Alyssa & Ben - Steamboat Resorts
Alyssa & Ben love winter and decided to tie the knot on April 6th in Steamboat Springs. We were hoping for a bluebird day with warm temperatures and a gorgeous snowy backdrop. Unexpectedly, a winter storm moved in and resulted in a mountain wide gondola closure. With no way to reach the venue, we reconfigured the entire wedding ceremony and reception to take place at the ski base. There is always an element of risk when you choose to get married at 10,000 feet on a ski mountain. The weather is not within our control and as a planner, I have to be adapt to whatever arises. However, in my 10+ years of wedding planning, this was the first time that I had to deal with this particular scenario. I want to share this story with you to highlight that even when things don't go to plan, amazing and unexpected experiences can happen.
As you can imagine, Alyssa & Ben were heartbroken when I had to break the news that the wedding we had spent over a year planning was not possible. It was probably one of the most difficult conversations of my wedding career. But what I realized in that moment, was that the venue was secondary to the 'moments' that Alyssa & Ben would share. The venue provides the backdrop but it is the people that provide the moments. And these moments would take place no matter what; from the first dance, to the cutting of the cake, and the father/daughter dance to name but a few. I thought back to my wedding, and those are the moments I remember. To be honest, I don't remember the color of the linens or the flower arrangements from my wedding. I do remember how I felt when my father gave his speech and the joy of unexpectedly dancing with my husband outside while the sun was setting. Both of these moments would have taken place no matter where we got married. It was a good reminder that during the planning stages of a wedding it can be easy to be side tracked by social media and staged photos of incredible 'weddings'. But often these aren't 'real weddings'. They are often staged photo shoots. When I work with couples, I focus on creating memorable moments and experiences that the couple and their guests will have forever.
The team at Steamboat Resorts are amazing and together we reconfigured the wedding ceremony and reception and set everything up in less than 4 hours. This involved bringing all the decor, food, rentals and china down from the top of the gondola to the base area. Looking at the photos, you would have never known that the wedding was supposed to take place at a different location! Alyssa & Ben really wanted to ski on their wedding day so we reworked the wedding timeline so that Alyssa and Ben could ski with friends and family the day before their wedding (which was a bluebird day!). Alyssa's mom found her a cool white outfit for the day (how she snowboarded in that outfit, I will never know!) and our wonderful photographers changed their plans to join the fun and captured an amazing ski day. Wow! In retrospect, the group ski day before the actual wedding day was a much better idea and so much fun.
Enjoy the photos, and video from this very special day.
Vendors
Venue: Steamboat Ski Resort - Timber & Torch
Photographer: Gillespie Photography
Video: Montage Media Films
Flowers: Unbound
Dessert: Steamboat Baker
Entertainment: DJ Jerry Sorenson
Rentals: Colorado Event Rentals
Hair: Lou Rose Salon
Makeup: Caroline Lalive
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