One Couple's Romantic Fall Wedding at a Colorado Country Club

Alexandra “Alex” Middleton had a unique dilemma when it came to finding a ceremony backdrop for her marriage to David Peterson, a professional baseball player. “David is 6’7” so I needed to find something huge,” Alex says of landing on a 9-foot-wide ceremony ring covered in greenery, white flowers, and pampas grass.

The Colorado-based pair said “I do” at Columbine Country Club, where Alex and her family have been members for more than 15 years. It was fitting as the couple actually met in an ACT prep class in their teens—they both went to rival high schools in Denver—and David popped the question five years later with a surprise party at the club.

For their October 26, 2019, Alex, a marketing and events coordinator, took on much of the planning with design advice from her stationer Hannah Howard of Ink & Root, and, later, planner Amanda Slater of Table 6 Productions. "I hired Amanda about four months before my wedding!" she says. "We had a lot of vendors locked in at that point, but there were so many things that still needed to be worked out, and I just wanted someone to handle it all for me at that point so I could enjoy the process fully!" The final result: a romantic celebration with modern elements, such as lush white and blush blooms were juxtaposed with acrylic details, like acrylic high top tables, clear signage, and ghost chairs at the reception tables.

The couple personalized the wedding with a menu of four signature cocktails, including the mother of the bride’s go-to margarita, hand-written vows, and sweet family moments like a surprise speech from the bride’s brother and a loving father-daughter dance. “I couldn’t have done that day without him,” Alex says. “My dad is my best friend, and I can’t thank him enough for everything he has done for me. It was a very special moment.”

Read on for all the details of Alex and David’s romantic Denver wedding, planned by the couple and photographed by Tews Visual.

Alex got ready with her bridesmaids and bridesman. Her squad wore blush robes, while the bride looked chic in a two-piece set trimmed with feathers.

Alex and David count their first look as one of their favorite moments of the day. Beyond seeing each other for the first time in their wedding attire, they also privately shared their vows with one another and clinked glasses of champagne. “I loved having that moment together before the ceremony,” Alex says. “It was something I will never forget.”

Alex wore a blush-and-white, strapless Romona Keveza lace gown with a dramatic train, formal-length veil, and Manolo Blahnik heels. David also went with a classic look, rocking a black tuxedo from Indochino with suspenders and black tuxedo shoes. “I wasn’t planning on wearing anything on my neck but he gave me a diamond necklace on a dainty gold chain [on the wedding day], and it was the perfect addition to the look,” Alex adds.

Since Alex’s dress had blush tones, her bridesmaids wore simple white dresses from Endless Summer and her bridesman donned a white dinner jacket.

Dark green ribbons wrapped Alex’s bouquet, which featured white ranunculus and white roses with sprigs of various types of greenery.

To coordinate with David, the groomsmen all wore black tuxedos from The Black Tux.

The couple’s ceremony took place on the lawn overlooking Columbine Country Club’s golf course. “We wanted the location to be meaningful and not just a random location,” Alex says. “The golf course is stunning, especially during a Colorado fall.” To anchor the space, the couple had a 9-foot-tall circular arch covered in greenery, white roses, and pampas grass.

“For florals, Bethany at Keep Floral, and I worked really closely on the vision for the ceremony,” Alex says. That included the giant floral backdrop for their vows as well as bold arrangements along the aisle. As a nod to the couple’s religious ceremony, guests sat in church pews lining the grass.

The couple’s Labrador retriever, Henry, served as a ring bearer wearing a collar of greenery. He also had a signature cocktail named in his honor: Bailey’s Irish coffee.

The bridesmaids carried petite bouquets that were smaller versions of the bridal bouquet.

Alex’s father, Michael Middleton, walked her down the aisle to Etta James’s “At Last,” played by indie-folk duo Poets Row.

“We decided not to get married in a church but knew our ceremony would be religious,” Alex says of opting for church pews as ceremony seating. “I was determined to find cool and different seating, and the pews really stood out.”

Alex and David exchanged their own vows as well as took communion as a couple, “which we really loved,” the bride adds.

“Enjoy every last minute because it goes by so quickly,” Alex advises to couples planning.

The couple wanted their guests to enter the tented reception with a glass in hand, so the escort cards were displayed on a giant black wall filled with champagne flutes and a sign that said ‘sip and be seated.’ Guests were also treated to a giant charcuterie station.

Designing the tented reception was the easiest part of planning, says Alex, who loved every minute of the hefty task of figuring out all of the details.

“The entrance of the tent was one of the first things we decided on! Florals guided the entrance on each side and really stood out,” Alex says of the cascading greenery and flowers dripping from the entryway of the Sperry tent.

As guests sipped signature cocktails—like a smoked old-fashioned and a frothy cosmo—the newlyweds took a sneak peek at the reception décor. “It is such a short period of time in your life that it should be super fun and exciting,” Alex says of planning the wedding.

The massive tent, which was set for 206 guests, featured a mix of round and long tables flanked by ghost chairs and topped with clean white linens. Tables featured low arrangements of white and blush blooms as well as hurricanes filled with white candles. “Everything in the reception was super clean and romantic,” Alex says of the design.

Greenery wrapped the tent poles to draw guests’ eyes up to the gold chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. As the sun went down, uplighting around the tent walls lit up the exterior of the space.

Looking at specific details, Alex says she particularly loved the blush pink velvet napkins that were draped on the edge of the table for each guest.

The tent also featured two small lounge areas with plush velvet furniture and a neon sign with the couple’s names.

“I didn’t want each table to be the same so some tables are florals in the center or some were hurricane candles,” Alex says. Each place setting included a clear charger set accented with a vellum-wrapped name card and gold flatware.

Poets Row also played music for the reception, including the couple’s first dance to a cover of Van Morrison’s “Crazy Love.” They also did traditional father-daughter and mother-son dances to Van Morrison’s “Have I Told You Lately” and Kenny Chesney’s “Don’t Blink,” respectively.

The couple’s four-tier pink ombré cake—made by A Cake Come True—was displayed on an acrylic box filled with flowers.

Alex and David cut into the cake, which included two cake flavors—vanilla and chocolate—but the same raspberry compote filling. After the ceremony, the pair jetted to Punta Mita, Mexico, for what the bride describes as "much-needed rest and relaxation" on their honeymoon.