A Jackson Hole Wedding: A Look at the Day Molly got Married

I have been a wedding planner for 10 years.  I have helped many brides and grooms create weddings that not only describe them as couples but are enjoyable for them and their guests.  One thing that makes me good at my job are the memories from when I was in their shoes.  Being able to relate to the feelings of the bride or tell stories of what happened on my wedding day are invaluable for being a successful wedding planner.  So today I will share some photos here from my wedding weekend in Jackson Hole!

For our welcome party, the hosts incorporated the western theme into the flowers.

As you can imagine, I have hundreds of photos of this weekend. And as I often have to remind my brides, everything did not (or will not) go perfectly. But letting all the hard work and planning play out and just sitting back to enjoy the fact that I was about to marry the love of my life was the most important part of this weekend. Walking around and getting to see moments like the florals in a boot above, which I thought were both beautiful and took advantage of the western vibe of Jackson Hole, was a great reminder of how lucky I was (and still am)!  A piece of advice I always give to couples is in the middle of all the hustle of the day, stop, breath, and remind each other to look around and take it all in.  Undoubtedly one of you will say the next day, "It was so fast and there were so many people, I don't even remember what the cake looked like."

The childhood photos were such a hit with the guests at my Bridesmaids Luncheon.

I kicked off the wedding weekend with a lunch with my bridesmaids at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Art Museum. I had two matrons of honor in my wedding, one whom I have known since we were two years old!  She made the placecards at each table and used different childhood photos of me on each one.  It was one of my favorite and most meaningful details from the weekend!

Our booklet of weekend events which each guest received in their welcome bags upon arrival.

Jackson Hole sits on the Continental Divide and so we loved getting to use that in the Save the Date and Wedding Weekend booklet.  "Union on the Divide" was a cute way to incorporate both of those elements. The photo here is of the booklet we put in each guest's welcome bag upon arrival with a schedule of the weekend events, shopping and restaurant recommendations, transportation details, maps and important phone numbers for the weekend.

We traded traditional linens for a hide for the tabletops at our rehearsal dinner.

In my opinion, Jackson Hole is one of the most beautiful places in the world.  The views are staggering; so when we started planning our weekend we wanted to incorporate lots of natural elements to showcase the beauty of the valley and surrounding mountains.  Our rehearsal dinner featured wildflowers and lush greenery on the tables and soft hide tablecloths.  It was a detail that not many of our guests had ever seen! 

The whole evening had a great western, rustic feel to it but the monogrammed napkins and formal calligraphy on the menu cards gave the tables a refinement that balanced the evening.  My husband and I wanted nothing about the weekend to feel stuffy - the most important thing was to have a good time and this evening was the perfect kickoff!

A great detail shot of my mom fastening me into my dress.

Even though I got married in June, the weather on the day of my wedding was a total whirlwind. It is a great story to use with my brides to explain that as much as you'd like to control every element of the day, you can't.  I was having an amazing morning getting ready with my girlfriends at the Amangani Resort and all the while temperatures outside were dropping from a sunny and crisp day into quite a chilly one. It led to us ultimately making the decision to move the ceremony inside the tent for the enjoyment and comfort of our guests.  (It was suppose to be outside in the great wide open under the Tetons!!)

As many of you know from my Instagram, I am a huge flower lover. I had planned beautiful combinations of blue, white and green flowers, all delicate and many beautifully fragrant. Much to my chagrin, a lot of the flowers froze because of the cold weather. There was nothing I could do about it, but I still look back a little sad about all those beautiful flowers!

Despite the chilly weather and having to move the ceremony inside, it went beautifully. The lush florals on the altar were all I could have asked for and we served Hot Toddies inside the tent to keep our guests warm. I wore a beautiful (and simple) Angel Orensanz dress (with pockets!!).  I carried a bouquet of Lily of the Valley (which is my favorite flower) accented with delicately fragrant Gardenias. We made the best of quickly changing weather!

One of the sweet arrangements that DIDN'T freeze from the cocktail reception. 

Although I look back very fondly on my wedding day, and remember many of these last minute changes without much concern, there is one thing that still breaks my heart - any of my flower arrangements had frozen due to the cold weather and had to be removed. The flower lover in me still cringes a little bit remembering but the ones that did survive were amazing and added great texture to the reception decor. It still serves as a reminder to go with the flow and also that the day is, at its core, about getting married and not about every detail of the party. Make sure to set yourself up for success with your mindset!

After the ceremony we got to take advantage of our beautiful surroundings to take photos. The Tetons in the background made for a beautiful backdrop and at this point in the day, the snow was magical!

After formal portraits we got to enjoy. Just as the rest of the weekend, for our reception we tried to incorporate some of the essence of our surroundings. We had delicious fruit teas displayed on a table decorated with colorful fruits and flowers (fitting for June, despite the weather) which turned out beautifully. My cake, and cake table, had wooden touches to connect back to the rustic, western vibe, not to mention our antler chandeliers which were one of the most interesting details of the reception. We danced the night away in our beautiful tent tucked in the property of Lost Creek Ranch. 

I always recommend to my clients that they find ways to make sure the day really represents them. We had a Dylan's Candy Bar bar, which referenced our life in New York (and my sweet tooth).  And we served huckleberry milkshakes from the Victor Emporium, a local favorite.  

All in all, I look back on my wedding weekend fondly. It was unpredictable, but full of love. As much as I loved putting together all these beautiful things, at its core, it was a great day because I had all my friends and family together and got to marry my best friend. Brides, people will keep saying it so eventually you should believe it - focus on getting married, the details will fall into place.