Annie + Matt: St. Mary's Church Ceremony & Reception at Rubywood in Breckenridge

The following photoblog of Annie and Matt's real mountain wedding at St. Mary's Catholic Church followed by a reception at Rubywood, a private luxury home rental in Breckenridge. The ceremony was downtown while the home is a short drive away, but goes up Boreas Pass road to the top part of the neighborhoods on Mt. Baldy. Any higher up and you're looking at old gold mines and alpine tundra.

St. Mary's Catholic Church

Annie and Matt chose the older, historic side of St. Mary’s Catholic Church. There's  a newer addition that adds room to the original structure  built in 1881 to host their traditional ceremony.

A Bouquetless Bride

Annie was bouquetless,, choosing to hold on to the arms of her mother and father as she walked down the isle, there was no reason to have a bridal bouquet. She said that the most memorable part of her wedding was “My husband crying as I met him at the altar”.  It's all about priorities, and this bride chose to hold hands and not flowers.

Rubywood - A Paragon Lodging Property

Annie and Matt’s reception was held at Paragon Lodging’s Rubywood  in Breckenridge.  Paragon Lodging is a company that manages luxury homes all over the world and they offer the homes for rentals and even for small weddings. Granted there are a lot of rules, regulations and fees that come with renting out one of these homes for a wedding, but if you’re the type that doesn't want a stock wedding from a reception venue and you want to keep it intimate, having your reception in a luxury home just may be what you’re looking for.

Ashley Davis Photography

Annie said that the one thing she didn’t know before her wedding was how beautiful the flowers and wild grasses are in the summer in Breckenridge. Annie and Matt chose Boulder, Colorado’s Ashley Davis for their photographer. From the preparation to the reception Ashley’s documentary style of photography captured the little details, smiles and emotions throughout the day.  Her mission is ‘Real Photography For Non-Traditional Couples’.

 Since Annie and Matt didn’t go with a traditional reception sight, they had more freedom in all of their choices.  Annie said it was worth spending the extra money on the “Food!  Everyone always says that no one remembers the food at a wedding, but that's because it's usually not very good.  Our food was amazing and people truly enjoyed the eating portion of our reception and still talk about it.

Ridge Street Kitchen

Annie and Matt chose Breckenridge’s Ridge Street Kitchen for their catering.  Kelly Brenholt from Ridge  Street Kitchen remembers Annie and Matt's wedding well saying, 'she really went with the "whole feel" as far as the BBQ dinner goes--we had cool tin plates, mugs, gingham and burlap linen, and  country/bluegrass music.For the wedding dinner we included her family's spoon bread recipe and went with a little bit more elegant---shrimp and beef dinner---to go withh the elegant decor/flowers/linen, etc.'

Petal and Bean

Annie  also mentioned that, “The ornate details in the decor too! (Were worth spending extra money on) ."  The chandeliers at our wedding were incredible; white roses,  manzanita branches, hanging crystals, and lights.”

Annie said in hindsight about her wedding and planning, “I wouldn't do anything different because we took our time planning, we listened to advice from other couples and we truly, truly followed our instincts with what we wanted our wedding to be. It is so easy to get caught up in having your wedding be some sort of show and tell versus a celebration of the love you and your spouse share.”

// VENDORS

Venue / Lodging: Paragon Lodging

Photographer: Ashley Davis

Flowers and Decor: Petal and Bean

Catering: Ridge Street Kitchen