This weekend, I flew to Denver on Thursday night and spent the night with my good college friend, Caitlin. Thanks to some flight delays it was quite a short night, but we had a great time nonetheless – checking out an awesome cocktail bar in Boulder. Friday morning then found me up nice and early for the four hour drive to Aspen, where one of my best friends Kelly was getting married.
Upon arrival, I headed immediately for the Ajax Tavern, a great cafe at the base of the mountain right next to the lifts. There, I met the bride and six other bridesmaids for a leisurely brunch before it was time to go to the wedding rehearsal.
The wedding venue was the stunningly beautiful ampitheater at the Maroon Bells. The rehearsal had the most perfect weather ever, and I could only hope the wedding would be as gorgeous!
Next, it was off to the welcome party at our hotel in Snowmass. Despite the delicious food and ample drinks, my friend Jon brought a bottle of his own home-infused vodka to share, taking the opportunity to grab a tray and serve it to all of Kelly’s bridesmaids and b-school friends.
By the end of the night, I think this guy was the only one still standing.
After a good night’s sleep and a quick early morning workout (more to come on that), the bridal party reconvened in our matching outfits for hair and makeup. I certainly didn’t make things easy for the stylist!
But I was in love with the end result – I don’t think I’ve ever looked so sophisticated! I apparently need to learn to style my own updos.
A shuttle bus took us from the hotel directly to Maroon Bells, and we goofed off like crazy on the way.
But upon arrival, it was time to stop playing – we were doing all the wedding pics before the actual ceremony. I had never done that before, but I actually much preferred the timeline rather than having the bridal party miss half the reception for a photo shoot!
Not going to lie, I started crying even before I walked down the aisle. Kelly was my roommate when she and Den met and started dating, and it’s been so wonderful to watch their relationship grow. I was just so happy for my friend! Apologies for probably ruining all the pics with tears streaking down my face – and thank goodness my dress had pockets in which to store tissues.
We danced the night away at the reception, and I fell asleep on the mother-of-the-bride in the shuttle on the way home. It had been a magical, perfect wedding, but I was beat.
CONGRATULATIONS KELLY AND DEN! Enjoy your honeymoon and know that the best is yet to come… wishing you all the love in the world for a lifetime of happiness.
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I love this place for a wedding! And I love the Bitter Bar. Last summer I went for a 2 day, 21 mile backpacking trip in Maroon Bells and it was amazing. Except for the thunderstorm the second day and my bad hiking shoes which pretty much tore off my toenails (I never lose toenails running, just hiking!). My fiance and I thought about a wedding somewhere near Aspen or Carbondale but we are trying to keep things as simple as possible and would rather have less travel involved 🙂
I’m in love with Colorado and think pretty much anywhere you have a wedding there would be a great choice 🙂
I love your dress, and you looked great! I can’t imagine getting married there….so beautiful! We are getting married on a lake but not in CO!
Laura, where are you getting married? For running, any kind of lake/river/ocean is my happy place… the mountains were not so great for that 😉
We are getting married in a really old small stone Chapel ( http://www.garrettchapel.org/index.php ) on Keuka Lake in the Finger Lakes. The Reception will also be on Keuka Lake, not too far from there. It’s going to be beautiful in the fall (Next year though).
That will be GORGEOUS! I went to school in the Finger Lakes and it’s so beautiful 🙂
Which school??!??
I started at NYU (theater major) but then transferred to Cornell to study business my sophomore year, and LOVED it 🙂
Cornell is a great school, only a few hours from me. I used to spend a lot of weekends there in HS and college for track meets!