This wedding has a special place in my heart. Not only did I help with a TON of the planning, but Gabby is my niece! She’s been so special to Morgan and I since the moment she was born and it was such an honor to get to capture this special day for her and her new husband, Jakob!

We met him when they were still dating and we joked that he had to be at the end of the group photo in case we needed to crop him out. He has such a light hearted sense of humor and he took that joke with stride! We all kind of already knew we wouldn’t need to and sure enough, we heard the news that Jakob proposed and of course Gab said yes!

She always wanted a wedding in Glacier Park but with the amount of friends and family flying in for the nuptials, Glacier was tricky, logistics wise, so we are planning to take some dreamy anniversary photos up there a year from now.   We decided to research local venues, instead, and our dear friends at the Rocky Mountain Inn Bed & Breakfast came to our rescue! We were able to host the wedding, and most of the guests all in the same spot and it was absolutely perfect!

We borrowed a friend’s tent and got busy with planning the perfect backyard wedding. We ordered fabric for the ceiling and Edison bulbs for ambiance. Her colors were dusty rose, deep purple and navy which was such a stunning combo.  We decided to do faux florals and do them ourselves (this was such a fun experience putting together the bouquets and accents) and we did all of the décor ourselves.  The night before the wedding, we set up the tent and decided to finish the setup the next morning… It was the perfect plan since we wanted to have more family time together.  We woke up to our tent collapsed and on the ground. It was pouring rain and to be honest, this girl felt very defeated. I let Morgan know, since he and the guys were the brains behind the tent and he jumped into action. It was all hands on deck and by 1pm the tent was put back together and up, ready for us to put the final touches on! Gabby’s amazing family showed up and it was all hands on deck to make her dream wedding happen.  We all came together and it turned out so beautiful!

I ran around like a crazy person taking detail photos and getting ready photos as well as coordinating all the things. Both of my babies were the flower girls, so I was also the mama and we all know how big of a job that is!  I now know what goes into the perfect wedding and I have such an appreciation for all of those behind the scenes people.

The sun came out right before the ceremony and they even had some romantic wind to blow the clouds away.  It couldn’t have been more perfect if we planned the weather ourselves.  They said I do with the gorgeous Montana mountains as their perfect backdrop and were surrounded by the people who love and support them! One of my favorite details from this wedding was that Gab asked my dad (Grandpa John) to be her “ring bearer”. Such an important job belongs to one of the most important people who helped raise her. I definitely cried when I edited those daddy and grandpa first look photos!

It wouldn’t have been a backyard Montana wedding without a little BBQ so we did cheeseburgers and all of the classic sides for dinner.  Jakob’s mom brought in boxes of beautiful wine for all of the tables and we toasted to their love story with fruits from around the world. (this, of course, was my favorite part) Flour Child did their white chocolate huckleberry cake and cupcakes, another Montana staple, AND we were so lucky to have John Schultz as our DJ. He was OUR DJ when WE got married 16 years ago. He’s been a part of so many big moments, we were so happy to have him!

When they opened the dance floor, the party came alive and we danced until dark.  Morgan and I even got to snuggle on the dance floor for a few minutes while my Amelia girl took over as associate photographer.  I included some of her photos in the gallery below!

Overall, it was the most perfect day and despite a few dramatic events to the start, the ending couldn’t have been better. And now we all feel so much older than before because our baby Gabby is all grown up and married to her person. I am so happy for you both and I can’t wait to witness the rest of your amazing love story!