Wedding Date on Sep 18, 2021

I was talking with my best friend and she asked a question that really put everything in perspective. "What are the top three things most important to you and Austin for this wedding?" We were able to answer that question so fast and so easily. 1. Surrounded by our closest family and friends. 2. Being able to write our own personal vows to each other. 3. Be in a beautiful Colorado location with epic views. From there it was easy. We moved the wedding to my parents backyard in Grand Junction, CO where the backdrop would be the Colorado National Monument. Our guest list ended up being around 60 people and included only our closest family and friends. And our planning focus shifted to being centered around our vows for each other and making our wedding as personal to us as possible. We included details that were unique to us, like Austin being a pilot. Our place cards are paper airplanes, our menus are designed as boarding passes, and one of our signature drinks is a "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot." We love to travel so our table numbers are all places we've been together. We wanted to honor Austin's dad who passed away by saving him a seat at the ceremony and having a boutonniere made for him. We collected wedding photos of all of our family members to display. Our guestbook is from a company that sends you a phone so your guests can leave you recorded messages. The list goes on, but we just wanted our wedding to be 100% us and I really think we accomplished that. I know people say not to stress about the little details, but the little details are what make us, us. I’ll also say a freak micro-burst storm with hurricane level winds touched down right in the middle of our ceremony (in Colorado!), and all of our friends and family ran around helping to move the ceremony and then dinner indoors. It was pretty amazing to watch and I remember Austin and I just looking at each other saying, “Wow. We are surrounded by so much love.” The ceremony ended up being perfect with everyone gathered around my parents living room in the same place we celebrate Christmas every year. It just all felt so intimate. The weather was perfect the rest of the night so we were able to dance and drink until 2 in the morning under the stars. It was magical!