Summit County Wedding Photographers | Silverthorne, Co Camp Dallow Wedding | Kent + Ellen

Summit County Wedding Photographers

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this day was an absolute turning point in the way that I view, experience and ultimately the entire way I work weddings and with the couples that entrust my with their happiest of memories.

I met Kent + Ellen for tacos and margaritas one summer night a little more than a year before their wedding.

we talked about just about everything but their wedding plans, I got to know about them as peeeeooople and as a couple, how they got engaged (surprise party!), their PUPPIES, and our mutual odd enjoyment of ABC’s the Bachelor/ette.

I was basically in love with them from the first email Ellen sent me, but this meeting really just made it all real.

 Fast forward 13 months, and BOOM! it’s August, and for all 10 hours of time with these two and their favorites, I had the absolute time of my life, spent in awe of a group of people and how respect + love (and good tunes) really just wins against anything else.

Kent + Ellen’s wedding was featured in The Knot magazine this year (yay! see the feature at the end) and they did such a wonderful job talking about their wedding experience, so I’ll let them share their story.

 ” IT ALL STARTED WHEN…

Ellen and I first met at a Halloween party back in 2011. Ellen was “Sandy” (from Grease), and I was an airline pilot with a killer fake mustache. Due to having some great mutual friends, we ended up chatting at the party despite “Sandy” coming with her own “Danny.”  Some would say that “Sandy” had a thing for this airline pilot she had just met. The proof lies in a picture of the two of us dancing that night. Perhaps it was the killer mustache? Only time would tell …  

About six months later, mutual friends brought us together again. We hit it off right away, and our friends could tell that there was a growing connection between us. A little fun fact, upon meeting the second time, Ellen had no idea that I was the same airline pilot from before.  Several friendly Facebook posts involving a bongosarus, a great recommendation from a mutual friend, and a competitive game of giant Jenga later, I guess you could say the rest is history.  

Since then it’s been an incredible adventure of bike rides and mountain hikes, airplane trips and dog walks, broncos games and park days, rebuilding a house and building a life together. 

THE LOCATION:

Where did you wed and why did you pick the venue/site?

We were incredibly fortunate to celebrate our wedding day at Kent’s family’s cabin, located on 11 acres next to the Blue River. Legends say it was purchased by Kent’s great grandmother in the early 50’s…what a woman! Back then, the cabin was the social clubhouse for the surrounding cabin owners. We have continued this tradition with the Annual Cabin Shenanigans, an event involving lots of good friends and good fun. In 2017, we stayed true to our tradition and just happened to hold the 5th Annual Cabin Shenanigans on 08/05/2017…and get married of course! While it has been upgraded from a dirt floor and flat roof, it was still pretty rustic.  Luckily, Kent had spent a few months prior to the wedding clearing out several acres for our guests to camp and leveling out the dining and dancing area. He now has a newfound love for heavy machinery and has already asked for a Bobcat for Christmas haha. 

HOW DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR ENGAGEMENT RING/WEDDING BANDS:

Our wedding bands were a custom make of the Dallow family crest. I took Kent’s last name and the wedding ring serves as a daily reminder of the commitment I have made to him. – Ellen

 

TELL US ABOUT THE WEDDING DRESS:

Style, shape, color, fabric, etc.

My grandmother that had recently passed away before the wedding loved to crochet. One of my favorite pictures of when I was a little girl was of me wearing one of the beautiful crochet pieces my grandmother made me. I originally found the Raven gown by Rue de Seine online as I fell in love with the crochet top and additional crochet throughout the dress. It was the first dress I tried on at a&be bridal shop and I knew it was the one. – Ellen

AND THE REST OF YOUR BRIDAL FASHION?

Veil, shoes, jewelry and other accessories.

I purchased a pair of killer snake skin boots from Free People to wear to my bachelorette party at the Coachella Music Festival. I loved them so much I wore them on my wedding day. The elegant but boho vibe of the Kendra Scott earrings I wore really stood out, but it was the pearl bracelet my parents gave me to wear on my special day that truly made me feel incredible.

– Ellen

WHAT WAS YOUR BRIDAL BEAUTY STYLE?

How did you wear your hair and makeup? What kind of look were you going for?

I wanted a style that resembled my personality, edgy and free with a touch of sweet, so I had my hair braided and pulled back on one side to show the blue streaks I had dyed into my hair, my something blue. -Ellen

DESCRIBE THE GROOM’S LOOK:

What did he wear? Any fun accessories (like ties, socks, pocket squares, etc.)?

I wanted to go with something that was not the traditional blue or black suit so I ended up picking a khaki linen three piece suit from Indochino.  I wore a navy shirt underneath and had a great bowtie and pocket square set from Knotty Tie that paid homage to the Wash Park neighborhood in Denver where Ellen and I bought our first house together.  Ellen had given the groomsmen and myself a great set of socks to wear that were a perfect complement to my favorite boots from Thursday Boot company. To finish it off, I wore my great grandfather’s pocket watch that is still ticking today!  – Kent

DID YOU BRING ANY CULTURAL ELEMENTS INTO YOUR LOOK?

Think headpieces, traditional colors, mehndi, jewelry, etc.

We did not necessarily have any cultural elements in our style, but we did incorporate Buddhism and Taoism into our ceremony. – Kent and Ellen

YOUR WEDDING STYLE

WHAT INSPIRED YOUR THEME/STYLE?

Why was it important to you?

Hallie, our main wedding planner and good friend, came up with the theme masculine mountain romance. She nailed it. Everything just fell into place after that. We had the beautiful backdrop of mountains, had the ceremony next to the Blue River, and the reception entirely outside.  We accented the decorations with fur blankets and antlers and the theme and style really fell into place. This was important to us because we wanted to have an outdoor mountain wedding as we both love the Rocky Mountains and we were so excited to be able to host our friends and family in such a beautiful setting.  – Kent and Ellen

WHAT WERE YOUR COLORS?

How did you use them throughout the day?

Our main colors were navy blue, marsala, and a deep olive green.  The blue was a big part of the groomsmens and my outfit, along with Ellen’s gorgeous hair, and the Blue River itself added a lot of blue to the setting.  The marsala color came through with the beautiful flowers from Lace & Lillies, as well as the wine that was flowing like the river behind us. The deep olive green was a huge part of the backdrop as our cabin is surrounded by gorgeous old evergreens and was again brought into the style through the flowers and wreaths provided by Lace & Lillies. – Kent and Ellen

WHAT WAS SPECIAL ABOUT YOUR STATIONERY?

Any cool takes on invitations, programs, escort cards or menus?

One evening over a glass of wine, Kent and I sat down to write our invitation wording. We wanted to avoid overly formal verbiage so I got a little silly and drafted a few takes. A glass of wine (or was that two glasses?) later, Kent and I were on the floor laughing after reading aloud the wording from my “bear themed” wedding invitation draft. We sent it over to our wedding planners, Hallie and Bridget, who tend to a have similar sense of humor. They loved it and the bear theme stuck! – Ellen  

LET’S TALK BLOOMS! DESCRIBE YOUR BOUQUETS & BOUTONNIERES:

What inspired your flower choice? Was there any sentimental significance?

We left most of the flower selection up to the lovely ladies at Lace & Lillies and they did such an amazing job of capturing our colors and style.  They also did a great job of creating a giant wreath to hang from the front of the cabin, where we had a set of antlers mounted in the middle and the string lights that lit up the dining and dancing area hung right above the wreath, creating a great focal point for the reception. – Kent

CEREMONY & RECEPTION

TELL US ABOUT YOUR CEREMONY DÉCOR:

How did you decorate the space and the aisle? Did you have a unique altar?

With this being an outdoor ceremony, we left most of the decorations to Mother Nature.  We only had a few chairs set up for family and the rest of the guests circled around Ellen and I and our close friend and officiant Judge Dennis Graham.  When I was clearing out the land prior to the wedding, I had ended up cutting down and clearing out a number of dead trees from the area. I used several of these to build a tepee to serve as our alter, which Ellen and I stood in front of during the ceremony.  – Kent

DID YOU INCORPORATE RELIGIOUS OR CULTURAL TRADITIONS IN A NEW WAY?

Ellen and I are not the most traditional when it comes to religion so we wanted to incorporate several Buddhist and Taoist themes into the ceremony.  Our officiant provided a great balance to this by incorporating more traditional religious themes. Overall, it was a great ceremony focusing on love, happiness, and commitment that pulled from several different belief systems.  – Kent

ANY NON-TRADITIONAL CEREMONY MUSIC CHOICES?

I selected the song River by Leon Bridges to walk down the aisle to as I thought this was most fitting with the scenery and our ceremony message. Kent and I believe in the Taoist message of living our lives like water and this song was a perfect complement to that.  – Ellen

 

WHAT INSPIRED YOUR RECEPTION STYLE?

Tell us why you chose your centerpieces, flowers, place settings, linens, etc.

Our reception was very much focused on a family style dinner.  We had long farm tables and benches provided by Tents and Events and our table decorations were fairly minimal so that the focus would be on the large platters of amazing food.  The table settings also included kerosene lanterns which served the dual purpose of keeping the mosquitos at bay while also indicating the table number (which were painted on the glass portion of the lantern).  To keep with the mountain theme we used deep olive bandanas for the napkins, and we did not expect to see so many of our friends and family wearing the bandanas instead of wiping food up with them! Kent’s mother also embroidered a number of plaid blankets with our wedding logo, and these were set out on the benches to make sure that our guests stayed warm and comfortable. – Ellen

DID YOU HAVE A COCKTAIL HOUR?

Signature drinks? Special music? Good eats?

We served our guests pre-ceremony cocktails and appetizers because the ceremony didn’t start until after 6 pm. No one likes a hangry guest! Ellen loves Old Fashions, and I fancy a Manhattan, but we decided against serving our favorite drinks as a signature drink before the ceremony to ensure everyone would be able to remember it!  Don’t worry though, there was plenty of whiskey to be had after the ceremony. – Kent

WHAT MENU ITEMS MADE IT A MEAL TO REMEMBER?

Why did you include those dishes?

The entire meal was a hit! Ellen is part of a ladies’ beer drinking group called Crafty Ladies that is run by Katie and Juan Pedro, the owners of Highland Tap & Burger, Sloans Tap & Burger, Bar Dough, and Señor Bear. We brainstormed with the Tap & Burger Concepts team and decided on smoked pig and lamb from their huge smoker on wheels, IPA mac and cheese, baked beans, grilled seasonal vegetables, and Palisade peach cobbler. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! – Kent

 

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR FIRST DANCE SONG?

Don’t forget to tell us the title and singer too!

Kent and I started taking dance lessons well before our wedding thanks to dear friends of ours (thanks Sean and Alyssa). We have always been a big fan of Al Green so Terry, our dance instructor, helped us learn a Rumba styled dance to Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together. We loved Terry and the rest of the crew at TG Danzport so much that we are still taking lessons.

– Ellen

WHAT KIND OF MUSIC PLAYED THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT?

Did you have a live band or a DJ? Did you make a grand entrance? Any surprises?

We found a great two piece band, Duck & Cover (consisting of Josh Branch and Steven O’Connor), that provided all of the music for our wedding.  They did it all as they MC’d, played live music, and also kept the dance party going all night with their great selection of hits. We have never seen a dance floor as packed as it was and the band luckily agreed to play for a few extra hours as our guests were ready to cut loose long into the night.  There were also a few great surprises. Kent had always promised that he would play and sing a song for me at our wedding and I thought he was going to drop the ball here. However, it turned out that a few of the “happy hours” he had been sneaking off to were actually practice sessions with our Josh and Steve and he surprised me by singing and playing one of my favorite songs “Just What I Needed” by the Cars on guitar!  I surprised him too as I know he has a talent for rapping “Gangsters’ Paradise” by Coolio, so I made sure to have the band pull him back on stage later in the night for a special performance. – Ellen

WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND YOUR WEDDING FAVORS (IF YOU HAD ANY)?

We had two sets of wedding favors that pulled from our mountain masculine theme and met our goal of being great gifts for our guests that they could actually use after the wedding.  The first favors were enameled camping mugs that had a simple version of our wedding logo on it that the guests used throughout the night for their water mugs and then were able to take home and use as the next time they were camping.  My mother also embroidered a number of plaid blankets with our wedding logo (thanks Mom!), and our guests were able to use them throughout the night to stay warm and then take home afterwards.

WHAT WEDDING ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO YOUR BEST ENGAGED FRIEND?

We would give the same advice that so many of our newly married friends gave us…try to be present as much as possible on your wedding day. It is easy to get carried away with everything going on. Make sure to take a moment with your loved one to step back and reflect on how incredible it is that all your friends and family are here for you. It’s truly a once in a lifetime experience.  

 

WHAT ABOUT WEDDING DAY SNAFUS?

Did anything go oh-so-wrong that you can laugh about now?

We knew going into this that the weather could be an issue.  I mean, it’s Colorado in August so we could see anything roll through.  We didn’t want a large tent though as that would really ruin our dream outdoor wedding so we decided to risk it and embrace the outdoors and everything that came with it.  Of course it ended up raining for a portion of the cocktail hour, but luckily we bought plenty of umbrellas for our guests and the rain cleared right before the ceremony. – Kent . “

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