Melissa & Ken
YMCA of the Rockies
Estes Park, Colorado
07.13.19.
“We have very different recollections of how we met,” Melissa begins. “Ken thinks we met at a Halloween party. But I remember talking to him for the first time at a Mardi Gras party three months later–he came up + asked me about my cat. I was like, ‘do I know you?’ but anyways, that’s how we really started talking. As I was leaving the party, he sneakily invited himself to my brother’s 21st birthday party + we all hung out.”
“We planned to go swing dancing + that ended up being our first date. After that night, I texted my best friend + told her I was going to marry him.”
Recalling this moment during the maid of honor’s speech, she said, “Although I thought it was crazy when I first read the text that said she was going to marry him, there was something about the way she said it that made me know it was true.”
After dating for a year + a half, Ken proposed to Melissa in the fall. He packed them a picnic + took her down by the river in a beautiful spot + asked her to marry him.
That moment brought them to their wedding day in Estes Park, Colorado, the gateway to the most epic Rocky Mountains, at the YMCA. Melissa had worked there one summer + so it held a nostalgic + monumental place in her life from then on.
Their ceremony took place in the morning as the warm sun lit up the whole valley + mountains surrounded Melissa + Ken in reverence as they made their vows.
Once the knot was tied, they gathered their besties + headed for Rocky Mountain National Park to spend most of the afternoon playing in the mountains + driving up the legendary Trail Ridge Road. As a hail storm blew through the park, everyone hid out in their cars for a while as it cooled everything off + set a gorgeously moody backdrop.
Even more important to Mel + Ken than the mountains is Ken’s jeep, which he spends all his free time romping around in with his buddies. They got to just enjoy each other + the views of the mountains in the jeep for the first few hours of their marriage.
After heading back to the rest of the friends + family at the YMCA, guests enjoyed barbecue for dinner with Melissa’s grandma’s homemade sauce + the dancing began.
During Mel + Ken’s first dance, a quote from the maid of honor’s speech was tangible–“It’s obvious Ken is a man of few words, but the way they look at each other, everyone in the room can tell much more is being said with no words at all.”
The dance party kicked off with a mandatory dance to YMCA, which everyone at the reception couldn’t help but indulge in. Loved ones enjoyed the splendor of the mountains as the sun set in Estes, a sweet day written into the story of Mel + Ken forever.
VENDORS:
VENUE: YMCA of the Rockies
BRIDAL GOWN: Gown Gallery
FLORIST: Florist: Southern Blooms Co
CAKE ARTIST: Estes Park Pie Shop
BRIDESMAID DRESSES: David’s Bridal
SUITS: Indochino
