Camping Inspired Wedding at Sundance Resort

Goodness gracious ladies and gents, sit tight because we’ve got one heck of an event to share with you today. Stacy and TJ’s wedding at the renowned Sundance Resort in Utah is a brilliant collaboration of vision and talented vendors, including Rebekah Westover, Michelle Leo Events, and Urban Chateau, just to name a handful. Their day is overflowing with captivating ideas, so let’s jump on in!

From the bride, Stacy: Early on we decided that we wanted our wedding to be an intimate celebration with our closest family and friends, spanning several days. We wanted every element to reflect us as a couple, which meant balancing TJ’s love for the outdoors and rustic aesthetics with some glamour in a place that has special meaning to us. A year earlier, TJ and I shared our first camping trip at Mount Timpanogos, and loved the idea of having the mountain serve as the backdrop for the weekend’s festivities. In addition to the wedding, over the course of the weekend we invited guests to partake a number of activities and events that we coordinated including: hikes, a rafting excursion, a BBQ with cornhole and a bluegrass band, and more.

During our nondenominational wedding ceremony, guests were given a small cup which contained wine from a bottle that TJ had purchased in France as a child. A young romantic at heart, while in France on a school trip, TJ managed to use all the cash he had on hand to buy a nice bottle of wine with the intention of sharing it with his future wife on their wedding day. He also promised himself that he would take his future wife there one day. Cheers to that! Hours after our engagement, he surprised me with a trip to Paris that night.

Our wedding was sophisticated and down to earth at once, and truly a reflection of us and our love for each other. We didn’t want to compete with the natural beauty of the mountain setting, so we incorporated minimal teal, gold, and tribal elements with neutral colors throughout. Guests received teal and gold arrows with their names calligraphed on the fletching to escort them to their seats. Bistro lights hung above the dining room and chandeliers were suspended above the dance floor to balance the rustic glam aesthetic. Meanwhile the floral centerpieces provided pops of bright pinks and reds, and taper candles and votives lined the blue farm tables. We wanted guests to be comfortable and have places they could go to sit and talk once the dancing began, so we arranged vintage furniture inside by the dance floor and outside on the deck with fire pits.

Given we were planning the wedding from NYC, we decided to focus on a few specific DIY items in order to personalize the event. Upon checkin, guests were greeted with linen hiking backpacks filled with assorted goods including the homemade gorp that I always make for TJ when we go hiking. The key ingredient is orange chocolate! At the wedding, we served guests coffee that we brought from Irving Farm in NYC, the location of our first date. We also spent a tremendous amount of time writing personalized wedding vows and crafting decor items for the July 4th BBQ rehearsal dinner.

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Your wedding is likely to be the only time in your life when all of your loved ones are together in one place at the same time. Take time throughout the course of the festivities to look around and soak up the love surrounding you. I can’t recall half the details of our wedding day, but when I close my eyes I can recall the feeling of pure joy and the chill that overcame me as I looked out to all our friends and family from our chuppah and the dance floor on our wedding day. That memory will forever warm my heart. Also remember to take ample time for yourself and your significant other. On the morning of my wedding day, I woke up at dawn and sat outside with my journal and a cup of coffee for two hours before my mother-in-law led yoga and meditation for the bridal party. It was such a refreshing way to start the day and allowed me to reflect on the significance of the commitment TJ and I were making. We also made it a point to have plenty of private time together throughout the weekend, whether it was taking the scenic detour to get to our rehearsal dinner, going for a walk on the mountain during cocktail hour, or enjoying a private picnic lunch after the group hike. Inevitably the events will fly by, but taking a moment here and there to pause and reflect on the occasion with your partner will help you be more fully present in the moment. These moments ended up being some of my favorites and are the ones I recall most vividly months later.

See Also

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Wedding Music:
Processional: “Big Country,” Bela Fleck
Bride’s Processional: “Home,” Phillip Phillip (Piano Arrangement)
Recessional: “Send Me on My Way,” Rusted Root
First Dance: “Everything,” Michael Bublé

From the event designer, Michelle Leo Events: Stacy and TJ were a delightful couple to work with. It always helps when my clients are interested in creating something truly unique and personal rather than duplicating something they’ve already seen when it comes to their wedding design. Stacy put her faith in me as her designer and together I feel we were able to create something that was as equally fun as it was elegant. We infused rustic pieces into the beautiful setting of Sundance through wood tables and linen furniture pieces to create comfortable conversation areas for guests. To balance these rustic elements, we used lush blooms in bold colors on top of the light wood tables dressed with cream runners to create drama. A variety of gold candlesticks with tapers also dressed the tables. This lighting combined with the strung bistro lights overhead created a comfortable and romantic atmosphere for guests to dine. One of my favorite elements of this “Tribal Glam” wedding was the combination of tribal elements throughout the paper suite. I loved the patterned used by Peter Loves Jane on Stacy and TJ’s invitation suite which carried over to the table menu and place cards. To accentuate this tribal element, we designed a completely custom gold and ivory target for the escort card display. The target was filled with darling mint and gold arrows provided by Fletcher and Fox. Guests names and table assignments appeared in hand calligraphy by Curlique Designs on the fletching of each arrow. Guests really enjoyed approaching the target and locating their arrow (which also served as their wedding favor). Rather than signing a typical guest book, guests wrote messages to the couple in a coffee table book boasting images of beautiful Mount Timpanogos, the mountain that served as the beautiful and natural backdrop for Stacy and TJ’s nuptials. Overall this wedding was a joy to plan and design and I’m extremely happy with the results of this darling celebration.

Wedding Location: Sundance, UT / Photographer: Rebekah Westover / Event Design and Planning: Michelle Leo Events / Floral Design: Urban Chateau / Venue and Caterer: Sundance Resort / Wedding Dress: Carol Hannah “La Lune” / Wedding Veil: Carol Hannah / Wedding Shoes: Chanel / Hair and Makeup: Versa Artistry / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Amsale / Groom’s Suit: Theory / Groom’s Tie: Armani / Wedding Cake: One Sweet Slice / Music: Joe Muscolino Band / Lounge Furniture: Decorations Inc and Refined Vintage Events / Event Rentals, Linens and Lighting: Diamond Rental / Decorative Pillows: One Kings Lane / Bride and Groom Chair Decor: BHLDN / Cottage Tables and Target Escort Display: mc2woodworks / Arrows: Fletcher and Fox / Arrow Escort Cards: Mineral and Matter / Wedding Invitations: Peter Loves Jane / Calligraphy: Curlicue Designs / Videographer: Ryan Hinman Films