Nicedayfora R

ussell and I met in San Francisco, but I grew up in Sun Valley, and we’ve spent a lot of time here over the past few years, so we knew we wanted to bring all of our friends and family to our favorite place.

We got engaged backcountry skiing over Galena summit, so while we had initially envisioned a summer outdoor wedding in my parents’ backyard, we quickly realized a winter wedding was much more fitting.

Heather Minor helped us plan the perfect weekend. Given my family history in Sun Valley, it was important to incorporate personalized touches. We kicked the weekend off with a rehearsal dinner at Trail Creek Cabin, where my parents got married. We met everyone at the Sun Valley Lodge and then took the horse-drawn sleighs to the cabin.

On Friday, we had our guests meet us on top of Baldy for a ski day – a true highlight. My mother-in-law had found a vintage white ski suit almost a year before, so I got to ski in that and a veil, while Russell skied in a tuxedo. That night, everyone rode the gondola up to The Roundhouse, where we hosted a welcome party with margaritas and fondue.

We felt strongly against doing a first look, so we spent Saturday apart with our bridesmaids and groomsmen before seeing each other for the first time walking down the aisle at St. Thomas Church. The celebration continued with drinks, dinner, and lots of dancing at River Run Lodge, where we drove in my parents’ vintage car overflowing with “Just Married” decorations.

Our first dance was to Fleetwood Mac’s “Say You Love Me”, which kicked off hours of dancing and even a limbo competition with our amazing band, New Soul Brigade. The weekend wrapped up with breakfast at my parents’ house, which was the perfect way to say goodbye before rushing to the airport for three weeks in Kenya on our honeymoon. It was the most magical winter Sun Valley weekend. F