This barn style ceremony was a perfect fit for the ranch venue located in the middle of the mountain range and open fields. A beautiful seated dinner in the venue's ballroom complimented the evening in the best way!

Q&A with the Bride and Groom:

Tell us about your wedding! What was the inspiration behind your day? Did you have a specific theme, style or color palette? Did you incorporate any cultural or religious traditions in any part of your day? 

We wanted a small and intimate wedding, with only close family and friends on a crisp fall day. A place away from the city that showcased the beautiful state that we live in. I have always dreamed of getting married on a ranch in a barn.  So the inspiration behind our big day was an intimate, romantic fall ranch style wedding, with lots of florals and greenery, hanging lanterns, candles, and lots of country chic decor, creating a romantic, southern, tranquil atmosphere. We wanted a blend of both of our styles, my country chic style, and his modern sophisticated style. Our color palette included navy blue, dusty rose, and light grey. Having some darker colors for the fall season but also keeping it soft and romantic with the dusty rose and light grey accents. 

Let's talk wedding decor. How did you decorate your space for the ceremony and the reception? Was any part of the decor DIY? 

A: The wedding decor was all country chic. Farmhouse tables, a pathway of mason jar candle lanterns hanging on hooks. In the barn we had three ivory drapes hanging across the barn. Big candle pillars placed everywhere, rose gold and lace votives, antique glass bottles with flowers, metal and wooden lanterns hanging from the top of the barn and on tables and the floor. wooden rustic love signs, shabby chic decor like gold picture frames with stringed wire that held everyone's place cards with a clothespin. Metal flower tins, wooden crate boxes with foliage and candle pillars. Photos of us throughout the years and large prints of our engagement photos. Custom made bar signs and custom tags for the caramel apple favors and sparklers. We had two lounge spaces during the reception for guests which had antique furniture for seating and wooden coffee tables with candles and flowers. Lanterns marked pathways to dinner and the reception and standing fire heaters on the patio for guests. The dessert table had custom made chalkboard signs with each of the cupcake flavors and the displays where rose gold and glass stands that varied in size. A 15-foot banner hung behind the entry table that reads "Together is a Beautiful place to be". A wooden ladder with planks was used for the caramel apple favors for display. The majority of the decor was DIY or came from my house. I made the half-moon floral rings that hung in the farmhouse, the grey hanging lanterns in the barn that had flowers and foliage on the tops of them. I also hand made all of the pathway mason jars, the popcorn bar and signs for cocktail hour. The wooden ladder plank for the favors, the floral welcome wedding sign, standing custom chalkboard signs for the reception and dessert table, the gold picture frames for the place cards, and the bar menu framed signs. 

What were the florals like in your wedding? Did you use flowers in any of your design elements like the bridal bouquets, centerpieces or ceremony backdrop? Did they play an important part in the overall style of your wedding? 

A: We wanted our wedding to be bursting with beautiful floral arrangements and foliage. White and pink roses, spiral eucalyptus, silver dollar, snap dragons, thistle, tulips, ranunculus, and berries. The floral arrangements were some of the main design elements. The ceremony had two large wine barrels at the beginning of the aisle with large cascading floral arrangements, rose petals going down the aisle, foliage and white and pink roses covering half of the round arbor we were married under. Our entry table and the welcome sign had huge floral arrangements in rustic metal tins, the foliage was wrapped around candles and on top of the hanging lanterns in the barn. My bridal bouquet represented every flower that was incorporated throughout the wedding, as did my bridesmaid bouquets. In the farmhouse, we had a 30-foot backdrop behind the wedding party farmhouse tables. It had sheer ivory curtains and twinkle lights, with green foliage all the way across hanging down. We had two different floral centerpieces, one of them having a large floral arrangement in the middle, three gold candle stands, and candle pillars. Rose gold and navy blue votives placed throughout. The other type of floral centerpiece had a big antique lantern in the middle with foliage and flowers circling around and candle votives. The wedding party table had a foliage garland running down the middle of the table with white and pink roses scattered throughout. There where hanging metal floral rings that hung from the walkway at the top of the farmhouse and had flowers covering them creating a half-moon shape. The dessert table and place card table had antique glass bottles placed all over with single stem roses and foliage. The fireplaces in the farmhouse had green foliage running across the mantles and pillar candles placed on either sides. The florals played a very important part in the overall style of the wedding and helped create the romantic country chic theme we were wanting. 

Did you personalize the day in any way (food trucks, guest entertainment etc.)? What were some of your favorite parts of your wedding? 

A: Some of the ways we personalized our wedding was by having a live band perform at our reception. Skyler has worked with the band for many years as their lead Sound Engineer so having them perform on our big day meant so much to us. Some of our favorite memories where when Skyler was working with them, so we wanted our guests to dance and be entertained by live music because it just creates a fun and energetic atmosphere. Another way we personalized our wedding was by having a popcorn bar during our cocktail reception. We love popcorn and we had a big dinner planned so we wanted to make sure our guests had something to snack on during cocktail hour. I made the popcorn bar by having rustic metal serving bowls and chalkboard signs with the flavors and had custom made popcorn bags that said "Our Love is Poppin" Brittany & Skyler. We always make a big bowl of popcorn when we watch movies, so incorporating something we do together into our wedding that is easy and serves a purpose just made sense. We also had a pop up photo booth during our reception, there where costumes and props to use and so everyone was able to take pictures and take them home as a souvenir. Some of our favorite parts of our wedding was the ceremony, having our fur child Kinsley who was our flower girl be there, sharing our own written vows to one another, dancing with our family and friends at the reception, and having our guests send us off as the new Mr and Mrs Strajna with a sparkler send off on the patio. 

How did you meet? Tell us about the proposal. 

A: Skyler and I met 5 years ago while I was bartending at this local bar. I had just returned from a volunteer trip in South Africa and was not looking for a relationship because I wanted to travel some more. Skyler came in one night with a bar regular and came up to the rooftop bar that I was working. He would say this was the first time we met but I don't remember because I was too busy but after work that night I got off and had a beer at the bar and he sat right next to me. We started talking and then the bar was closing. He found me on social media 2 hours after we parted that night and wanted to see me again. Skyler was persistent and kept telling me after 2 months of dating that I was the one and I kept telling him I didn't want a boyfriend. He didn't care, he said he would wait for me and he knew we were meant to be together. 6 months of dating we moved in and adopted a puppy and began our life together and have been together ever since. Skyler proposed to me on February 4th, 2018. We went to the ice castles in Dillion, Colorado. The ice castle is hand made and at night they light up the castle and icicles reflect off one another. We went with another couple who knew the plan all along. Him and I were about to take a picture in the entrance of the ice castle which has icicles dripping from the roof and has a crystal blue light reflecting off the ice, it is breathtaking. He drops to one knee and begins to ask me to marry him. He just kept saying how much he loved me. Our friends captured the moment so perfectly and I'll forever cherish that. Skyler refers to me as his queen, he always has. So proposing to me in the ice castles just symbolized even more that I am his Queen and he is my King. 

Do you have any wedding planning or marriage advice that you'd like to share with other couples planning their day? 

A: Some wedding planning advice we would give couples planning their big day is when it comes to figuring out where to invest the majority of your budget, invest in the photographer. Hiring a fantastic and experienced wedding photographer is one of the best investments and worth it. The day goes by so fast and there is so much going on and special moments happening and so having someone there to capture it all for you, to remember and look back on for years is priceless. Pictures you will have for a lifetime and are of great quality and showcase your love and the big day. I'd say the most important wedding advice though is to remember that this day is about you two, nobody else. You don't owe anything to anyone that day, besides each other. It is easy and you will get wrapped up in the logistics and planning and trying to please everyone that you forget that you need to please each other. Making sure to dance with each other, hold each other, kiss and be in the moment and don't be scared to say no to anyone who tries to make that day, not about you two. It can be very hard and everyone has an opinion but just remember that day is a reflection of you two and your love and commitment to each other.