You know we're all about the personal touches around here, and today's real wedding has them in abundance. Jessica and Kyle married at River Bend outside Boulder in Colorado with a stylish marquee wedding. Starting their day with a first look, the bride wore an heirloom wedding dress and the groom rocked his navy whites, setting the tone for a wedding that was steeped in sentiment and focused on family. Following their intimate outdoor ceremony, the couple switched up their look for a fun, informal reception with string lights, craft beers, DIY decor, and taco trucks. This cool pair created one beautiful, laid-back bash and Alp & Isle Photography captured all the details for us to share.

Jessica & Kyle met while they were both living on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, “Kyle was stationed at Joint Base Pearl Harbour Hickim as a Naval Officer while I was working with the Honolulu Museum of Art and the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument at Pearl Harbour,” explains Jessica who’s originally from Michigan.

But it wasn’t smooth sailing from their first encounter. The couple met just six months before Kyle, who is from Nebraska, was due to move to New York for a Navy fellowship. “I followed just behind him leaving Hawaii for the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom for graduate school,” Jessica tells us, “We spent 14 months, 425 days apart, making long-distance work through creative FaceTime dates and flying across the Atlantic to see each other.”

The couple came together in Boulder Colorado, the state where they’d eventually tie the knot, “Kyle’s next assignment was in the fall of 2017 teaching for the Department of Naval Science for University of Colorado Boulder, I finished my Master program at UoM in September, he asked me to move with him and that December we were engaged.”

Now doesn't Kyle look sharp in his navy dress uniform? We love a first look, and this one is a tear-jerker!

As a keen photographer, Kyle surprised Jessica with his proposal by telling her he wanted to go take sunset pictures at Bear Lake in the Rocky Mountains, “We drove through the mountains and arrived to just around dusk, he set up his camera and tripod, and was fiddling with his settings. He asked me to go stand out in front of the snowy lake to snap some photographs, that he would set the timer so he could capture both of us,” explains Jessica.

And we all have a feeling what happened next! “He came out and put his arm around me for a few shots, and suddenly was down on one knee with a ring. I had absolutely no idea, it took me by complete surprise, and I started crying (of course). We called our family and friends, and had a beautiful drive at sunset back down through the mountains.”

We are loving Jessica’s choice of accessories for the big day, “My shoes were Manolo Blahnik flats in navy (my something blue) for the ceremony, and Chloé nude block heels for the reception.  My earrings were vintage Christian Dior pearls and sapphires and I wore my Grandmother's citrine estate ring.

Jessica’s wedding dress has a special story behind it, “My dress was a re-design of my mother's vintage 1980s Carol Gowns by Mr. Walter Chicago wedding dress by Denver designer, DeeDee Vicory, and The Wedding Seamstress. The cathedral veil was repurposed hand-sewn lace from the original wedding dress. My second dress was the Kiera blue midi wrap dress by Hutch.

The couple tell us about the informal feel of their celebration, “Our wedding was unique, romantic, rainy, full of personal touches and of loads of love.”

From the outset the couple were keen to make the day their own, “ Our priorities were personal touches and honouring family, creating our own version of the perfect day. We wanted a celebration that was entirely us, perfectly mismatched decor, full of interesting personal pieces from our 'roots', and our families,” describes Jessica.

The couple went to great lengths to include meaningful family touches, “I wore my mother's vintage wedding dress, and grandmother's estate ring,” says Jessica, “We used vintage glassware, bottles and wooden crates collected by Kyle's grandfather, who owned grocery store in Lawrence, Kansas, and displayed wedding portraits of multiple generations from both sides of the family. And lastly, we included our 1985 VW Vanagon that Kyle has been redesigning alongside his dad for months, which was the perfect wedding vehicle.”

Sounds like a plan to us!

Fans of The Princess Bride will LOVE this signage!

Keeping the family ties going, the couple had a very special celebrant, “My brother officiated and performed a perfect 10 out of 10 ceremony (guest are still asking if he is available to officiate their weddings, heh!),” Jessica tells us.

Jessica’s bridesmaids chose their own dresses from a neutral colour palette.

The lace hem on Jessica's dress is so pretty! After the ceremony the couple slipped into something cool and comfortable for the evening's festivities.

For this bride and groom, making the effort to personalise their celebration made it so much more special, that, and the people closest to them. “Our wedding day was so full of love and bringing people together, just having our crazy, amazing, family and friends from all over the U.S. and the globe there with us,” explains Jessica. “Kyle and I both packed up and left our home states at a young age and have constantly been on the move, relocating to various continents and islands since. We really wanted to make the day about the people that we love.”

It was love at first sight for Kyle and Jessica and their wedding venue. “We visited the River Bend venue owned by Lyons Farmette in the spring prior to our wedding and the moment we saw the grounds covered in cafe string lights, set against the cliffs on the edge of the St. Vrain river we were finished, it had us from 'hello'. Not to mention there are TINY HOMES! The 'Wee Casa' resort attached to the wedding site, which we all stayed in for the weekend of the wedding.”

Jessica sourced the flowers from a local supplier and arranged them herself, "I wanted to keep the bouquets very simple and modern with baby's breath and assorted greenery, and wrapped with leftover lace trim from my mother's vintage gown.” We’re well impressed, she did such a great job.

As favours, the couple gave their guests recyclable pulp board wedding coasters with their Wagner family crest. Jessica did the design and illustration herself - what a talented lady!

Kyle’s mother and sister baked the gorgeous wedding cakes, along with cupcakes in waffle cones (which sound delish BTW!)

The pair found the perfect wedding band to set the tone for their reception, “Our band, La Pompe Jazz, I had found through working at the museum, and we were lucky enough to snag them for our wedding, they played unplugged, acoustic sets, and it fit the mood so well.”

These two have some great tips to pass on to other couples, “Stay true to yourselves and your own idea of the 'best day ever', whatever that may be. As we all know, there's quite a bit of pressure surrounding weddings and perfection. You want to look back on your wedding and think, 'wow, that was perfectly us, through and through’.”

Jessica also says it’s so important to keep perspective, “The most important thing - more important than beautiful flowers, immaculate table settings, designer dresses, and perfectly pressed suits - the most important thing, the thing you'll remember for years, are the people, those that are near and dear to you and the moments you spend with them. Also, get beautiful photographs, you'll spend hours looking back on that day, and the photographers will capture the most perfect moments you didn't see or can't remember!”

It was a return to island life for the newlyweds with a honeymoon in the Caribbean, “We went to Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas, it was lovely, amazing beaches, great food, warm and welcoming people and the perfect spot to lie immobile in the sunshine with drink in hand and recover from wedding madness.”

Such a cool wedding! Thanks so much to Jessica and Kyle for letting us in on their day, and thanks you also to Alp & Isle Photography for sharing it with us.s