The absolutely brilliant venue of The Lyons Farmette once again plays hosts to a gorgeous wedding, this with a down home Colorado country twist! Jen Preston & Dave D Angelo, having been to their share of weddings and knew from the start the special little details that they wanted to include to truly hallmark their wedding as both stylish & thoughtful. The couple pre-bottled Aperol Spritzers {their signature cocktail} to avoid the mad bar rush post ceremony as well as really focused on terrific food for the guests. Coffee bean bags were re-purposed into a 700 foot long table runner, while vintage scales dotted the decor. Traditional cake gave way to scrumptious pies along with the Coaches Scoop Truck which doled out the a la mode part! As the lights went down, the sound cranked up in the form of Boulder’s premier 80’s group – The Goonies Band! Jen & Dave’s wedding is utterly stunning & they did such a terrific job bringing dashes of country with the perfect touches of refinement!
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Novella of the Bride…
We met through mutual friends in a ski share almost 3 years ago. Dave travels a lot for work and we met the last weekend of the ski season. We started dating immediately:) Dave is a cinematographer who shoots all over the world and is gone for weeks or months on end. I am a travel consultant and work in downtown Denver. The distance is tough but it keeps the magic alive! We both love to travel and I have been lucky enough to meet up with Dave during some of his far away shoots.
We fell in love with the Farmette at first sight! There are so many quaint and quirky aspects of the farm that spoke to us–the bridge, the seating area down by the river, the old Ford truck, the millions of flowers, the beautiful air stream bridal suite, the animals. We knew we could add our personal touch to the existing natural elements of the farm and have something personal, quaint, vintage and amazing. The location has a comfy, laid-back quality and are biggest wish for our guests was for them to enjoy the event and just have a blast.
The theme of the wedding was Colorado Country Farm. Our aim was to have an amazing time with 140 of our closest friends and family – there were no rules except to create an amazing experience. Luckily, a lot of decor and preparations had been handled months prior – old burlap coffee sacks were washed, cut, and ironed into over 700 ft of table runners. Denver’s antique stores and thrift shops were liberated of dozens of blue mason jars and old timey flour sifters for the flower displays. We were also inspired by a previous wedding at the Farmette and hunted down a bunch of 50’s and 60’s kitchen scales to liven up the dessert table. Leanne, the maid of honer and the bride’s sister, jarred homemade strawberry jam favors which were also used as place cards. She baked over 150 cookies for the welcome bags.
One of the interesting things that made this wedding truly special and unique is what happened two weeks prior at Dave’s Bachelor Party in Austin, TX, where he was run over by a boat. The groom was seriously injured in a boating accident, rendering his right knee and right arm immobilized for 8 weeks. The prop sliced his deltoid in half and shattered his kneecap. He also broke several ribs and punctured his lung. Getting that call while at work on a Friday late afternoon was one of the scariest moments of my life. For as serious as the accident was, every aspect could not have gone better, as strange as it is to say. Its almost impossible to put into words how fortunate we felt that Dave was not more seriously injured and my only thought was–he is alive, who cares about the rest. Immediately after the accident, Dave’s spirits were high and he stayed positive throughout. He never once thought about postponing the wedding even though the doctors weren’t sure he’d be out of the hospital in time. With great support, prayers and positive vibes from family and friends–he made it home the Thursday before our Saturday wedding, in a wheel chair, but with a huge smile:) Needless to say it created many challenges, but nothing a wheelchair, larger pants, and some amazing friends and family couldn’t fix. Despite the groom being in an Austin, TX hospital until two days before the wedding everyone banded together and got it done. It was truly a memorable and magical day.
We had tons of help the 2 weeks before the wedding! Given the fact that Dave, who is the primary wedding planner of this duo, was recovering in a hospital Austin, our groomsmen totally stepped in for last minute help. The guys coordinated getting all of our decor elements to the farm, bottling our signature cocktails, staying in close contact with our wedding planner to pull together tons of details. My sister, Leanne, was a trooper and took charge over the bridesmaids and other willing friends to make sure other small details did not get missed. I can’t say enough wonderful things about our wedding planner, Hope. Without her, this wedding would not have been nearly the special event that it was. In general, so many of our friends and family pulled together to make the best of a tough situation and it could not have been more perfect.
Being in our mid 30’s and going to lots of weddings, we had a lot inspiration to work off of. For instance after seeing how many bride and grooms missed the majority of cocktail hour because of pictures we decided to make ours a full 2 hours long. Another thing we noticed was right after the ceremony the bar would just get crushed. To get that initial drink served quickly, the couple’s friends got together one night and pre-bottled Aperol Spritzers, the signature cocktail. We also love food, so it was really important to us that folks were well fed – Big Bang Catering did a bang up job. For dessert we skipped the cake cutting ceremony and the cake all together, opting for homemade pies from Spruce Confections. What better to go with pie than ice cream – so during dessert we brought in Coaches Scoop, an ice cream truck. This was a huge hit with young and old alike. Deciding on music was a little tough at first. For the ceremony, cocktail hour, and dinner we had Kort Macomber, a talented local Bluegrass musician. That was easy as he had played in two of the groomsman’s weddings and was amazing. Figuring out who to dance to was a little tricky – we waffled between iPod and band, until it dawned on us – 80’s!! Everyone will dance to rocking 80’s music and it just so happens we knew of Boulder’s premier 80’s group – The Goonies. Finally, Boulder County shuts you down at 10 pm – way too early. We wanted to keep the party moving and cohesive, so the buses brought everyone to Bacaro for an afterparty until the wee hours.
Couple’s Favorite Moments:
Bride: “There were so many moments! The whole weekend was magical, celebrating life & love with our family & friends, but my two favorite moments were the sacred alone time Dave & I spent together in the back garden taking it all in (we had been apart for 2 weeks prior so it was so nice to have those few moments to ourselves to reflect on everything). AND our first dance–we weren’t sure if Dave would be able to be out of his wheel chair for that long. But he was and it was perfect! I still get chills every time I think about it…and hear the song “Faithfully” by Journey.”
Groom: “We had several unforgettable moments at the wedding. Seeing each other for the first time, taking a moment to ourselves in the flower garden during dinner, and the first dance. My right leg wasn’t allowed to bear any weight whatsoever and my right shoulder was effectively immobilized. Still, we managed to prop me up to dance/sway on one leg for a very emotional and memorable first dance, The Goonies rendition of “Faithfully”
Vendor Love
Venue: The Lyons Farmette | Wedding Dress: Romona Keveza | Dress Store: Felice Bridal | Shoes: Badgley Mischka | Hair Stylist: Twig Salon | Bridesmaid Dresses: JCrew | Groom’s Suit: JCrew | Florist: Brighter Day Floral Design | Caterer: Big Bang Catering | Bakery: Granny Scott’s Pie Bakery | Band: The Goonies Band,Kort McComber Duo {Ceremony/Cocktail} | Event Planner: The Wedding Studio | Photographer: Ashley Davis Photography