Our Colorado Wedding
2018 was one for the books in so many ways, but our wedding was definitely the best. I spent a little under a year and a half planning the most perfect wedding for us, all while trying to stay within budget. Weddings are SUPER expensive these days. Like seriously expensive. I posted a lot on the blog during the wedding process on how I looked for different vendors and planned, but I haven’t shared the finished product. Below is what I like to call my “wedding baby.” It was hours of work, but beyond enjoyable work. I hope you enjoy #allthebliss below.
The Details
Location
Great Divide Barrel Bar
Location Map
Wedding Ceremony Start Time
5:00 PM
Wedding Ceremony Doors Open/Arrival
4:30 PM
Wedding Reception Start
5:30 PM (Immediately Post Ceremony)
Cocktail Hour
5:30-6:30 PM
Hashtags
#UtzsGetTogether
#LetsSwigToUtzig
Primary Colors
- Navy Blue
- Grey
Accent Colors
Fall colors
Vendors
| Vendor | Specifics |
| Photography | Gillespie Photography |
| DJ | Discosapien |
| Catering | A Perfect Bite |
| Dessert | Yours Truly Cupcakes |
| Day of Wedding Planner | As You Wish (Heidi) |
| Ceremony Venue | Great Divide Event Space (Barrel Bar Rino) |
| Reception Venue | Great Divide Event Space (Barrel Bar Rino) |
| Table/Seating Rentals | Butler Rentals |
| Marquee Letters | Lighting and Design by Scott |
| Pumpkins | Anderson Farms |
| Videography | Boulder Media House |
| Flowers | Plum Sage Flowers |
| “Cheese” Cake | Fromagination (Madison, WI) |
| Wine | Argonaut |
| Wedding Day Transportation | NoCo Party Bus |
| Wedding Dress | Little White Dress |
| Alterations | Donna Beth |
| Cheese Curds | Mullins Cheese |
| Cocktail Hour Sausage | Maplewood Meats |
| Groomsmen & Groom Tie | Tie Bar |
(All vendor specifics are linked in the table above.)
Wedding Timeline
Wedding Day Bridal Party AM Schedule
| 6:00 AM: Someone to make Starbucks run for crew |
| 7:00 AM: Hair & Make Up Arrive |
| 7:00 AM: Breakfast & Mimosa Bar Set Up |
| 12:15 PM: Bridesmaids put on dresses |
| 12:20 PM: Bride put on her dress |
| 12:45 PM: Board wedding party transportation **Remember cooler with lunch and beverages for ride back to Great Divide |
| 1:15 PM: Arrive for first look (Evergreen/foothills) |
Wedding Party Afternoon-Wedding Timeline
| 1:15-4:00 PM: Wedding party photos |
| 4:00 PM: Wedding party depart photos to Great Divide |
| 4:40 PM: Arrive at Great Divide |
| 4:45 PM: Bathroom Break |
| 4:50 PM: Start getting in wedding processional form |
| 5:00 PM: Wedding Ceremony starts |
| 5:30 PM: Wedding Ceremony completion & Cocktail hour starts |
| 5:45 PM: Jake & Jess Cut Wedding Cheese Cake (wedding party to stay separate from guests during this time) |
| 5:50 PM: Wedding party remaining photos in Great Divide loft and amongst the towers of beer cans; family formals |
| 6:00 PM: Wedding party miniature shots for Dad |
| 6:25 PM: Wedding party ready for grand march (15 minutes needed for bustle) |
| 6:30 PM: End of cocktail hour |
| 6:30-6:40 PM: Grand March/Wedding Party Walk into Reception |
| 6:40 PM: First Dance (2-3 minutes) Bride and Groom welcome speech |
| 6:45 PM: Dinner served |
| 7:00 PM: Late night food stations open |
| 7:10 PM: Speeches (Larry (best man), Alyssa (brides sister), Krisite (MOH)). |
| 7:20 PM: Wedding Party Group “wobble” |
| 8:00 PM: Cupcakes set up |
| 11:00 PM: End of wedding reception |
| 11:00 PM +: Wedding planner and interns clean up |
Wedding Party
Bridesmaid Outfits
I absolutely hate having to think my bridesmaid would have been uncomfortable the day of our wedding. Everyone is a different height, size and shape and because of that, not everyone looks good in the same thing. With this thought I let them pick out their bridesmaid dresses. I chose a designer “Alfred Sung” and let them pick the design and shade of grey of their dress. This way they got to feel like they were the most beautiful version of themselves the day of our wedding.
My bridesmaids and I wore Kate Spade Sparkly Keds for our wedding. We took pictures in the foot hills/mountains and galavanted places where heals shouldn’t be. The shoes were also on our feet for a good 12 hours, so I wanted us to be comfortable. I would highly recommend the Kate Spade Keds for your wedding.
Bridesmaid Gifts
I wanted to spoil my bridesmaids, but not break the bank. When I started thinking of what I wanted to get them the idea of getting them a designer tote for the day of our wedding. Then I thought, “how in the world are we going to afford 6 designer totes?” I got extremely lucky one Sunday morning perusing Nieman Marcus Last Call and found $300 Rebecca Minkoff Totes for $22 a piece. Yes, you heard me right, $22 a piece. Checking out online, my savings was over 1k. That is insane if you ask me.
In addition to getting each of the girls a Rebecca Minkoff Tote, I filled it with a bottle of champagne for the bus ride afternoon (wedding day), their PJs for the slumber party, a get ready shirt for wedding morning and socks for the slumber party and wedding day.
Groomsmens Outfits
The groomsmen all wore navy blue suits with white shirts and then we used Tie Bar to get them ties. My husband chose floral ties for the groomsmen. They were absolutely perfect and went well with our fall vibe.
Groomsmen Gifts
For the groomsmen in addition to getting them their ties and fun polka dotted socks we had custom growlers made up for them. I designed the logo (below) and worked with an Etsy shop called IroncladCS to get them completed. I would highly recommend this shop for any needs. They were fabulous to work with.
Wedding Morning
Bridal Party
What’s the night before your wedding without having your best friends by your side? This was exactly my thought and so I threw a slumber party for my bridesmaids the night before our wedding. If you are looking for the ultimate adult girls slumber party I wrote all about it on the blog and have linked in here for you.
The ladies and I woke up bright and early. I made a Starbucks run for the gang with one of my Maid of Honors and my Godmother who was my bridal attendant. While we were doing this showers were being had and my Mom and Mother in Law were setting up quite the spread for us that morning.
Mornnig Spread
- Bagels
- Wisconsin Cheese
- Smoked Salmon (Capers and the whole nine yards)
- Cream Cheese
- Fruit
- Cookies
- Macaroons
- Mimosa Bar
Hair and makeup came to our house and we had the ultimate girl morning of getting ready.
Grooms Party
The men got ready on their own. Apparently it isn’t a thing to get dressed together. Haha. The Groom, my husband, and the man gang did get together at one of the grooms mens condo downtown Denver and had cocktails and hung out before the wedding.
First Look
We did our first look prior to our wedding. We didn’t want so much pressure on the wedding itself, and wanted outdoor pictures with our wedding party. Living in Colorado I feel this is a requirement. We did a good 3 hours of photos prior to the wedding itself and used NoCo Party Bus to get us all around. I would highly recommend them. They were a pleasure to work with and super easy to book.
Photography
The most amazing photographers ever, captured out day. Gillespie Photography aka Stacy and Trent, are a one of a kind husband wife photography team. They are the best of the best, and their philosophy of telling the story of a wedding day paralleled exactly with what we wanted for the day of our wedding.
I remember talking to Stacy for the first time and the first question she asked me was what I envisioned for the photography. I said we wanted someone all day; we really want someone to capture all the memories of the day so we could look back at our story. Little did I know when I was saying this, that this was exactly their philosophy.
We had photographers with us from 10AM through the evening and night. During the morning getting ready we had 1 professional photographer with the men and 2 with the bridal party. Then we all rendezvoused for the first look and had 3 professional photographers for the remainder of the day. Without Gillespie Photography we wouldn’t have the photographs to support those memories of the best day ever.
As much as I would like to think I remembered everything from our day, it went way too fast and as moments were cherished the time to cherish all of them didn’t exist. Having the photographs now allows my husband and I to fully cherish everything that went on the day of our wedding. We HIGHLY recommend Gillespie Photography. (All photos in this post are from them.)
Welcome to Our Wedding
My husband and I got married in a brewery, not just any brewery but our favorite in Denver, Great Divide. Both our wedding and reception were in the back end of the brewery where they bottle beer. We used the existing architecture and industrial feel and added a fall vibe to it.
I created this wedding from the ground up. Unlike most, our venue was just a venue. It didn’t have food or any of the “normal” things that come when booking a location, but this is what drew me to it. I LOVED that I could pick and choose every piece of our wedding and I wasn’t confined to what the “venue” offered. Of course we had to use their beer, but that’s another reason we picked the venue itself.
Our wedding day was everything I could have hoped and dreamed it would be. It was a day with #allthebliss. I didn’t worry the day of our wedding thanks to the amazing Heidi at As you Wish, and just soaked up every moment of bliss and love that day. Our schedule ran behind during the day and different things popped up, but it wasn’t my worry. I enjoyed and embraced every minute. If you don’t have a day of planner hired for your wedding and are in the Colorado area I would highly recommend Heidi at As You Wish. She made our day seamless and it let me enjoy the moment instead of worrying about everything else.
Guest Arrival
Upon arrival our guests were greeted by 2 ushers and directed to go and grab a drink at the bar. A couple of summers ago we attended the amazing wedding of our friends in the mountains, and they had a bar set up pre-wedding ceremony to grab a drink and take a seat. I got the idea of having our guests have a drink to watch the ceremony from them. I thought it was a great way for people to start to let loose and have a fabulous time.
Instead of having the a boring beverage sign at the bar I created the below and sent it to a print shop to be enlarged and printed. I then put it in a frame that was large enough to lean against the bar so people could read it and choose exactly what they wanted.
Pro Tip: Ikea has super cheap frames for any signage you put up at your wedding.
Guest Arrival: Prelude to Wedding
[spotifyplaybutton play=”spotify:user:jhotter2212:playlist:0WxpRQeoA2ERAhYGD0QuuB” view=”list” size=”0″ sizetype=”big” theme=”grey”]
The Ceremony
Our wedding ceremony was so much more than I could have every envisioned. We had farmhouse style benches lined up on either side of the aisle with beer barrels topped with candles. There were so many pumpkins all around (we picked over 70 the week of the wedding, I will be sharing wedding week details in another post).
Behind my husband and I were more pumpkins and marquee letters that we rented from Scotts Lighting and Design. I would highly recommend using Lighting and Design by Scott for any light needs at your wedding. You work directly with the owner, Scott, and he was a pleasure to work with and made everything super easy.
Wedding Program
I designed our wedding program from the ground up and it definitely took a bit of time and planning. I found fun ideas on Pinterest and Etsy, but nothing that fully was us, so I used ideas I liked and ran with it and created the below. It’s not your traditional wedding program, but nothing about getting married in a brewery is traditional.
The Music
Ceremony Mothers Walk in
- In the Mood (Glenn Miller)
Ceremony Groom Walk in Music
- Chasing Cars Instrumental
Ceremony Wedding Party walk in Music
- Chasing Cars instrumental
Ceremony Bride Walk in Music
- Bride will dance down the aisle to a mashup made with Discosapien in memory of her father.
Bride Dance Down The Aisle
Video done by: Boulder Media House.
Ceremony Script
I wrote our ceremony script, as I wanted it unique to us. I did find numerous ceremony scripts online for inspiration, that helped the process. One really unique item I put in our script at the end was christening our marriage with a beer (we were getting married in a brewery after all). This christening also symbolized my father who always said the memento of a “shot and a beer.” The entire wedding party opened a beer and we all christened our marriage with the wedding attendees. (Yes, this took some planning the beers had to be set aside behind us, but I found a cute pumpkin cookie jar, that blended in with the pumpkins behind us and the beers all fit in it.)
Another thing I loved about our ceremony is instead of putting the script in a lame old binder I printed it and put it inside the book Great Love Letters of Men. Yes, the book Carrie Bradshaw references from Sex and the City. It was the perfect book for the ceremony. I hated to think of spending money on a binder that wouldn’t get any use after. I have read numerous of the love letters, and I just adore historical love and the way love used to be expressed. Extremely romantic.
Cocktail Hour
I adored our cocktail hour even though we didn’t get to attend. Our cocktail hour was everything Wisconsin wrapped into one. I grew up in Wisconsin, and I think just that being said you know I LOVE cheese. Instead of having a sugary wedding cake I worked with Fromagination in Madison, WI to make the best “cheese” cake. Yes, our wedding cake was literally made of cheese wheels. I had the best experience using Fromagination and working with Shannon and Maureen. They made our 5 tiered “cheese” cake come to life. My husband and I even got to cut it.
In addition to having a cheese cake for cocktail hour, we were blessed to have Mullins Cheese in Wisconsin ship in cheese curds in memory of my Dad. Mullins Cheese was one of my Dad’s bigger clients and upon calling the owner, Mr. Don Mullin, he said he was happy to ship in curds for our big day. Mullins Cheese overnighted the cheese curds as a gift and memory during our wedding day, of my Dad.
We also had smoked sausage sticks shipped in from Maplewood Meats, located in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Growing up and hunting with my father, we always had our venison processed at Maplewood Meats, and maybe I am biased but it’s one of the best. I picked numerous different smoked sausage sticks and Maplewood Meats shipped them in to Colorado.
Finally, what’s a cheese cake, curds and sausage without the rest of the cheese board fixings. One simply can’t beat Costco, and so we purchased all the other fixings there (olives, crackers, grapes, etc.).
Cocktail Hour Tunes
[spotifyplaybutton play=”spotify:user:jhotter2212:playlist:0yB5OQvCceEORpla7xNZYj” view=”list” size=”0″ sizetype=”big” theme=”grey”]
Meanwhile the Wedding Party…
While cocktail hour was going on we took some additional group pictures with all the beer cans and such. As another toast to my Dad, the wedding party had a toast for him in the barrel room, where all the delicious beer was being barrel aged. It was a very sweet moment and delicious with such fabulous Great Divide Beer.
Grand Entrance
We Speak no Americano was the grand entrance song. Our wedding party truly took the “grand” portion of the entrance to another level. I loved the energy of everyone and the music that carried everything.
First Dance
Our first dance was to Dave Mathews, “You & Me.” I love this song. The tables were boxed out so that the dance floor was in the middle under the hanging Edison bulbs. Dancing under the lights was #allthebliss and happiness one could ask for.
Why did we pick “You & Me?” I love Dave Mathews and my husband tends to “love” what I love as he wants me to be happy. I love the lyrics of “You & Me.” Some of my most favorite lyrics are:
You and I, we’re not tied to the ground
Not falling but rising like rolling around
Eyes closed above the rooftops
Eyes closed, we’re gonna spin through the stars
Our arms wide as the sky
We gonna ride the blue all the way to the end of the world
To the end of the world Oh, and when the kids are old enough
We’re gonna teach them to fly
You and me together, we could do anything, Baby
You and me together yes, yes
Dinner
We used A Perfect Bite catering for dinner and late night food. I loved working with Linda. She helped our vision for dinner come to fruition. Instead of doing a formal million course platted meal, we did family style Tapas. This was very well received by our guests and gave the variety dinner needs. Everyone seems to have some sort of allergy or food limitation these days and this was the best way we could think of to do a fun dinner. I also don’t much prefer the stuffiness and time it takes for people to be served a million course meal. I love the dancing part and so I wanted to make sure there was plenty of time for this.
Our Menu
Dinner Menu (Tapas):
- Creamy Spinach Artichoke Dip with Homemade Pita Chips
- Teriyaki Chicken Skewers with Spicy Peanut Sauce
- 100% Beef Sliders with Sharp Cheddar and Bacon Jam
- Friend Green tomatoes with Avocado and Roasted Corn Sauce
- Grilled and Chilled Tuscan Style Veggie Display
- Fried Chicken and Waffle Bites with Maple Reduction and Creamy Gravy
Late Night Food:
- Warm Pretzel Bar with Assorted Toppings: Beer Cheese, Honey Mustard, Spicy Mustard
- Gourmet Mac and Cheese Bar with Assorted Toppings: Asparagus, jalapenos, Chopped Tomatoes, Fresh Parmesan, peppered Bacon, peas and Bread Crumbs
Let’s Party
After dinner the real party got started. Our DJ Rex from Discosapien made sure the night was one continuous dance party. Music was done club style, where there were no pauses in between and the music kept flowing.
In addition to the dance floor we had corn hole/bag toss. Growing up in Wisconsin we called it “bag toss,” however it seems the rest of the world calls is “corn hole.” We also had jumbo/ lawn sized Jenga. We knew everyone wouldn’t want to dance the whole evening, and wanted people to have additional entertainment besides consuming copious amounts of alcohol. What better games for a brewery than corn hole and Jenga?
Guests
Guest Gifts
As a thank you to our guests, everyone’s plate had a little gift on it. We made candy boxes topped with a “cheers” beer bottle opener.
Guest Book
I had all the thought of our guests signing wooden skis for our wedding, however wedding week when I was finally getting a chance to work on this a different idea came to mind. Why not do a scrape book like station with a polaroid camera. This was such a fun idea and our guests had so much fun with it.
Dessert
It’s not a wedding without dessert and while we didn’t have a cake we had the most delicious cupcakes from Yours Truly Cupcake. We worked with Erika at Yours Truly to design the perfect combination of cupcakes. One of the reasons I loved working with, Yours Truly Cupcake, was we got to design our flavors. In memory of my father we did a Snickers cupcake. Snickers cupcakes weren’t on their menu, but they worked with me to design one, and boy oh boy was it delicious.
We had our cupcakes tiered on a cake pedestal and scattered all around the guest book table.
Cupcake Flavors
- Carrot Cake– with cream cheese frosting
- S’mores– Graham cracker cake with chocolate buttercream and mini marshmallows
- Pumpkin– Cake with cream cheese frosting-
- Snickers infused Great Divide Yeti- chocolate infused cupcake with peanut butter frosting topped with caramel candy
- Apple Maple Whiskey – Apple cake with Maple whiskey frosting
The Little Details
Wedding Dress
I wore a Calla Blanche wedding dress purchased from Little White Dress in Denver. My dress dad a heart sewn in, in the inner portion of the dress right by my heart. The heart was made from a camo piece from my Dads clothing and was embroidered with “Daddy.” This was very symbolic to me as my Dad tragically passed in an accident 4 years ago.
Bridal Party Shoes
The entire bridal party wore Kate Spade Sparkly Keds (tennis shoes).
- Bride: Rose Gold
- Bridesmaids: Charcoal
Bride Get Ready
My closest friends and bridesmaids and husband wrote letters to me. All of the letters were in a book format for me to read the morning of the wedding while I got ready.
Bride Walk Down the Aisle
I worked with Rex at Discosapien and have created a mashup of 80s songs for my “walk” down the aisle. I decided early on I would not be walking down the aisle, but instead dancing in memory of my Dad. This was kept secret from everyone including my husband. I know my Dad would want me to be smiling and having fun. You can see all the details of my dance down the aisle here.
Grooms Party
The grooms best man was his father.
Red Wine
The red wine was in memory of my husbands mother who tragically passed when he was younger. I had 2 different labels made up with her picture on and these were placed on the red wine bottles.
Whiskey Shot
My Dad was all about a good whiskey shot every once in awhile. My family always takes a shot for my Dad on all holidays. It wouldn’t be a wedding without this. The wedding party got together in an intimate setting, barrel room and did a toast to my Dad.
Wedding Party Dance
The first song the DJ played post dinner was the wobble. The whole bridal party practiced and knew the wobble. We did this to get the party started.
Centerpieces
The centerpieces on the tables were wood slabs topped with a growler and actual horns around them. The horns were from deer the my Dad shot hunting during his life on earth. When I was too little to even climb a tree would go hunting with my Dad. My Dad would put me on his back and carry me up the tree stand.
What a Day
That is most of the details of our wedding. One of the best days of our lives. We are incredibly grateful to have had such a wedding and be surrounded by so many people who love us. Thank you to all of you who were invited and came. We loved celebrating with you.
