Ethan and I (Chelsea) met in college- we both went to our school to play lacrosse, but we met because a friend of mine was roaming the men’s dorm and heard cool music coming from Ethan’s room. She knocked on the door, met them, and texted me to come meet the guys with the cool music. Ethan was seemingly shy back then, so he and I were just friends for almost all of freshman year. I tried to give Ethan my number, but he didn’t take it. At the time I was really hurt. He later said he didn’t take it because I was in a relationship, and he didn’t trust himself with my number. At the end of freshman year, when Ethan found out I was single, he slid into my DMs and things escalated pretty quickly from there. I visited him in Colorado the summer after freshman year (“as friends”) but during that trip he told me he loved me.

After a weekend of camping in the mountains Ethan and I were driving around looking for lookout spots. We would get out, enjoy the view, maybe take a picture or two, then we would continue driving around to find more great lookout spots. We came across a spot that said “no trespassing” but we knew we would be quick, so we ventured to see the cool view from that spot. It was an incredible view. I told Ethan to walk out in front of me so I could take a picture of him looking at the view. He put his arms up like he was soaking in the fresh air and sunshine. I took his picture and then Ethan said, “Okay now you go do the same thing and I will take your picture.” So I did. I looked away from the camera at the view, thinking he was taking a picture of me. He said he got the photo, so I turned around and he was down on one knee and he said, “so are we doing this?” I threw my sunglasses (almost off a cliff) because I was so surprised. I knew he was going to propose but I did NOT expect that to be the time. I mean, I hadn’t showered in more than 48 hours or brushed my teeth in more than 12 hours, and I had so much dirt under my fingernails. He really caught me by surprise!

We wanted to create an atmosphere that was very laid back, but still a little boho and romantic. The mountains and great views gave us the romance, while the rugs, string lights, and colorful decor made it boho.

We got married in the mountains in Colorado — we try to keep the exact location as private as possible because we love to camp there, and it is already getting too crowded for our liking haha! — we got married at one first come first serve camping spot right on a lake and we had our reception at a different first come first serve camping spot a little higher up the mountain. Those spots were our first choice, but we had some backup spots in mind in case other campers had taken them before we got there. We just got lucky! 🙂 A huge perk of these locations? Absolutely free! 🙂

Our location is special to us and Ethan’s family. Ethan’s family tent was put up at the reception spot. Ethan’s dad made our arch. We self-solemnized our wedding ceremony and did family vows. Ethan’s mom made all of the food (she’s an amazing cook) and she made our favorite foods. We had cake pops instead of cake. Ethan wore a hat and plaid jacket; Chelsea wore hiking boots. Chelsea wore a cross pinned to the inside of her dress that had been worn by 3-4 generations of women in Ethan’s family.

We invited our immediate families (parents and siblings), but my aunt and uncle (second set of parents) and cousin (basically a sister) snuck in there too.

Woof. Planning stinks. Our favorite part was getting to live the day. Everything before that is mostly a stress blur. (Just being real– we say we will never get married again purely on the fact that wedding planning is nooooot our thing. (hahaha) Ethan also says engagement ring shopping was hard and he will never do it again – I didn’t give him really any direction other than I wanted it to be unique and vintage looking. He crushed it.

Yes! We danced to Slow Cooker by John Legend. Not only is it sultry and romantic (duh- John Legend), but it was meaningful to us because we took it nice and slow and it was worth every bit of the wait. (We got married on our 9-year dating anniversary).

Because we had such a small and intimate wedding Ethan and I over dinner got to share our stories about how we met, our first kiss, our first date, the first time we farted in front of each other… everyone laughed and learned a lot about us. Our family commented on how it truly felt like a union and joining of our two families. That was really special.

My mouth was super dry right before I walked up the aisle and I was afraid I would have stinky cheese breath/cotton mouth for our first kiss (I felt like I was going to pass out so I ate some cheese right before- I do not recommend this.) I asked Lisa for some gum as I was walking down the aisle. She had some. She saved the day.

Aaaand my all-time favorite wedding story: I had a skirt with like 30 buttons that went down the back. There was a special tool to un-clip all of the buttons because the strings could easily break without the tool. It took the person at the bridal shop approximately 3 minutes to unclip all of them to release me from the skirt (she was a professional). My mother-in-law was trained on how to unclip the buttons from the woman at the bridal shop. It took her approximately 5 minutes to release me from the skirt with the special tool. My MIL was supposed to unclip the buttons before Ethan and I left the reception, but we forgot. We got back to our Airbnb and when we went to get undressed, I realized we didn’t have the tool and I was basically stuck in this skirt. Ethan said, “let me just try.” I did not have high hopes. LOW AND BEHOLD Ethan gets me released from the skirt in less than 2 minutes, no tool, not one string broken. (hahahaha)

The whole day was a highlight, but we especially loved getting to go back to our Airbnb in the mountains relatively early in the evening (and pretty sober) so we could get in the hot tub, look at the stars, and enjoy our evening alone and together. It was so romantic and amazing.

From Ethan: Whether or not we were going to get our most preferred spots (first come first serve) and if the weather would hold up. We didn’t have an indoor wedding backup plan. We got so lucky with that. The weather that day was so perfect- not a cloud in the sky and and in the 70s. The next day there was 0 visibility, in the 30s, and it was pouring down hail.

From Chelsea: I was anxious because I didn’t have a wedding dress like 2 weeks before the wedding. I had bought a top off the rack, and I had bought fabric and a skirt pattern for my childhood neighbor in Ohio to make the skirt for the bottom. She made the skirt but when I tried it on it was…. oof so bad (not her fault- the pattern and fabric I picked was the problem). My MIL and I brought the skirt to a seamstress in Colorado to fix it and she basically said it was beyond repair. So I was like… Well worse comes to worst I will just wear jeans with the top- I don’t care. But my MIL and I went to a few different bridal stores and a woman helped us find a solution that led to us cutting a different off-the-rack wedding dress in half and making the bottom a skirt. Turned out so beautiful and better than I imagined. Everything seriously just *worked out* for our wedding. Also, the 1-2 days before the wedding I was anxious that there would be people in our family that weren’t happy the day of the wedding that would dampen the mood of the day. Everyone was fine, but even if they weren’t I was so happy nothing could dampen the mood that day.

Do it how you want to. Make no compromises (unless it’s financial– then it is ok to make compromises ((unless it’s your photographer- a good one like Lisa is worth every dang penny and more))).

OMG YOU’RE AMAZING. ASLDKFJASDLKFJ <— that’s how I feel about your work. You’re a genius. We were so lucky to have you.

Not only were the photos amazing and did you help us with timing the events of the day, but you helped us with things we didn’t even know we needed to do – like permits! You took all of the guesswork and hard work out of it for us. In regard to timing, you had it down just right and perfect for us. You knew the ceremony would start late– (sorry Ethan for making you wait at the “altar” for 30 minutes). You stayed calm cool and collected and relaxed when my family asked for extra formal pictures… You were everything and more. Worth every penny. Lisa for president.

Also… if you’re going to have these strong, flashbulb memories of your day (you will), you don’t want someone you don’t mesh well with as an integral part of your day (your photographer will be there for every moment). Make sure you get someone very chill and down to earth like Lisa to be there.

Makeup: Makeup by Lark

Shoes: Merrell Hiking Boots

Engagement Ring: Shane Jewelry

SVD, Invitations, Programs: Minted for Elopement Notifications