A wedding in Estes Park, Colorado for a very 'green' couple!

Many people have asked about my daughter's wedding, so I wanted to say a few things about that and tell you how it all turned out! The wedding was on September 2 and it was a glorious day in Estes Park, CO. Right outside of the main entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, the day started with arrival and the unpacking of the dress, the flowers, the decorations, and of course, the cupcakes!!


The couple had visited NYC and of course, went to Magnolia Bakery.  There, they both fell in love with the vanilla vanilla cupcake and wanted me to recreate the experience for their wedding.  After many recipe trials, we came to an agreement on which 'recipe' would be THE ONE!! So, the night before the wedding was extraordinarily busy!! I made 165 cupcakes, along with 75 chocolate bouchons to satisfy the chocolate cravers of the world and my German mom baked apricot cookies and pecan and poppyseed coffee cakes.  How fun!!

                                                                            

                                                                                    
Family members gathered around the kitchen table to put together the little individual blue boxes that would 'house' the leftover cupcakes as a take home gift to those who stayed til the end and wanted a little dessert to take home with them.  Each box, in the tiffany blue color to go with their wedding colors, was be-ribboned and had lovely little stickers with the bride and groom's names and date of the wedding.  After grandpa made about 5 of them, he asked, 'how many are there of these?'  

 Here, the cupcake tower all put together----it turned out beautifully and we added white lights to the bottom which added a gorgeous glow as the sun set and the evening unfolded....

note the white gazebo at the top....

 The centerpieces were really fun.  I had ordered the vase 'base' from an etsy seller who peels the bark from birch trees in New Hampshire then wraps that bark around glass cylinders.  Then the bark is inscribed by burning the couples' initials within a heart.  I then added the greenery and butterflies.  We then surrounded each centerpiece with natural moss and added tea lights in the moss to reflect light upwards into the centerpieces. 

The chocolate bouchons with a dollup of tiffany blue buttercream frosting

dress details, including flower petals in the hem of the dress

 The pathway from the inn to the wedding site was lined with hanging lanterns and pots of lovely flowers.  It created a gorgeous scene....and of course, the flower girls tossed fresh rose petals for the bride to tread upon as she walked toward her groom....

flower pots dotted the bride's path

the chocolate brown/tiffany blue tablescape

The flower girls were the children of the bride's oldest sister and brother-in-law....ages 9 and 5, they were the hit of the day and brought tears to the guests' eyes....but especially their mom!  

                                                                 She was so careful to not leave any in her basket! 

After the flower girls wowed the audience, the bride began her walk with her mother....

                                                                                                          

                                                                                                        

                                                                                              

We created a DIY wedding wish tree instead of the traditional guest book - it was really fun to make and truly went along with their natural theme. 

                                                                                    

A white gazebo......hmmmm.....how interesting that there would be a white gazebo at the wedding site.  When the bride was a little girl, she was in a white gazebo when she made the declaration that she would be married in one!  Hence, the cake topper was a white gazebo with a replica of each of their two dogs inside...a collie and a yellow lab. 

                              The flower girls' headpieces were a DIY project as well! Easy and fun!!

                                                                                            

I think everything went beautifully! A deer and her fawn actually crept into one of the photographs...it was sunny, warm, with blue skies and lots of smiling faces....who could ask for anything more!  Let there be love!!