Lindsay and Steve were married at the Ritz Carlton in Bachelor Gulch, CO over July 4th weekend in a 5-day celebration in the mountains. The bride’s parents have had a vacation home in Bachelor Gulch for years and knew instantly that the wedding would take place in their “happy place” with other events including a welcome dinner, bridesmaids hike and July 4th BBQ all taking place in the Beaver Creek area. Each guest was welcomed to the Ritz with a personalized hiking backpack with the wedding’s hashtag “Red White and Berg” printed on it and full of local goodies from the area including the bride and groom’s favorite candy, red and blue sunglasses, trail maps and a program of the wedding weekend details. The weekend’s events ranged from casual to cocktail, but the wedding itself, set on the skier bridge and in the Ritz’s ballroom was black tie. The couple wanted to bring in an unexpected floral combination using more formal orchids with mass amounts of loose greenery to bring the outdoors in and create a romantic woodsy aesthetic. They kept their wedding invitation simple in tones of white and silver with a simple line drawing of the mountains and the bride’s mother found vintage map of the area to use as the backdrop for the schedule of events which was all bound together with a piece of leather. Escort cards continued the clean white and grey aesthetic and were placed inside hand calligraphed envelopes outside the reception.

The bride wore a classic Monique Lhuillier ballgown, which she loved for the drama with the background of the mountains and paired it with delicate lace louboutin shoes and a sapphire and diamond bracelet leant to her by her uncle. Her uncle is a jewelry designer and created the couple’s beautiful wedding bands, surprising her with an extra as a wedding gift. The bride also donned a seed pearl crown worn by both her mother and grandmother with her veil for the ceremony. The bride also payed homage to her mother and mother-in-law by wearing a re-worked version of her mother’s dress to the welcome dinner, which was re-tooled by her mother in law, and used a left over piece of lace from the dress to wrap around the stems of her bridal bouquet. The bride and groom exchanged gifts before their first look and the groom surprised her with a locket featuring a photo from their engagement session on the bottom and then a selection of cutout images of her favorite foods and favorite people that she could sub in and out in the other opening. The bride’s mother, also in a Monique Lhuillier gown, helped the bride into her dress before doing a first look with her father on the balcony overlooking the mountains. After the bride and groom’s emotional first look on the property they ventured out to an overlook near the bride’s parents house for a few moments alone and portraits with the incredible mountain backdrop.

The ceremony took place under a lush floral chuppah on the skier bridge next to the resort, overlooking the mountains. The bride and groom broke with tradition and elected to have a male and female usher to honor two of their dearest friends. The forecast was clear for the day, but minutes before the bride was to walk down the aisle the skies opened up and poured rain for about 2 minutes sending all the guests running back inside, but luckily it was just a quick rainstorm and everyone was able to return back outside for the ceremony. However during the ceremony the skies decided to sprinkle again and some dramatic wind made for some fun moments with the bride’s veil. In Jewish tradition the groom broke a glass at the end of the ceremony, but instead of smashing it, it rolled away twice, creating a great comedic moment, which the bride and groom embraced. The bride and groom wanted to keep the mood of the ceremony light and playful like them and had their wedding party walk down the aisle to two of their favorite musicals- Hamilton and Phantom of the Opera.

Vail Vintage Magnolia transformed the ballroom with a mix of high and low centerpieces, a large chandelier installation over the head table and lush greenery hanging from the chandeliers. The couple wanted the ballroom to be unrecognizable, but also wanted guests to still be able to talk to each other over the tale so created installations at two levels to not block any conversation. The couple were welcomed onto the dance floor for their first dance to Beyonce’s Crazy in Love, which set the tone for the amazing dance party that was the rest of the evening. After they cut the cake the bride changed into a tasseled short party dress to dance the night away in. The next day instead of a Sunday brunch they let guests recover at their own pace around the resort and then invited everyone over to the bride’s parents house for a 4th of July BBQ complete with red white and blue candy bar and the bride and groom surprised the bride’s parents with a custom “Bergs of Prey” official Beaver Creek trail sign installed outside their house as a thank you for the wonderful weekend. The weekend came to a close with a fireworks celebration back on the bridge where the couple said their I Do’s.  See more from their day on Style Me Pretty.

Planning: Gemini Event Planning
Florist: Vail Vintage Magnolia
Shoes: Christian Louboutin
MUAH: Makeup Therapy
Calligraphy: The Blooming Quill
Paper Goods: Bella Figura
Music: Elan Artists
Venue: Ritz Carlton Bachelor Gulch
Dress: Monique Lhuillier
Rentals and Lighting Design: Pink Monkey Solutions
Ring Box: The Mrs Box

 

Emily and Max were married in the stunning Rivera Court surrounded by their friends and family and officiated by one of their best friend’s from law school, where the couple met.   The bride and groom wanted to let the beautiful room featuring a floor to ceiling mural by Diego Rivera, speak for itself and kept the decorations simple opting for white chairs with white planters full of white hydrangeas, one of the bride’s favorite flowers.  The couple stood beneath a white Chuppa adorned with white laser cut suede made by a local artist in Brooklyn.  One of my favorite moments of the day was when both bride and groom stomped on glasses at the end of the ceremony, following in the tradition that the bride’s mother started 33 years ago when she stomped on a glass at her own wedding.  Emily and Max wanted something a little unique and different than the thousands of pinterest boards they’d seen so opted out of the tradtional wedding party and instead invited their closest friends to get ready
with them and spend the morning together, but only the couple’s siblings
were in the official wedding party. As a former ballet dancer, Emily was drawn to a modern ballet aesthetic, but also wanted architectural elements to her dress that had a 50’s and 60’s feel to it, which she also carried through into her inspiration for her hair and makeup look.  Later in the evening she changed into a short white lace dress for dancing and added her veil, which she had forgot to put on for the ceremony.  The reception was held in the Great Hall, which is a large white marble room, with a beautifully intricate ceiling and is flanked on either side my suits of armor.  Like the ceremony space, the couple wanted to work with the room to compliment the art so chose all white floral arrangements in varying sizes with all white linens and ghost chairs.   The place cards featured black paint splatters that echoed back to their Save-The-Date, which used a splatter-paint lined envelope.   The couple danced their first dance to a cover of Baby I’m Yours by the Arctic Monkeys and walked down the aisle to a cover of Baby Now That I Found You by Alison Krauss, both of which were Motown songs to pay homage to Detroit, but chose covers with a modern spin.   The first dance was followed by a traditional horah where the bride and groom were lifted into the air on chairs. Guests danced the night away as the band sang Motown songs.  The museum galleries off of the Great Hall remained open for the guests to stroll through during the reception and guests also enjoyed a photo booth with white heart shaped glasses that the bride chose to use in the booth instead of props, keeping with the white mod aesthetic of the evening. Many guests and the bride wore their heart shaped shades on the dance floor late into the evening.  See more from this gorgeous wedding in the Winter 2016 Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine and online.

Florist: Parsonage Events
Cake: Holiday Market
Band: Chateau
Bride’s Dress and Veil: Amsale
Bride’s Shoes: Valentino
Bride’s Jacket: Alexander Wang
Bride’s Jewelry: Rent the Runway
Bride’s second dress: Shoshanna
Groom’s Tux: Theory
Groom’s Pocket Square: Brooks Brothers
Groom’s Shoes: Ferragamo
Groom’s Bowtie: Tom Ford
Groom’s Shirt and Cuff Links: ManuelRacim
Groom’s Watch: Shinola
Silk Boutonnieres: Saks Fifth Avenue
Groomsmen Suits: Hugo Boss and Black Tux
Bridesmaid’s Dresses: DVF and Reformation
Invitations: Regas
Table Numbers and Cake Topper: Gauge NYC on Etsy
Hair: Emile Salon
Makeup: Hanan
Ring Box: Mrs. Box
Chuppa: Chuppah Studio
Rentals: Special Events Rentals
Venue: Detroit Institute of the Arts