For their Colorado mountain wedding, Sierra and Melina hiked with 10 wedding guests to a lake in Buena Vista, Colorado. The ceremony featured a glass ceremony and guitar playing. The brides then boarded packrafts on the lake and paddled to an island where they had their first dance alone. On the morning of their wedding, the couple got ready together and had breakfast in matching buffalo check pajamas.
Mountain Wedding Locations
Buena Vista, Colorado (with reception in Salida, Colorado)
love story
We met online. We matched and I was the first to message. We messaged back and forth for about 2 months, sometimes it was fine, sometimes it was fine. Then Sierra finally got the courage to ask me out for coffee. I was so nervous myself. We met for coffee around 2pm and we were still talking at 6pm. I still didn’t want it to end so we went to a house two doors down and had dinner. After that we went to see a movie we were both looking forward to. Sierra was so nervous about holding Melina’s hand while watching the movie, but finally got the courage to do so. I was excited. I was scared that if my wipers squeaked Sierra would hate it and not want to go on a second date. Sierra still thinks this is so funny.
Dual Proposal
Melina: We had been talking about marriage even before he proposed. I knew I wanted to get married eventually, but I didn’t have a deadline. We found and bought my ring together, but Sierra wasn’t ready yet. I was totally surprised when she was ready and proposed in the middle of one of our favorite hikes. Unbeknownst to me, Sierra was in a state of panic most of the time during the camping trip and the hike, especially when there were a bunch of kids in the area where she was planning to go.
Luckily, they left and the proposal was able to continue as planned. After a snack break, I tried to take some photos of the butterflies around me, while Sierra sneakily put a special tag on Riley’s collar. She told me to check Riley’s collar, but I didn’t think it was an urgent matter and continued taking photos of the butterflies.
Finally she called Riley over to me. I saw the new tag and was so confused because no one could have put it there. Then I turned it over and it said “Will you marry me?” I turned around and Sierra was there with the ring and was already crying before I even had a chance to say anything.
I said yes, of course, and tried to remove my promise ring but it wouldn’t come off. I finally got it off by dipping my hand in a freezing creek and put my new ring on. While we hugged and celebrated, Riley started running around us and at one point nearly fell face-first into the creek. After we got back from our camping trip, we went to buy a ring for Sierra. I started thinking about what I wanted to do because I knew Sierra deserved a proposal too.
I had a cute mug on Etsy for a few years that said, “I love you to the mountain and back” on one side and “Will you marry me?” on the other. I also bought a cute wooden ring box with mountains on it because the ring box I got from the jewelry store was boring.
After everything was set, I retrieved Sierra’s ring and waited for the right moment. One of our favorite times to spend together is tea time. I make some tea and Sierra usually curls up with a book and relaxes at the end of the day. That night, I made some tea in my new mug and put the ring in my pocket. I knelt in front of her, showed her one side of the mug, then the other, and pulled out the ring. She was so surprised, she started crying again. We laughed until our cheeks hurt.
Mountain Wedding Details
Our first ceremony was at Lost Lake near Buena Vista, Colorado. We and 10 guests hiked down to the lake and got married on the shore. Two of our guests were musicians and sang at the beginning of the ceremony. This was followed by a glass ceremony, where each guest poured a shard of glass into a jar and sent it off to be made into ornaments. We each wrote and shared our vows, then participated in a handfasting ceremony where my parents wrapped our hands in rainbow ribbons, during which Melina’s mom read the beautiful vows she used at her own wedding. Unfortunately, it started raining halfway through our ceremony at the lake and never let up, forcing us to change our plans. We ended up hiking down and back up again before sunrise for the rest of our portraits and adventures. Instead, we decided to hold the ceremony again at the reception venue two days later with a smaller group of guests.
Wedding Vibes
Intentional: Incorporate only the things that are meaningful to you as a couple and remind you of why you want to get married. Laid-back: Don’t stress about a timeline and enjoy all the little moments of your day with your dog and family. Natural: Have an outdoor wedding that is authentic to you as a couple. Adventurous: Hike to your destination and try something new or go packrafting on a mountain lake.
Mountain Wedding Colors
Sage green, burgundy, dark blue, dusty blue
Wedding Flowers
Sierra had a bouquet of burgundy, sage green, white and light pink flowers with white ribbon, and Melina had a matching boutonniere. The reception was decorated with dusty blue, burgundy, green, pink and white flowers.
First Dance Song
Our first dance took place on an island in the middle of a lake that we had paddled to. We danced to “Marry Me” by Hans Zimmer and “Head Over Boots” by Jon Pardi.
Personal Wedding Details
Our wedding, overall, was very personal. I don’t think anyone has had a wedding exactly like ours. We tried to make everything as personal as possible. We did all the planning ourselves, so we were able to choose things that were uniquely ours. We were able to make the outfits our own, especially with Melina’s custom suit. We also added lace to Sierra’s dress and other things to make it more comfortable.
We tried to plan our entire wedding but ended up changing. We both really wanted our wedding to be just for us and to make the decisions we wanted without anyone else interfering. We both feel most comfortable in a small group and love spending time just the two of us, so we decided we wanted an adventurous elopement. We both love the mountains, so we wanted the chance to spend the day together in a beautiful place.
We decided which parts we wanted our friends and family to see, but we also planned some just-for-us time before the ceremony, like writing our vows on a beautiful mountain trail and having our first dance on an island with drones flying all around. We even had our dog sign our marriage license as a witness. Definitely a perk if you get married in Colorado! We also got to personalize our reception with a custom menu, specialty drinks, and rainbow/mountain cake. We were lucky to find the right people to help us plan and execute all of these unique plans (to the best of their ability) and to enjoy something truly unique with us.
Advice for engaged LGBTQ+ couples and those getting married
Do exactly what you want to do and don’t let others pressure you into doing anything you don’t want to do. We had to maintain some pretty strict boundaries to ensure that the guest list included who we wanted and that everything was for us and not for others, but it was well worth it in the end when we were surrounded by the people we felt most comfortable and loved with.
Advice for vendors and venues who work with LGBTQ+ couples and married couples
Take a good look at your forms, the language you use, and your policies to make sure they are gender-neutral and inclusive. We came across a lot of companies that were very open and accepting of us, yet their forms were very traditional.
Challenges faced by LGBTQ+ couples planning their wedding
The biggest challenge was figuring out whether vendors and businesses would be accepting and supportive of us before booking. Many of the LGBTQ+ friendly vendor listings on the internet were in larger cities, not Salt Lake City where we live or Salida, Colorado where we got married. We did a lot of research beforehand on social media and websites before contacting vendors or visiting locations, but most of the time there were no indications and we just had to rely on luck. Thankfully, everyone we worked with was amazing and supportive.
Were there any pleasant surprises?
How much support we received from our vendors. Even though they had gender-neutral forms, we never felt discriminated against by those who supported us. 
Featured Wedding Suppliers
Wedding Photographer: We are Light PhotographyEqually Wed’s Recommended Vendor
Wedding Venue: Independence Pass
Wedding accommodation: Creekside Chalets
Wedding Flower Shop: Boulder Bloom
Wedding outfit: Morilee; Tailor Cooperative (Caitlin Andrew)
Wedding Hair & Makeup Artist: A Pledge to Art
Source: Equally Wed – LGBTQ+ Wedding Magazine and Wedding Vendor Directory – equallywed.com
