Halie and Colben said “Yes” to forever on September 19, 2020. Congratulations you two! And thank you so much for sharing your special day with us!
One of my favorite parts of our special day was when it started down pouring rain, everyone was running for cover but my in-laws walked out to the dance floor and started dancing, then my husband and I shared our first dance to the end of Copperhead Road, not the song we were supposed to dance to first but the moment was too perfect.
Tell us about the proposal! We LOVE to hear these stories. : We are avid hunters and we went to set up hunting camp on October 7th of 2018 where we set up the 'hut' and then went out to go scouting for opening weekend. This was the one time where I was pushing to go hike and really get serious about it, Colben was not about it and was almost insulted I wanted to do so. He kept pushing and pushing to get higher up on the mountain. Once we got up there everyone was parked around and I was trying to explain where I think we needed to set up and no one, and I mean NO one was listening to me. I was absolutely clueless and didn’t understand why no one had their head in the game. I turned to look at Colbens family and his dad had his camera up and I giggled because he sometimes takes cute candids of all of us when we are out and about and when I turned around Colben was down on one knee asking for my hand. It was absolutely perfect, all of our family around, beautiful scenery and what we now call proposal corner. It will forever be our landmark in our sacred hunting camp.
Tell Us About Your Wedding: Our wedding day was nothing short of perfect to Colben and I, we had some trials we had to overcome getting to that day. Our original venue cancelled on us due to COVID and we searched endlessly for a new venue that checked off all of our boxes. We were very adamant on being able to have our bridal party stay at the venue, we wanted to be able to have campers there and a relaxed environment that was surrounded by mountains and timber. We struggled finding somewhere until our amazing photographer asked if we had looked into the SouthFork River Ranch in Stites Idaho. It was perfect….We had a whole palette of colors, dusty blue, dusty rose, soft pinks and peaches, yellows, tans and greens to go with our BoHo/Chabby Chic/Country themed wedding. All of our decorations came from the Hanger Mall in Clarkston WA. And let me tell you, no one could picture it when I would explain to them how I wanted it or why my bouquet had enough flowers to fill a flower shop, my homemade hair piece, and the homemade flower arrangements, but when it was done, everyone had that ah-ha moment. It was everything I had pictured, down to the last detail. It was perfect. We made it through the ceremony, pictures, sat down to eat and then it started raining, and I mean cats and dogs raining. But it was amazing. We danced in the rain as everyone ducked for cover. The environment was perfect and it all fell together how it was supposed to. Many people could not make it due to COVID and older relatives decided not to come due to the thick thick smoke that covered the whole west side of the US and smothered our hometown and venue, but the show must go on. After it poured rain the smoke cleared and we seen the golden sun for the first time in weeks. Heather, my mother in law, had told me that if I feel a flutter or just that feeling, it was my dad. I tell you what, I knew in that moment, not only my dad but all of those we have lost and couldn't be there in person were looking down on Colben and I in that moment. I felt it and I'm pretty sure everyone else did too. Amanda, one of my bridesmaids even asked me if I've ever heard holes in the floor of heaven before. Our day was absolutely perfect.
*edited for length and clarity
Special Memories: I am a huge gift giver and I am not close to a lot of my family members so for the wedding day I had gotten special gifts for my Mother-in-law / best friend and my Father-in-law. And when I say gift giver, I mean the kind of gifts that make your eyes well up, and they did just that. I really don't think there is a time leading up to the wedding or on the wedding day that wasn't special to me. My mother in law helped me make all of the flower arrangements with the bridesmaids and close friends and family, the decorating of the arch to dress shopping. Means our dad passed away when we were young I wanted to have a tribute song to him with my sister, she just didn't know it, so we called her up on stage and she dance with me to Even though I'm Leaving by Luke Combs, we cried, everyone cried but it was amazing. I shared the father daughter dance with my father in law who also walked me down the aisle. My sister did all of the artwork for our invitations, save the dates and thank-yous. All of our wedding was perfectly us.
What advice would you give to future brides?: Weddings are stressful, there were many nights I felt like pulling my hair out because I was worried we weren’t going to find a venue, things weren't going to pan out, we weren’t going to have enough time but you just have to take a step back and breathe. You are getting married no matter what, trashbag dress or not, at the end of the day you are walking out a married woman to the love of your life. The details don't matter. No one is going to know if you paid hundreds of dollars on the keepsakes, signs, or decorations. Its your day, there are going to be stressful moments but make sure you have more fun moments than stressful ones. Lean on others around you they are all there to help.
Vendor Credit: Venue - SouthFork River Ranch Stites Idaho http://southforkriverranch.com/
Dress - Believe Bride https://believebride.com/
Caterer - The Love Shack Kitchen https://loveshackkitchen.com/
Beer - Groundwork Brewing https://groundworkbrewing.square.site/
Photographer - Courtney Kammers Photography https://www.courtneykammers.com/
Art work - Harley Decius
DJ - Our close friend Robert
Videographer - Pure Production https://pureproductionsmedia.com
