Rustic Elegance: Kjera and Jacob

Jacob and I set out to create a wedding that represented our uniqueness. Jacob is a fifth-generation Jackson local who works as a wildland firefighter, and I have lived in Jackson for nine years and teach Spanish at the Journeys School. Our love story involves ski hills, flowing rivers and mountain passes. As we planned our wedding, we chose to focus on family, community and sustainability. We kept those components in mind as we made the many decisions that guided us to our big day.

We chose Triangle C Ranch, about an hour outside of Jackson, as our wedding location because of its magical nature, its ties to the Henrie family and the opportunity for our guests to spend the weekend with us there.

Our wedding week began with a parent dinner on Sunday night followed by a bachelor party on Tuesday night, Oktoberfest at the Brew Pub on Wednesday; dinner at the Silver Dollar and dance lessons at the Cowboy Bar on Thursday; and on Friday, we made the long drive over Togwotee Pass to the ranch, made longer by blizzard conditions. After a ceremony rehearsal and an intimate dinner, all wedding guests were invited to join us in the Tie Hack Saloon in the Triangle C Lodge.

To reduce our wedding’s environmental impact, we printed our save-the-date cards and invitations on recycled paper. Our invitation was designed as an envelopment, which did not require an envelope and the response card was a detachable postcard.

We used a website and email to update guests with wedding-week information. Misprint wrapping paper was used to wrap gifts, cover tables and create the seating cards. We reduced, reused and recycled wherever possible (including driving a trailer of recycling back to Jackson). We also chose to “go green” with much of our food and drink. We selected a variety of wines from Idaho’s wine region. A friend donated his elk tenderloin from hunting with Jacob and the beef came from the Henrie family ranch. Locally harvested morel mushrooms, huckleberries, raspberries, squash, beets and potatoes formed the base of our menu, while the desserts prepared by friends were the “icing on the cake.”

Our local community played a huge part in our day. Dear friends provided a variety of services including catering our reception; baking and decorating desserts for our dessert buffet; decorating the ceremony and reception sites; gathering organic raspberries; videoing our special day; and crafting jewelry, wire menu stands, hand-poured soy sage candles, a custom ketubah, and a knitted bolero; and serving as MC for the evening. Family members also contributed to the day by providing ceremony music, hand-painted wooden signs, family-recipe root beer, my headband, ceremony blessings, a bridal massage, early-morning shoveling and continuous love and support. Students from the school where I teach provided childcare in a room specifically designed for our youngest wedding guests.

Many special wedding items were purchased from etsy.com in support of small-scale artists pursuing their handicrafts. I designed the groom’s gift (hand-tooled belt), leaf children nesting baskets, leaf girl headbands, jewelry gifts, best gal (matron of honor) gift, the fascinator and cage veil (worn during dancing).

The entire day was filled with personal touches. Guests’ favorite memories from the day included the glittery snow during the ceremony, the butternut squash soup, the groom’s gift, the bride’s veils (yes, 2!), the grooms vows and, of course, the huckleberry margaritas!