Melissa and Michael’s Outdoor Wedding in Colorado

It was a warm summer evening on June 12, 2021, just before 5:00 PM. Melissa was putting the final touches on her wedding shoes–golden lockets that held the memory of loved ones passed. In a nearby hotel, Michael was taking his last few deep breaths before being picked up by the shuttle to meet at the first-look location where he would see his bride for the first time. Magic was in the air, and their outdoor wedding in Colorado was only beginning. 

The journey to Melissa and Michael’s closest friends and family gathering at a Northern Colorado winery started one year prior when the couple reached out to Mountainside Events to help plan their outdoor wedding in Colorado. Knowing they wanted an exceptionally designed event, Melissa and Michael opted for full-service wedding planning, resulting in the fun, joyful, breathtaking wedding of their dreams.

Outdoor Wedding in Colorado

The Full-Service Wedding Planning Experience

When a couple hires Mountainside Events for full-service wedding planning, they instantly have an experienced wedding planner by their side. With just over 12 months to plan this dreamy outdoor wedding in Colorado, Melissa and Michael received all of our planning services, starting with venue and vendor research and planning. 

Before solidifying their outdoor Colorado wedding venue, Melissa and Michael were considering hosting their wedding at either Sweetheart Winery or the bride’s parents’ house. Ultimately, they set their heart on the venue, and Mountainside Events assisted with booking and confirming the Sweetheart Winery for their wedding. From there began the fun of choosing the perfect vendors to bring the event to life. 

With full-service wedding planning, selecting wedding vendors becomes much easier. At Mountainside Events, we consider your style, budget, and date before vetting vendors and presenting you with a curated selection of wedding professionals to choose from. From there, we review all your vendor contracts to assess costs, inclusions, and negotiations. At the end of this process, Melissa and Michael had an extraordinary team of wedding vendors to bring their special day to life, including: 

Together with this team, we managed and coordinated rental equipment selection and delivery, guest lodging accommodations and transportation, an event timeline and detailed floor plan for the venue, and all the little details it takes to bring an amazing outdoor wedding in Colorado like this together. 

The Full-Service Wedding Planning Timeline

Many couples assume they only need a day-of wedding planner to help make sure everything goes smoothly on the wedding day. But Melissa and Michel knew they wanted a passionate, professional planner to help them with every detail leading up to the actual wedding. From creating, designing, and sending the Save the Date and Invitation cards to developing and managing the wedding website to handling wedding design and decor, Mountainside Events did it all. 

Melissa made it clear from the start that her favorite color is purple, so we knew we needed to incorporate purple into most elements, including the bridesmaid dresses. On the other hand, the groom loves blue, so we also included hues of blue in the guys’ boutonnieres and decided on navy blue suits. Styling, design, and decor began by solidifying a pastel color palette with purple and blue to represent both the bride and groom.

As we moved closer to the wedding date, we coordinated and managed all the vendors, planned timelines for set up, tear down, and the actual wedding, and arranged remaining details like ensuring all vendors received final payments and gratuities. We booked their rehearsal dinner at the Estes Park Resort and were with the couple from the start of their wedding day to the very end, ensuring the ceremony, cocktail hour, wedding party grand entrance, reception, and sparkler-lit grand exit all went flawlessly.

The Unique Elements of this Outdoor Wedding in Colorado

No two weddings are alike, and no wedding goes exactly as planned, especially for those like Melissa and Michael, who married during the pandemic in mid-2021. Due to COVID, the best man could not be there in person to celebrate. Knowing this, we arranged a projector and screen so he could give his speech over a recording. Afterward, Melissa surprised Michael by using the same equipment to play a recording of Michael’s late grandfather sharing advice for their marriage. There was not a dry eye after these two very special moments. 

Intimate moments like these were balanced by the fun, casual atmosphere of the cocktail hour and wedding reception. Melissa and Michael are such a fun-loving couple, and they wanted to bring that vibe into their wedding day. That’s why we decided to go a non-traditional route in terms of catering and dessert (specialty wood-fired pizzas, a charcuterie board, and donuts!) and filled the lawn with games for everyone to enjoy. These little details highlighted the couple’s personality and truly made their wedding feel like an extension of their love story.

The Perfect Outdoor Summer Wedding in Colorado 

The Mountainside Events team truly loved every minute of planning this fun outdoor wedding in Colorado for such an amazing couple. Melissa and Michael also had wonderful things to say about their experience:

“Taylor and her team did such an amazing job for our wedding. From the very start of planning to even after the wedding, she went above and beyond anything I could have expected. I get easily stressed, and she made the whole process easy and actually enjoyable. Would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone planning their wedding!”

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