Wedding Blog

Hi hive! My apologies for the delay in recaps—life happened and time passed so quickly! I’ll get right back into it where I left off: our rehearsal dinner. Now I know it’s summer and the middle of July, but just picture the mountains of Colorado and a light snowfall. Got it? Okay, now picture the trees lit up with Christmas lights and warm winter jackets. The night of our rehearsal was perfect, and if any of you are familiar with Colorado weather, you know it’s rather unpredictable. I had worried about the possibility of a huge snowstorm that would prevent our guests (and many of our vendors!) from reaching Vail, but the light snow the night of our rehearsal put my mind at ease—we would NOT be snowed in!

We rehearsed at the Vail Chapel and walked literally right across the street to a local restaurant for dinner. It’s located within one of Vail’s oldest and most unique Bavarian style hotels. The are a few restaurants within this hotel, but the restaurant we chose has the true Western, feel complete with antler chandeliers, and we wanted guests to experience something with Colorado style.

Not to mention, the food was absolutely delicious! Seriously… the thought of the molten chocolate cake still makes me drool.

Don’t believe me? Ask our niece!

The rehearsal dinner was rather small, as we chose to include immediate family and our bridal party. After a few surprise round of shots from some onlookers at the bar (thanks, strangers!) we snapped a group photo.

Because our actual dinner did not include so many of our out of town guests, we wanted to welcome our guests to Vail, so we arranged for a cocktail party at the bar next door. After dinner, we grabbed a drink,

a quick look in the mirror,

and we headed next door to the piano bar for a welcome party with the rest of our guests, where it was all about family and laughs. It was so great to see and actually spend time with some of our guests before the big day, and it’s a decision I’m so glad we made. Looking back on our wedding day, Champ and I agree that it was actually surprising how little time we spent with our parents, so it was nice to have some laughs with them beforehand.

Champ and his mom:

I was also able to gather the bridesmaids to give them their UGGs and tote bags (which I completely forgot to take a photo of—booo).

If you’ve ever been to a ski-town, you know that there is a tradition called “apres-ski”, and it’s basically a sing along of John Denver-ish songs. We all had a blast singing around the piano, and there were even a few guest appearances. Champ’s dad used to sing in a band in his day, and I still remember when we first met and he showed me a picture of his dad in white bell bottoms on stage. Now it’s a bit of a family joke to get him on the microphone. He’ll sort of decline politely with his head down and say, “Oh no, I can’t possibly sing in front of all these people,” until someone pushes him onstage, and then it’s like a switch is flipped—he’s suddenly a rock star again.

Even my mom got a little action on the microphone. No one really knows if she had any idea what she was singing, but we know she had a great time!

We listened and sang along, and I kicked off my heels and got into my UGGs, and I honestly couldn’t imagine my life without Champ. There’s no one that makes me feel so free to be “me” than he does.

As things wrapped up, our guests got… creative… with the decor. Perhaps it was the altitude, or perhaps it was one too many brew ha has, but my maid of honor certainly kept a smile on my face.

After a long night of fun, everyone was pooped!

And the Champs—well, we were ready to get hitched!

Next up - the day is finally here!! I get a sneak peek of our venue, and a quick trip to Starbucks turns into some helpful strangers jump starting our car… yikes!

Previously:
The Practice Run
Finally in Colorado
A Quick Trip to the County Jail