that Michaela and Kyle wrote their own vows and wanted to recite them for each other. They did not wear a microphone during the ceremony so their vows were hard to hear, but I caught a few words of Kyle’s vows that made me cry.
Where I struggle, you shine.
It’s so true. Michaela and Kyle seem to balance each other perfectly and are such a wonderful couple.
And now they are husband and wife!
Congratulations to Michaela and Kyle!!!
Reception recap to come!
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Love the different styles of bridesmaid dresses and her bouquet is so bright and pretty! Gorgeous setting!
Yay! I just took my first trip to Colorado and it’s an absolutely stunning location for a wedding. Love those views!!
I mentioned this on Instagram yesterday, but I am doing baby’s breath bouquets for my bridesmaids too! Seeing more pictures of it definitely gives me confidence that it’s a good idea. It looks really pretty and it’s a great way to save some money on your flowers!
We all loved our bouquets. They added such a romantic feel to the wedding. I can’t wait to see pictures of your day, Rachel!
Beautiful wedding! I love your hair! It looks so pretty! 🙂
Such a pretty wedding! Loved your hair!
This wedding looks amazing and what gorgeous pics! I LOVE everything about the bridesmaids dresses! Everyone looks so beautiful and the flowers are just lovely!
The baby’s breath bouquets look lovely, especially next to the bridesmaid dresses and I really like that everyone had a style dress that suited them. That really works with a large number of bridesmaids.
I like that the Maid of Honour also had a different bouquet to the other bridesmaids. I’m trying to come up with ideas to make my Maid of Honour stand out at the moment and this is definitely something I am now considering!
Your hair looks lovely. 🙂 I’m a big fan of half up – half down and this is still different enough to your usual style to really stand out and look lovely on the day!
Love everything about this. Hard to look bad in a location this stunning! Your hair looks beautiful and I love the idea of doing one color/fabric but different dresses.. you all look great! Looks like you did the strappy shoes without the (what looked like) chiffon embellishments? Just gorgeous.
Yes! I picked the ones on the far right in the picture I previously posted. 🙂
I love the dresses!! I’m having my bridesmaids pick out their own dresses for my wedding as long as they are black, chiffon, and long, so this reassured me that I made the right choice in not picking one dress for everyone. The different styles looked so good! And the bride’s dress was beautiful as well! I’m going to a Colorado wedding in two weeks, so now I’m even more excited after seeing your pictures!
I love that last picture of the couple. She looks so incredibly happy and he looks SO proud.What an amazing location. Ah, I love weddings.
That is my favorite picture, too!!
Beautiful wedding!! Seriously gorgeous bride!! No wonder he cried. All this wedding talk is making me want to go to one!
What a gorgeous view for a wedding!!
You are the best recapper and such a beautiful bridesmaid 🙂 Yay Michaela!
Those views are breathtaking!!!
What a beautiful wedding!
This wedding is so stunning! I really want to get married at a ski resort someday. When the bride gets her wedding pictures back and if they’re online I would really love the link to look at them for ideas. Of course only if you’re friend is okay with sharing her special day. Looks like you had a great time in CO!
I’ll definitely ask her!
Very pretty wedding and I love your hairstyle!
Loving the bouquets, the colors, the backdrop, everything! What a gorgeous summer wedding in the mountains 🙂
Pretty bridesmaid dresses are a rare find! Love these. Everyone looks great
Those pictures were amazing. What a beautiful place to have a wedding. And I love that picture of Ryan sitting on the lift with the flowers – totally coming to the rescue! Thanks for sharing your wonderful weekend. 🙂
Everything is so pretty! (esp you lovely ladies) 🙂
I love happy wedding stories! What is it about them that just gives you the chills? I’m not even involved in any one’s weddings right now, forget about my own! haha
Such a pretty location for a wedding.
Beautiful.
And how tall are you, you seem so tall!
5’7”
Wow – I absolutely LOVE her wedding dress. Simple but gorgeous! I’m getting married next August and am struggling with the dress piece….would you mind asking her what style/designer she was wearing??
I got married on Saturday as well!! My bridesmaids too picked out short silk chiffon dresses from J Crew, but in the casablanca blue color. They looked amazing, and you guys did too! Here’s to 8-10-13 weddings!
Congratulations to you and your husband, Kelly!!!
Beautiful wedding. I love Winter Park and I’m so glad it was such a wonderful backdrop for your friend’s wedding!
The venue looks beautiful!! The color of your dresses and the flowers are amazing!
That is a gorgeous location! I bet the weather was perfect for a summer wedding.
We met some friends from Winter Park on our honeymoon. They LOVE it there!
The lone blonde!! All of you ladies and the scenery, absolutely stunning. Seems like an awesome weekend!
Gorgeous! And you look just beautiful, Julie!
I love Winter Park! I am a CO girl at heart and thought that was one of the most beautiful weddings I have seen. Great job with the recap!
I’m glad you had a great time – nothing beats summer in the mountains! It looks like it was a gorgeous wedding.
That. Backdrop. I’m obsessed with the mountains, and this made me even more obsessed, if possible. New life goal: get married in the mountains. The picture of Ryan alone on the ski lift cracked me up for some reason!
Is it strange my first reaction at your group shot was that youre the only blonde! How funny 🙂 Everyone looks stunning – love love love the bouquets, never would think of that as a choice but its so romantic!
What an absolutely gorgeous wedding! How amazing. I love the laid-back vibe and the bouquet ideas- what a special way to call attention to a few really special people.
what a gorgeous weekend!!!
I love the color of the bridesmaids dresses the the baby’s breath bouquets! Perfect for a summer wedding in the mountains. And the groom and bride look so happy and beautiful!
Oh my what a gorgeous place for a wedding!! It looks amazing! It was a beautiful wedding and I loved our hair! I always wear mine up as well but next one I am in I would love to do something like this!
Beautiful! I just got married on 7/25 and did baby’s breath bouquets….we saved so much money on flowers by doing that and they were so pretty!
beautiful wedding! love that Ryan saved the day by getting the bride’s bouquet 🙂
I LOVE the photo of Ryan bringing the bouquet up the ski lift! So sweet and hilarious. My husband (then fiance) had to rescue the bouquets for a wedding I was in once, too! He delivered them to the door and everyone called him a hero. Adorable when the guys are so helpful!
Oh my gosh! What a beautiful place for a wedding. Being from the midwest (but now living on the east coast), I’m always searching for pretty places to have a wedding. I feel like Colorado is the perfect place – that backdrop of the mountain is just stunning. Sounds like it was a wonderful wedding. Congrats to your friend 🙂
Gorgeous bride and wedding! So glad the sun came out! What type of camera do you use? I’m in the market : /
Colorado is the most beautiful place, and it’s so great for a wedding. I think if I had it to do all over again, I would definitely do a destination wedding there!
Wow- what a gorgeous location! And I love the idea of using a universal colour and length for bridesmaid dresses and letting them choose the style – seems like the best way to make sure the dresses look flattering on everyone!
Love the bridesmaids dresses! Your hairstyle goes so well with the sweetheart neckline, too 🙂 looks like a gorgeous wedding – looking forward to reading about the reception.
Oh my goodness, that is a beautiful back drop in the first picture. I want to get married in Winter Park!!!
What a fantastic wedding location! Those pictures look amazing, I love that everything is so elegant but against a very natural background!
OMG your hair looks amazing! What a beautiful wedding 🙂 I love the elegance of it all! Love + Shine CourtStar
I love reading about weddings. The mountains in the background don’t even look real! I love how peaceful the setting is.