“Tyler and I first met in the summer of 2019 at a rooftop bar in the RiNo neighborhood in Denver after matching on a dating app. I had moved from the Midwest a little less than a year prior. Tyler is from Connecticut and moved to Denver in 2016 after living in Albuquerque for 5 years. After our first date, we knew we wanted to see each other again. I remember being struck by Tyler’s handsome good looks, his kind heart, drive, and sense of adventure. A couple months later, during a weekend backpacking trip in Vail in late September, we made our relationship official and our adventures have continued ever since. In January 2020, we were trail running on Green Mountain in Golden. Amidst the freezing rain, runny noses, and a group of spectating deer, I told Tyler that I loved him. And Tyler said, “I love you too.” Shortly after the “I love you’s”, the pandemic hit. Tyler and I became a “quaranteam,” spending our days together immersed in home improvement projects, late night conversations, backcountry ski tours, and backpacking trips. Through these unfamiliar times, our love grew stronger and our lives became more intertwined. I introduced Tyler to my family, pheasant hunting in western North Dakota and lake life in Minnesota. Tyler introduced me to his family on the East Coast and summers on the Jersey Shore. Tyler and I took a trip to Kauai in November 2021. While on a hike along the Napali Coast, Tyler got down on one knee and said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me and asked me to marry him. And of course, I said yes! The date of our wedding, in late September, is a special time of the year for us. Three days after the wedding was 4 years since I had moved to Colorado. And 4 days after the wedding was 3 years since Tyler and I took our first backpacking trip together in Vail and made our relationship official. Being in the mountains, surrounded by golden aspens during our ceremony felt full circle. We wanted a true mountain, rustic wedding with a small gathering of our closest family and friends. There was no phone service at our venue, Wild Basin, so our guests had to truly unplug. Chain Station, a mountain bluegrass band, performed at the ceremony, first dances, and reception. They brought great energy and were so fun! We will never forget Chain Station asking our close family friend Chloe Marie to join them on stage to sing Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” with a twangy flair! To commemorate our wedding, our love for the outdoors and the mountains, I gifted Tyler a pair of custom wood-burned skis of Mount Meeker and Longs Peak (the mountains behind our ceremony site at Wild Basin Lodge) made by the incredibly talented Carly Jo. We wrote our own vows and had a first look and private vow exchange at Brainerd Lake. Since we were worried about limited parking, Tyler and I rode in the same vehicle with our photographer and videographer with Tyler blind-folded! Tyler selected the site after mountain biking in the area a couple years prior. Even with the blind-fold, Tyler was able to direct our photographer and videographer where to drive and park! What a guy! The car ride to and from Brainerd Lake, the first look, and private vow exchange were a few of our favorite parts of the day. It felt like we could slow down for a moment and enjoy each other’s presence before celebrating with everyone. There were a lot of special people we wanted to recognize at our wedding. My brother was our officiant for the ceremony. My dear childhood friend, Robbie, did my wedding hair. Both of our moms performed a reading at the ceremony. I wanted to celebrate my mom just as much as my dad on our wedding day, so asked our close family friend Chloe Marie to perform a surprise mother/daughter song for her (Mamas by Anne Wilson). My grandma passed away earlier in the year. She was a loving, maternal presence throughout my whole life and I struggled knowing she would not be physically present on our wedding day. We wanted to honor her legacy. I wore her gold bracelet and we included her own words in the ceremony. Her husband (my grandpa) was our ring bearer and Tyler’s grandma was our flower girl. As a gift for being our ring bearer, we gave my grandpa custom cufflinks with a photo of him and my grandma on their wedding day in 1959. The other cufflink reads, “Always by your side.” Our wedding day was truly magical. The best day of our lives. We felt so loved, supported, and celebrated by our closest family and friends.”
– Megan, the bride
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