Browsing Tag

mountain wedding

Rachel and Scott’s gathering of awesome people on top of a mountain on a beautiful day

Photos by Handlebar Studios

The Glö-Couple (tell us a fun fact about each of you):

Rachel, registered dietitian, (I LOVE READING) and
Scott, aerospace engineer (awesome ice hockey player)

Celebration Date & Location:

08/10/2012
Northstar California Resort
Truckee, CA, USA

Tell us how you got engaged:

We dated for 5.5 years before getting engaged. We met while finishing up our last quarter of college. We had both already secured jobs before meeting, one job in northern CA, one in southern CA. So, after a couple years of long distance dating, we moved in together. Scott proposed to me in the town where we met, after recreating our first 3 dates (Starbucks, frozen yogurt, pizza and wine at a beautiful lookout). And I said yes!

What’s the overall ‘feeling’ you’re aiming for with your celebration:

We just wanted the people we love and who love us most to be there for the wedding. We tried very hard to only invite people we both know. We ended up inviting a few people who only one of us knew and giving a “plus one” to a single friend, but it was so wonderful to look out at our guests during the ceremony and see so many people we love gathered in one place.

We knew we wanted to get married outside, and once we picked Northstar. Scott was obsessed with the idea of getting married up on the mountain. So we and our guests took two gondolas up to the ceremony site! It was really fun and different and the view was amazing!

Other than those two things, we really didn’t have any “must haves.” I just wanted pretty flowers, so I told our florist the bridesmaids would be in navy blue and let her do her thing. Having a traditional wedding cake wasn’t a big priority, so we bought several cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes and Scott’s aunt and uncle picked them up for us. They were so good, the guests were raving about the cake!

Are you adding any fun twists on tradition:

We skipped both the bouquet toss and garter toss (although I did wear my grandma’s garter!).
I had my brother walk me to the end of the aisle and Scott met me there. I walked the rest of the way down the aisle with Scott.
My aunt made Scott’s tie out of a dress shirt!
We made s’mores at the fire pit at the reception site! YUM.

What was the inspiration for your Glövite and Glösite design? If you made them yourself, tell us how you did it.

I just thought the design was cute! Simple, pretty colors. It didn’t “match” our wedding, but I didn’t care about that!

Now show us your Glövites and Glösite

Any good planning tips and tricks for the couples who are just starting to plan?

I loved Glosite! It was really fun to see that people had opened the invitations five minutes after we sent them! And super easy to use, too.
I love the blog A Practical Wedding, and recommend it to anyone I know who is engaged! Helps keep the sanity :)

What’s the biggest “say what?” moment or funny story that’s happened since you started planning?

You may be wondering why we are all wearing sunglasses during the ceremony. It’s not (only) because we are super cool people. It’s because when Scott and I were taking pictures an hour before the ceremony, a big gust of wind blew something into my eye. It would not come out! We called the mountain patrol guys in to help and my aunt, a nurse, tried to help too. But whatever was in my eye, was IN MY EYE like a splinter. I couldn’t open my eye at all for awhile! I think my aunt got a piece of it to break off with a q-tip, because eventually I was able to open my eye as long as I kept my gaze down. The wind and sun outside were going to be too much for my poor eye but I figured I could just wear my sunglasses. I told the wedding party to get their sunglasses on (so I wouldn’t be the only one wearing them) and we powered through the ceremony. Even our ring bearer sported shades!

My eye splinter came out on its own after the ceremony and I had a blast at the reception, even though my eye was a little wonky. During the whole eye splinter debacle everyone kept commenting on how great it was that I was so calm. I wish I had been more upset because crying would have probably flushed my eye out!

This was the ONLY crazy thing that happened the entire wedding/planning process. No family drama, no bridesmaid drama, nothing. So I think we were due for some sort of mishap!

What is your favorite memory from your celebration?

Favorite memories:

My family made a tunnel for us to run through as we entered the reception! That was really fun.

I just remember feeling really emotional as I walked down the aisle with Scott, knowing how important this moment was going to be for us. I was so worried I would cry through the ceremony, but after a couple minutes I was fine!

I had so much fun dancing at the reception! I had no idea we had so many dancers in our families!

Who helped to bring your celebration to life?

Photographers – Handlebar Studios
Hair/Makeup – The Decorated Bride
Cakes – Nothing Bundt Cakes
Bridesmaids dresses – Bill Levkoff
Groomsmen’s shirts – J Crew
Flowers – B & B Flower Designs
Cake Topper -ReadyGo on Etsy
Ring Bearer’s hat from FourTinyCousins on Etsy, bow tie & suspenders from ListenToThisButton on Etsy

21 Jan 2013

Real Glö-bies, Real Glö-Vites & Sites

Christina and Dean’s mountain weekend celebration of family, community, and music

The Glö-Couple (tell us a fun fact about each of you):

Christina, Executive Director of Quaker Voluntary Service and
Dean, Founder and Principal of the Kindezi School, an Atlanta Public Charter School, banjo player extraordinaire

(a fun fact is that we are both founders and directors of new organizations)

Celebration Date & Location:

10/06/2012
Asheville, North Carolina at the Swannanoa 4H Center

Tell us how you got engaged:

The short version is that I woke up to a note telling me to meet Dean at a certain state park at 1pm. When I got there, the woman at the gate handed me an envelope that had inside it a map telling me where to start my journey. It was all Wizard of Oz themed (I love the WofO). From there, I proceeded to follow a path full of notes, roses, and people along the way (the yellow brick road). At a certain point I was supposed to cross the river where the bridge had washed out, and suddenly his dad appeared with a canoe and took me to the other side. I kept going and then my dad was there (complete surprise, I had no idea he had enlisted my family) playing the role of the scarecrow, offering me sage advice about truth and wisdom. I kept going and there was my brother and his family and a couple friends, playing music and singing, playing the role of the tin man, and talked about love and joy. A little further, my mom, Dean’s mom, and two of my best women friends were in the path and offered a ritual of blessing from the women in my life and the women who have come before me. They talked about courage and were the Lion station. Eventually I came up a witch’s hat, with a note explaining how fear has been Dean’s wicked witch, but that he has finally conquered it. Finally my path ended at a beautiful rock overlooking the river–a spot we came to on one of our first dates. Dean emerged from the woods wearing a suit and holding a big bouquet of roses. We had our proposal moment, and then eventually headed back down the trail where everyone had gathered together and was singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow and toasting us with champagne. It was truly magical. I have never felt so sure that Dean is the one for me!

What’s the overall ‘feeling’ you’re aiming for with your celebration:

The most important thing is that our wide and wonderful community of family and friends can all be together for a weekend of laid back fun. My family lives in Asheville, which is one of the most beautiful places in the world, especially in the Fall. So, we decided to do it at a summer camp where folks can stay in cabins or camp, or stay in nearby hotels. We hope for lots of music to be played (he plays the banjo, I play the guitar and we both sing), good food, good fun. Simple.

Are you adding any fun twists on tradition:

A good family friend is our caterer and she is doing a combination of Southern (we both grew up in the South) and Italian (my dad’s family is Italian).

What was the inspiration for your Glövite and Glösite design? If you made them yourself, tell us how you did it.

I imagined the blue ridge mountains in the background with a banjo and a guitar–this pretty much sums up what we envision for our wedding setting. I asked my brother if he could work on something, and he created something even more beautiful than I had imagined!

My brother, Willie Repoley, did the design for us. He did an amazing job!

Now show us your Glövites and Glösite

Any good planning tips and tricks for the couples who are just starting to plan?

Google docs, the Glosite guest list, and Pinterest are all tools I am using a lot!

What are you look forward to the most about your celebration?

I’m looking forward to having all of these wonderful people in the same place at the same time for a weekend of joy.
Who are the magical vendors bringing your celebration to life?

Our friend Stephanie Wilder, runs a catering company in Asheville called Eat Your Greens NC. They work with at risk young people in the area to help them develop an appreciation of food and job skills for the future

Our friend Kara Johnson is a budding photographer, and she’ll do the photos. We’re still working out the other details, but it will all be a big group effort with our friends and family helping with lots of the details.

19 Jun 2012