After Michaela and Kyle’s gorgeous wedding ceremony on top of a mountain in Winter Park, Colorado, guests took advantage of the stunning mountain views and snapped lots of pictures outside before the party moved indoors for cocktail hour, dinner and dancing.
After the ceremony, Michaela and Kyle took lots of pictures with their families, but we managed to snag the bride and groom for one quick photo with our guys.
After they were whisked away, we took some more photos and had fun hanging out on the deck outside of the lodge.
This crazy group of guys spent the whole day mountain biking together and bonded over some crazy trail rides. They were a riot and having a whole group that got along so well and had so much fun together at the wedding only added to the fun.
Since Ryan and I found ourselves standing at such a beautiful alter before the reception, we thought that maybe we should re-do our ridiculously awkward wedding kiss…
But then we decided that the awkward memory is too darn funny to want to replace in our minds, so we recreated that instead.
Soon the smell of bacon-wrapped scallops called us inside and we grabbed cocktails to enjoy for an hour before dinner began. My drink of choice for the night was a mix of clementine and vanilla vodka with club soda which I highly recommend to my fellow vodka drinkers out there. It tasted like an orange creamsicle with a little pizzazz.
It was so great to be able to spend some time with friends that I haven’t seen in years, including two of my favorite guy friends from high school, Steve and Ryan, whom I haven’t seen since our wedding.
They are so much fun! (Longtime blog readers may remember when Michaela and I visited them in Arizona back in 2009.) Steve is now dating Michaela’s younger sister Maggie and we are all in love with them together.
Eventually it was time for everyone to take their seats so the bridal party and the bride and groom could be introduced.
One of my fellow bridesmaids, Erin, and I carried Michaela’s youngest brother Sam out and danced our way into the reception to The Kinks’ “What I Like About You.”
It was a fun entrance and when we all lined up and cheered for the bride and groom as they entered the reception, I knew the energy level around us meant we were in for a seriously fun night!
Before dinner was served, Michaela and Kyle had their first dance as husband and wife. I saw Kyle singing to Michaela and the way they looked at each other made my heart melt. I’m so, so happy for them.
As they danced, I sat on the floor with a little buddy of my own. Michaela’s nephew, Seamus, wanted to join the bride and groom on the dance floor so badly!
After the first dance, Michaela and Kyle cut their cake before dinner was served.
Isn’t the bluebird cake topper so cute and perfect for a mountain wedding? Michaela made them herself!
Dinner began with warm bread and a salad topped with fresh raspberries, crumbled cheese and candied pecans.
For the entree, guests had a choice between steak and steelhead trout and I opted for the fish which was fantastic. Ryan said the steak was great as well.
I loved the food at this wedding because it was all something I would absolutely order for myself in a restaurant. So delicious!
The wedding cake was great too and a welcomed sweet treat that I ate after spending some time on the dance floor.
After dinner, it was time for the groom to dance with his mother and the bride to dance with her father.
The father/daughter dance was so moving and had everyone in tears.
Michaela and her dad danced to Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers” performed by her three brothers.
It was incredible and so touching. I may have told Ryan I that want to have a bunch of babies now so we can make our future children form their own band. Michaela’s brothers did such wonderful job and you could tell they sang with so much love and emotion. It was beautiful and one of the highlights of the night.
After Michaela and her dad’s dance finished, there was one more special dance that took place that night. Michaela and Kyle planned their wedding on Michaela’s parents’ 34th wedding anniversary, so her mom and dad had their own special dance to “You’re Just Too Good to Be True.”
How cute are they!?
After their special dance, it was time for everyone else to hit the dance floor.
We spent the night dancing away and had so much fun partying it up!
Ryan practicing Blue Steel:
Once the reception was over, we took the gondola back to the base of the mountain and made a pit stop back at the room for some late night pizza to fuel us through the after party at Doc’s.
We spent the rest of the night at Doc’s bar before finally heading to bed after 2 a.m. It was such an incredible wedding and I am so, so happy I was able to be a part of it.
Congratulations, Michaela and Kyle!
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I think that is so sweet that the bride’s brothers played while her and their dad danced! So cute! I love that they had her parents dance too. I love little sentimental touches like that. 🙂
You and Ryan are too cute! Totally looks like something my husband and I would do… Ha! The reception looks like a blast!
The bluebird cake toppers are just adorable! Looks like so much fun!
So pretty and the wedding looks like it was a blast! I love rustic themed weddings. Kinda jealous I didn’t think of that myself a couple years ago!
Looks like such a FUN wedding!! Everyone looks like they had a blast!
Love all the pics, looks like an amazing and fun wedding. Her caker toppers are adorable 🙂
Clementine and vanilla vodka?!?! Yum!!!! Such breathtaking photos & the food of course looks wonderful!
what an incredibly gorgeous wedding venue! that’s exactly the atmosphere i would want at my wedding (i just need to get my boyfriend to propose!)
What an amazing night! I love your bridesmaids dress it is so pretty 🙂
You and Ryan are so adorable together! I loved how you had your hair for the wedding. It looks like you guys had an absolute blast, which is exactly how you want a wedding to be! Also, reading your post about your wedding kiss had me cracking up… so funny.
You and Ryan are so adorable together! I loved how you had your hair for the wedding. It looks like you guys had an absolute blast, which is exactly how you want a wedding to be! Also, reading your post about your wedding kiss had me cracking up… so funny.
I love these pictures! You can see how much fun you were having during this time!! 🙂 That pizza you had afterwards looks so good – I remember after my wedding since I didn’t have much time to eat during it my mom brought a leftover layer of our cake and we all just sat around the bar and ate it – it was delicious!
Looks like you guys had so much fun!! The kissing pics were hilarious btw!
The fact that they got married on her parents’ 34th wedding anniversary just made me tear up! How sweet!!
I know!! And I love that they had their own special dance.
That looks like such a fun reception! And your hair looks awesome in all the photos–it totally stayed put. NICE!
I love that you’re always posting different fancy hair options. I’m getting married in September, and have long hair … strapless wedding gown. I’m struggling with the decision to wear my hair up or down … what’s been your favorite so far?
Standard Julie wedding faces. hahahaa.
Such a beautiful wedding!!! Congrats to them! You all look beautiful 🙂 btw what kind of cake was that?! Ofcourse my eyes zero in on the cake lol
Ya’ll are just precious. That reception looks like a blast!! I went back and lawl’d at your wedding kiss you were talking about..what a funny memory though!! Great pics, I might even hire you to come be my second shooting sometime 😉
Sounds like the perfect wedding: such a great balance of sweet AND fun moments. And I love the bridesmaids dresses. I think the father/daughter dance sounds beautiful.
That wedding is BEAUTIFUL!
I definitely love the half-up half-down hair you rocked for this wedding, so soft and pretty!
Soooo gorgeous!! I love how elegant but rustic it is 🙂
Hahaha I am cracking up at your awkward wedding kiss story, too funny!
Looks like so much fun! Love the bridesmaids dresses!
Looks like so much fun! Colorado is beautiful<3
Can't end a night without pizza!
Looks like a fantastic wedding! The bride’s gown is gorgeous and that food was incredible! I also always love you “drinking and dancing” photos! 😉
The first dance and father-daughter/mother-son dances are always tear-jerkers. Looks like you guys had an absolute blast! The dinner and cake look amazing (huge fan of the blue bird toppers!), and you were all livin’ it up on that dance floor! 😉
Congrats again to Michaela and Kyle!
Thanks so much for sharing such a beautiful event! I really enjoy your blog!
PS…I’m sure I’m one of your “older” readers because I remember ” What I Like About You” when it first came out…it’s by The Romantics.
I loved that awkward kiss story, haha. That receptions looks like it was so much fun, your friends know how to throw a good party!
That looks so fun!! I love the “woodsy” cabin feel that everything had. The green looks so pretty with it!!
I’m happy you guys had so much fun! You look so cute in your dress! And the bride is lovely as well 🙂
Truly, thank you for posting this! My fiance and I have talked about our first married kiss and we could not stop laughing, because I’m pretty sure this is something we would do too! We’ll make sure to practice! 😀
Love the cake toppers!! You’re right; so perfect for a wedding in the mountains!
Ohhhhhh weddings, the BEST! I have one coming up in Vermont and I can’t wait to dance the night away with friends. It’s the first one I’ve been to since mine so Im excited to be able to sit back and enjoy it!
You looked gorgeous! That hair style really suits you.
Loved her dress she was a beautiful bride . The flowers were a gorgeous color. Everything looked like fun.
The views are gorgeous!!
That looks like SUCH a fun wedding and so beautiful too!
Fun wedding! Your dancing skills are flawless
Thanks for share this post I also share with you something hope you like my post. My cousin got married a few months ago and there was no program for the festivities. The wedding started at 5 and lasted about an hour. Naturally, when the ceremony was over at 6 and we headed to the reception site to see appetizers we assumed it was a cocktail hour before dinner. There were two tables on either side of the room which contained buffet style appetizers. Everything was bite size and finger foods ranging from veggies and dip to deviled eggs. Not to mention, the plates were only about 5 inches in diameter. Image our surprise when no food was served throughout the rest of the reception! We had to go back to fill our tiny plates at least five times and were still hungry when the food ran out. Not to mention she had a cash bar as well so we had to pay for drinks and didn’t even get a meal. We were not happy at all! Thanks
What a fun wedding! And everything was gorgeous! I might need to eat 2 pieces of that chocolate cake. Yum!
I love when the bridesmaids are able to choose the style of dress that they want to wear but have the same colour – LOVES IT!! Looks like you had a blast 🙂
Somehow reading today’s post took me to your review of BodyPump, took me to this post to know that I’ll be with some of our mutual friends in Vail this weekend. Yes, this might make me a creeper, but yes, it’s also too funny not to be shared. Ha!
Hope to meet you sometime! (It really is a small world…)