(All
photographs by IlluminArts Photography)
Julie & Ryan McKenney of
Denver, CO
Married August 5, 2006
Telluride, Colorado
Our first road-trip together was to Telluride where we fell in love. One year later, while hiking in Telluride, we went to a waterfall and Ryan proposed. Telluride holds such a special place to us we knew we wanted to have our wedding in this romantic town. Our goal was to make our wedding day our own, different, not the same old wedding, we wanted to have a party and have the entire weekend be a celebration of love.
The Venue: Gorrono Ranch.
How long to plan wedding: 15 months.
Number of Guests: 80.
Budget: Not sure. We decided to spend whatever we needed to on the three most important things: the venue, the photographer and the music. The remaining expenses were split over a 15 month period which was great because there was not one huge bill right before the wedding.
The Planning
We used the internet for about 75% of our planning. We found many of our vendors on the www.WesternColoradoWeddingGuide.com site.
Difficulties in planning Destination Wedding
We only visited Telluride twice before the wedding so we had to explain our wants and vision to vendors via phone and email.
The Theme
Sexy and glamorous with a rustic Colorado mountain theme. We wanted everyone to feel like a VIP.
The Décor
Our color scheme was bright pink and black. Outside we created a grand entrance with white fabric. Inside we draped black curtains with bright pink ribbons around the windows and scattered candles everywhere. It was very sexy and intimate.
The Flowers
My bouquet had bright pink roses with crystals. The bridesmaids’ bouquets consisted of seven pink, red and orange Gerber Daisies. The boutonnières were bright pink roses.
The Food
The chef at Gorrono Ranch created our menu. We never had a tasting but trusted in them to do a great job and they did!
The Cake
Four tiers of alternating layers of vanilla and chocolate wrapped with pink and silver ribbon and topped with Gerber Daisies.
The Favors
We put together gift bags in the hotel rooms for all the guests. We included candy, bottled water, trail mix and a homemade brochure of our favorite restaurants, favorite hiking trails, and tips for enjoying all that Telluride has to offer.
We gave each groomsman a different book that was picked especially for them. We gave each bridesmaid a personalized photo box and a pink tank-top monogrammed with their initials to wear to the rehearsal.
Special Touches
1. Our tables were named after our favorite places in Colorado. For example, Front Range, Blue Sky Basin, Red Rocks, Loveland Pass etc.
2. For a fun Colorado touch, we roasted marshmallows on the deck right after sunset and everyone ate s’mores together.
What went Wrong
The cake baker tripped and dropped the cake – so our 4-layer cake became three but we never noticed and didn’t find out about it until after the wedding.
Best thing about the Wedding
Our wedding was the same weekend as the Telluride Jazz Festival. Music was playing everywhere; you would open your windows anytime of the day or night and listen to the jazz. All our guests had such a great time!
What would you do Different
I wished I would have had a guest book attendant. We had 4x6 cards for guests to fill out a wish or toast for us. I did the same thing for my bridal shower and bachlorette party hoping to put all the responses in a scrapbook. Unfortunately, only a few guests had the time at the wedding to fill-out a card.
My Advice
1. Know what you want. You must have a direction. Send photos of your ideas to your vendors if you can’t meet with them in person.
2. Hire the right vendors and put your trust in them. They know what needs to be done.
3. Have your photographers at the rehearsal dinner so they can meet the wedding party and immediate family. By the day of our wedding, everyone was so comfortable with the photographers that our pictures turned out great!
Honeymoon Locale: Fiji.
RECOMMENDED WEDDING PROS Photographer: IlluminArts Photography. We wanted creative photojournalistic photography and IlluminArts delivered. Venue: Gorrono Ranch. They made sure everything ran smoothly. Flowers: Siempre Flores. Susie is incredible and very creative. She took my ideas and made it gorgeous.
|
Thumbs Up
The Photo
Album
All photographs by IlluminArts Photography
View more Featured Colorado Weddings