This Aspen Wedding Was Planned in Just 3 Months!

There’s something romantic about a snowy night in Aspen, and Jessica Lockhart and Keith Hartigan know from experience. The pair met in December of 2013, vying for a stool at a local bar. The flirting turned into a late-night snowball fight and a date a few nights later, and just a few years later, here we are. In February of 2016, the couple was neck-deep in renovating their home in Denver. During the process, Keith built a ladder up to an old tree house, and one day he invited Jessica up to join him. “I climbed the ladder and found him up there with candles, flowers, and champagne. He proposed overlooking our house, telling me that while our house would never be finished or perfect, he wanted to be in it forever with me,” Jessica says.

The couple considered international destination wedding venues before looking back to where it all started: Aspen! “We wanted to share the place where we fell in love with our family and friends, and T-Lazy-7 Ranch was an easy choice, with a sprawling meadow and gorgeous mountain views,” the bride explains. The only catch? At this point, their July 23, 2016, date was three months away! That's when they turned to the pros at Bluebird Productions to create a natural, relaxed celebration in the mountains, making the most of the verdant fields and endless Colorado sunshine. If these photos by Shannon Von Eschen don’t make you want to throw a wedding in the mountains, we don’t know what will!

Because of their short timeline, the pair turned to Minted for their invitations, opting for a sleek and simple design with delicate gold details. The gray envelope and metallic accents set the tone for the naturally elevated celebration to come.

Jessica’s Inbal Dror wedding dress featured lace, beading, and a wrapped bodice. “It was unique but classic—and not to mention, it was so comfortable,” says the bride. She added soft waves, a pair of her mother’s earrings, and simple one-strap sandals.

As her finishing touch, the bride carried a soft bouquet of peonies, roses, and jasmine vines tied together with white silk ribbon.

Keith looked equally chic in a navy tuxedo with black velvet shoes, adding Jessica's late father's cuff links as a special touch.

“We were the last to marry in both of our families, so we decided to skip bridesmaids and groomsmen in favor of our nine nieces and nephews,” says Jessica. The boys donned navy pants and black suspenders, while the girls wore ivory lace dresses with keyhole backs and crowns of jasmine vines.

The ceremony took place in an open field, with a simple wooden altar draped in greenery and tall grass lining the aisle. The minimalist set-up gave way to dramatic forest and mountain views.

Guests gathered in the field for cocktail hour, where a mix of midcentury furniture, tufted ottomans, and rugs were accented with arrangements of peonies, roses, and vines.

For the reception, Jessica requested farm tables and gold flatware, then left the rest up to her wedding planner and florist. The bare tables were topped with simple white dishes, garlands of greenery, and taper candles in gold candlesticks. Roses and peonies peeked out between the vines for a pop of color on the tables. For the escort-card display, the couple made a super-creative addition to the table: a cow skull covered in a lush arrangement of dahlias, roses, peonies, ranunculus, and jasmine vines.

Instead of a wedding cake, Keith and Jessica served one of their all-time-favorite treats: doughnuts!

A DJ spun all night, keeping the dance floor full until the very last dance. “I’d always looked forward to having my father-daughter dance, and it was emotional to not have it,” says Jessica. “Instead, we played his favorite song and invited everyone on the dance floor to share the moment together. Dancing in my dad’s honor will always be etched in my memory.”

At the end of the night, she and Keith joined guests in the field to light sparklers and look at the stars. “Remember to be present,” says the bride. “The day will come and go so quickly!”