Rocky Mountain bride and groom

We had a wonderful time celebrating with Patricia & Jonathan at their wedding!

Enjoy some highlights from their big day…

estes park wedding estes park wedding estes park wedding

Vendors

Photographer: Heather Bertarelli of Bertarelli Photography
Florist: Caley Praiswater of Fanciful Floral Design & Wedding Planning
Cakes: Nothing Bundt Cakes
DJ: Cameron Trainor, owner of 5280 Mobile DJ
Catering: Jubilations Catering


 

Patricia shared with us their love story and wedding day planning…

How did you and Jonathan meet?

 We met at the Grizzly Rose in 2015, he came over to a group of my friends hoping to buy one of us a drink, but I wasn’t 21. We ended up chatting for a few minutes, he attempted a very unfortunate line dance, and we went our separate ways after exchanging numbers. The rest is history!

Tell us about your love story!

When we met, neither of us was looking for a relationship. He had just broken up with a long-term girlfriend and I was enjoying the freedom of my freshman year in college. Things moved pretty slowly, and we gradually started spending more time together and getting to know one another. In May of 2016 we took a trip to the Humane Society in Boulder (not intending to adopt) and fell in love with our dog, Bella. She’s really been the glue that has held us together, and pushed us to be serious with each other since we both loved her so much (I know…sounds like a child! She’s our baby ). After a rough roommate situation my sophomore year of college, we decided to move in together. We both still love to go to the Grizzly Rose, we’ve been to countless country concerts and music festivals together, we love watching football together. I studied abroad in Australia in spring of 2018, and Jon was fortunate enough to be able to visit me! That beautiful place is where he popped the question.

How did you get engaged?

Oh whoops…sort of answered that in the last question! He proposed in Australia while I was living there, but was too excited to wait to propose on the beach! He dropped down on one knee one night in my dorm room after dinner with a friend, and I thought, “No way! Not right now! I’m in my pajamas!” We reenacted the moment on the beach the next day for good measure, but I’ll always smile at the fact that he carried the ring in his pocket for a whole day while we explored the city of Gold Coast, the beach, and had dinner…but just kept waiting until the end of the night! He proposed with his great grandmother’s 1940-era diamond ring, which is still the one I wear today.

What made you pick Estes Park and Taharaa for your wedding?

We wanted an outdoor Colorado wedding all along, and spent a lot of time deciding where we would choose. His parents moved to Estes Park in the fall of 2017, and his family has spent a lot of time in that area throughout his childhood. They also spend a lot of time in Grand Lake, so we seriously considered doing our wedding there. When it came down to it, most of my family is from out of state (and many of his relatives), so it didn’t make sense to do a wedding two hours away when everyone was already flying in. Estes Park seemed like a more reasonable location. I fell in love with a photo on Taharaa’s website of a bride standing in front of the large wooden doors at night, and HAD to see the venue in person. As soon as we did our tour, I was in love. The ceremony space is so beautiful and unique, the reception hall has unparalleled views as the backdrop, and the reception balcony is beautiful as well.

What was your favorite part of wedding planning?

My favorite part of planning our wedding was choosing all the decorations, the flowers and the design. I have always loved typography, and I ended up custom designing our wedding invitations completely by myself. Our friend Caley was just starting her own floral business, so I knew I wanted to include her as part of the process. My high school art teacher is Heather Bertarelli, who did my senior photos and Jon and I’s engagement photos. I loved including close friends as our vendors, which made the day that much more special. Heather has known me since I was 15, and even she was choked up as I got ready for the wedding. Just seeing it all come together was so exciting. We also used all Colorado products for our wedding favors which was really fun. Boulder Beer Company has a beer called Hazed and Infused, which has always had a Colorado license plate that says “Get Hazed” as its main marketing (Jon’s last name is Haze of course, so it seemed so fun to have our wedding theme be Get Hazed). I knew years ago I wanted that exact sticker as a wedding favor, and we ended up also including Get Hazed match boxes, jarred fresh honey from Longmont, CO and Celestial Seasonings tea.

Where did you get your design inspiration from?

Most of my design inspiration came from stuff I had always wanted to include, but I also used Pinterest a lot to see examples of how things could be done. I came up with our wedding colors (Navy blue and blush pink) pretty early on, and used that inspiration for the decorations. Caley is a beautiful florist who knew exactly how to incorporate my colors and vision into the design of our floral elements, and she also  helped guide me with other design elements.
 

What is your favorite memory from your wedding day?

 One of my favorite memories from the wedding day was our “First Touch” moment. I knew I didn’t want Jon to see me before I walked down the aisle, but one of Heather’s past clients did a moment where they stood around the corner from each other and held hands. Jon’s hands are so familiar to me, but that moment of holding each other without seeing each other and knowing we were just a few minutes from getting married was so surreal. I also loved the time my dad and I had before he walked me down the aisle. He was SOOOO nervous, had tried to loosen up with a little bit of whiskey, but was still so excited for me. We got to be alone in the bridal suite for a few minutes while we got ready, then I was so grateful to have him holding my hand as I walked down the aisle. The nerves hit me right when I got out of the golf cart and I almost passed out! I’ve always been a daddy’s girl, so he was there for me to ensure I was prepared and ready for my big moment.
 
Picking one memory is so hard because our whole wedding day was absolutely spectacular. Our adorable flower girls and ring bearer made everyone smile, my mom was absolutely glowing, my dad was having a wonderful time (they’re separated but both brought their significant others), my bridesmaids had such a fun time on the dance floor, Jon and I’s first dance to George Strait’s “I Cross My Heart” was beautiful, the whole day just could  not have gone any more perfectly. I am so thankful to Taharaa for making it all possible, and so thankful to all my vendors, my family, friends and wedding party for making me feel like a true princess.