Tessa here, a month back from my wedding and looking ahead to this weekend's Bridal Walk. I'd love to share my wedding story with you!
We knew that neither of us wanted a big wedding and we also knew that it was important to our families to be there. Sten's dad is a pastor, and we both wanted him to perform the ceremony. We chose March 3 as our wedding date.Sten and I met at the saloon at Chico Hot Springs in November of 2014. After dating for nearly 3 years, he proposed to me with his grandmother's ring on a boat on Yellowstone Lake in September 2017.
We decided on a small wedding with only parents and siblings. We ended up with 22 people in attendance (6 on his side, 16 on mine -- lots of siblings). My family flew in from Missouri, his from Pennsylvania, and together we celebrated in the places that are so special to us: Yellowstone and Chico.
There's an old chapel in Yellowstone, in the Mammoth area, with huge wooden doors and big stone walls. Sten's mom played the flute to accompany the organist, his dad performed the ceremony, and my dad walked me down the aisle. There wasn't a dry eye in the house, including the bride and groom.
We had our celebratory dinner in the convention center at Chico, where Sten surprised me with the sweetest speech and toast (It was one of many surprises he had for me that day, including wearing a suit, shaving his beard, gifting me stunning Yogo sapphire earrings from Alara Jewelry, and sneaking in a sweet love note, complete with a tissue because he knew it would make me cry).After the ceremony, we treated our guests to a snowy picnic in Yellowstone. My dear friend (and favorite photographer) Arnica Spring took our photos in the steamy terraces at Mammoth, complete with bison wandering in the background.
After dinner, we headed back to where it all began: The Chico Saloon. There, our friends joined us and we danced the night away.
It was the perfect wedding for us, and my wish for all the brides planning their weddings right now is that yours is perfect for you, too.
Photography: Arnica Spring Photography
Flowers: Wild Blume
Favors: Hattie Rex
Dress: Bash
Groom's suit: Katalin Green
Groom's bolo and cufflinks: Hattie Rex
Hair and Makeup: Ethereal Hair and Makeup