J loves dahlias. P is more of a grass guy.
That was the brief for their wedding at Devil's Thumb Ranch in Tabernash: two people with two different ideas of beautiful, and a mountain view that doesn't need any help. My job wasn't to pick a winner. It was to build a day where both of them could look around and find themselves in it.
Both of them, everywhere
J's dahlias got the bouquet and every table, set low in shallow dishes inside a ring of candlelight. P's grasses lined the stone aisle, loose enough to belong to the meadow behind them.
The ceremony site came with a big, dark timber arch that was supposed to be gone by the wedding. At our final site visit, it was still standing. So we softened it with a heavy run of greenery and flowers across the beams, and I suggested dark ceremony chairs so the timber read as part of the design instead of competing with the view.
J's color inspiration came from the sunset, so cocktail hour got the statement piece: a bar arrangement pouring from the bar top to the floor. Deep reds and dark foliage sat up top, coral and peach came further down, and P's grasses spilled out at the base. Both of them, in one arrangement.
A barn that felt like theirs
The barn at Devil's Thumb is enormous. J + P wanted it relaxed and a little campy, but they still wanted it to feel like an occasion. So the flowers went up. A 4x6-foot floral wall hung from the front of the loft, and two 2-foot floral orbs floated over the middle of the room. After the ceremony, the front of the arch came down and went up into the rafters as one long run of flowers. I had twenty minutes, and it went off without a hitch.
Under all of it was the coolest seating configuration I've been part of: a long table down the middle of the barn, rounds all around it, and J + P right at the center.
The best photo of the night
The best photo of the night wasn't of the flowers. It was J, laughing in the middle of the room with her family all around her. Seen.
Getting married at Devil's Thumb Ranch, or anywhere in the Colorado mountains? Tell me about it.
Photography by Crane Co. Studios
The team
Florals + Design | Ash + Ether | @ashxether
Planning | Après Planning Collective | @apresplanningcollective
Venue | Devil's Thumb Ranch | @devilsthumbranchweddings
Photography | Crane Co. Studios | @crane.co.studios
Super 8 Film | @emmajamesfilm
DJ | Eddie Junior | @eddiejunior.jpeg
Ceremony Strings | Lavandula Strings | @lavandula_strings
Magician | Gerald Robinson Magic | @geraldrobinsonmagic
Soft Seating | Wildflower Denver | @thewildflowerdenver
Stationery | Aquamarink Designs | @aquamarinkdesigns
Hair + Makeup | Root Salon | @root.salon
Transportation | Green Ride Shuttles | @greenrideshuttles
Strike | The Good Move | @thegoodmove