Rustic Rainy Day Wedding in Wyoming

“‘On a day when the wind is perfect, the sail just needs to open and the love starts.’ Those were the words read out loud at our wedding ceremony, between bouts of lighting and thunder, followed by blue skies and rainbows, and nestled in the towering Teton mountains. And while the weather may not have been perfect for our wedding ceremony, after a year’s delay due to the pandemic, the love was so evident on that day. Matt and I met almost 12 years ago, in a bar in New York – one of those bars where the music is loud, the lights are dim and anything is possible. The sparks were evident immediately, and after a proper date, we quickly became an item. As 20-somethings, we explored New York, starting new jobs, moving into new apartments, and falling in love. But as the old adage goes, even if everything else is perfect, timing is truly everything. After a few years of dating, a combination of mutual youthful uncertainty and job opportunities brought our story to a brief hiatus. I moved to the west coast and we both took a few years to independently build our careers, acquire life experience, and grow up a little. During that time, we never fully lost touch and with the passage of time came greater clarity that our story wasn’t really done. After 4 years, a business trip took me back to New York. Knowing Matt was single, I asked him to meet me for a drink, and the rest – as they say – is history. When we started planning our wedding in 2019, getting married in the Valley was a no brainer. We each have our own ties to Jackson – Matt’s family is from Jackson and I’ve been visiting family and friends there since I was a toddler. Jackson is also the location of many of our relationship firsts – our first “I love yous,” meeting each other’s families, our first ski trip. Once we agreed to host our wedding in the valley, I called up some very good family friends to see if we could use their beautiful ranch, Snake River Ranch, as the backdrop for our vows. By the end of 2019, we had a great vendor team lined up and were ready to celebrate in summer 2020. That was until COVID hit. Like so many couples, we had made the tough decision to rethink our wedding. We knew we didn’t want to risk anyone’s health and safety, and we also knew that we didn’t want to miss out on a special celebration with our “tribe” of friends and family. So with some reorganizing, and amazing kindness and flexibility from our team of vendors, we postponed all our plans in Jackson for 364 days. And we turned our attention to replanning for this year’s celebration. Most of our guests had to travel to get to Jackson, so we wanted to make sure that everyone had a chance to enjoy the best of Jackson, from fly fishing, backyard parties and lawn games, group hikes in the mountains, and all the splendor of the Teton Valley. But it was also important to us that the weekend was personal and highlighted the importance of our families. We wrote our own vows, the table numbers were hand made by my father, my veil and the lace table runners were both sewn by my mother, our welcome party was held in Matt’s parents’ backyard where so many of our fond memories are. All of this was intentional to create a sense of an intimate and personal celebration. And celebrate we did. Despite the rain and thunder that damped the Valley throughout our wedding weekend, after almost 18 months of living through the pandemic, the love and excitement from our friends and family couldn’t be damped. Just like our dating journey wasn’t a straight line, it’s almost destined that neither would our wedding planning journey be. Whether you’re weathering the challenges of wedding planning during a pandemic, or just planning for the uncertainties of weather in Jackson, having the right team is key. But we learned that if you make your love the priority, surround yourself with a thoughtful and talented team of vendors, and are willing to roll with whatever surprise the Valley throws at you, Jackson Hole is a truly incredible place to celebrate your marriage.”