Whitefish Mountain I Dos | Candace + Laramie

Winter weddings are magical. But when they're at the summit of a ski resort, they're even better. Photography by Montana Bride Vendor Jennifer Mooney Weddings.

"The big day started out when I woke up around 9am with a beautiful view of the ski slopes. I had gotten up, been greeted with a cup of coffee, and started getting dressed shortly after that. My mother, mother in law, sister, sisters in law, and nieces were there to help me do my makeup and hair all while enjoying mimosas. Laramie was at a separate Airbnb getting ready with the guys (probably 45 minutes before we were to wed, ha). Once everyone was dressed and ready to go around 11:15am, we headed for the ski lift in hopes of being wed at 12:25pm. I met Jennifer Mooney at the ski lift and rode up with her and my sister and mother. We rode up first and it was coordinated that Laramie and everyone else headed up after me without seeing me beforehand. We hid out in the lodge at the top of the big hill waiting on everyone to arrive including my father and brother in law who happened to forget Laramie and my skis at the cabin. I remember looking out the window at the lodge and watching Laramie walk past with everyone towards the spot where we were to be married. It’s a picture in my mind that I’ll never forget. It was about 200 yards or so away from the lodge where we waited. Jennifer was so great and positioned everyone while my dad and I waited behind a hill getting ready to walk down the “aisle.”

Afterward, we went back to the lodge at the top and put on our skis. I even have a picture of my brother in law handing me a beer while my sister was helping me put on my ski boots. Laramie and I put on our boots and skis and got ready to go down together along with the officiant who happened to love to ski – he married us in his robe with his ski gear underneath – and was more than excited to ski down the mountain with us.

We skied down, got to the bottom of the mountain and headed to Glacier National Park with Jennifer. We finished our pictures around 5pm in the middle of the street in Whitefish with the Christmas lights and the ski slopes behind us. Afterward, we sat at a local bar for a drink and had people wanting to buy us drinks with how obvious it was that we had just gotten married while I sat at a barstool with my dress trailing behind me. Then we met our family for dinner, had the best meal, then coffee and cake. It was the best evening, and we wouldn’t trade having a big wedding for the world. After supper and visiting with family, we left to head for the Montana Treehouse Retreat where we stayed for two more days following the wedding. We wanted a wedding that was going to be an adventure. Something we both remembered forever and that incorporated really good skiing. Our wedding describes us both so perfectly." –Candace, the bride