This wedding is clearly a special one to me as it’s my own wedding! Being able to relate to my clients on this level made this experience so unique. I truly focused on the things that mattered most to my husband and I, and let everything else fall into place.
I’ve included some of my favorite images below, as well as excerpts from our wedding’s feature in Bride’s Magazine as well as D Weddings. I can’t wait for you to see more!
An excerpt from the D Weddings article:
Karli Jones met Matthew Spangler at a barbecue during the summer while the Texas Christian University sophomores were both working internships. The pair ended up slowly getting to know each other before going out on their first date a year later. “He was supposed to pick me up, but he had car problems—which I thought was a complete sham,” laughs Karli. It wasn’t: The duo dined on tacos at a friend’s place while Matthew waited for his repairs. Three years later, Matthew had a limo take Karli to all their favorite spots in town before finally stopping at the Flippen Park gazebo, where he got down on one knee. The professional wedding planner chose her home state of Colorado for the couple’s dream wedding on July 28, 2018.
Well Rehearsed
When planning a destination wedding, you’re bound to have multiple events for guests to attend—and keeping the weekend feeling cohesive can be a challenge. Fortunately, Karli, owner of wedding planning company Ivory & Vine Event Co., knew just how to handle it, opting for a Western-inspired rehearsal dinner that echoed the wedding day’s nod to the Colorado setting.
“My approach to any couple’s wedding and my own is that you should be infusing your personal style into everything that you do,” she says. She recommends turning a blind eye to Pinterest and Instagram and focusing on what really feels like “you”—in this case, it was a weekend full of white-water rafting and an outdoor rehearsal dinner with farm-to-table barbecue served with sauce from Matthew’s favorite Kansas City restaurant, Joe’s Kansas City.
Guests wore Western attire to lean into the theme—complete with the groom in a bolo tie. Karli chose to forgo the traditional white cocktail dress and don a white pantsuit from Lulu’s; the bride and groom both wore cowboy hats that they bought at the Fort Worth Stockyards.
The rehearsal dinner was held at Collective Vail, a hilltop working ranch located about 20 minutes from Vail’s town center that offered beautiful views of the sunset. “Everything we chose was because it related to us in some way,” Karli says.
An excerpt from the Bride’s Magazine article:
Karli Jones was planning weddings before she even knew her husband-to-be. In July 2013, she was interning for a wedding planner when she first met Matthew Spangler as a student at Texas Christian University. The couple fell in love, graduated, and settled down in Dallas, where Karli opened her own wedding planning company: Ivory & Vine Event Co. (now known as Karli Spangler Events).
After four years of dating, Matthew told Karli that they were attending his coworker’s wedding, so she got ready—but was surprised when a limo showed up at her house. Of course, the limo was not intended as wedding transportation. Instead, it took Karli on a tour of her and Matthew’s favorite places throughout Dallas. “At each location, one of my best girlfriends was hiding and waiting to give me the next clue,” she recalls. “They’d all flown in to surprise me!” Once she’d picked up all of her friends, the limo took her to her final destination: Flippen Park, where Matthew was waiting to propose.
The bride grew up in Colorado, and wanted to share the beauty of the mountains in the summer with their 110 guests. “It was the perfect excuse for an escape to Vail with our nearest and dearest,” she says. The couple filled their wedding weekend with adventure, from white water rafting and dinner on a working ranch to a mountaintop ceremony. “All I’d envisioned before we got engaged was marrying Matthew, and I kept that feeling in my heart as our big day approached,” says the bride. Of course, as a pro she knew her way around the process: “I knew exactly which vendors I wanted to have by my side on my wedding day,” she admits.
An excerpt from the D Weddings article:
A Family Affair
The invitation suite featured a sweet family touch. “My Grandpa and I are very close,” says Karli. “He is a retired longtime art teacher. For our invitations, he sketched Colorado wildflowers that we incorporated into the design of all our paper goods. Seeing his artwork preserved like this was such a cool, personal touch that he and all of our guests loved.”
Heirloom Treasures
“I included personal details in our styling, including a gold engraved pocket watch that my Grandma has had as long as I can remember,” Karli says.
A Planner’s Take
As a professional wedding planner, Karli knows a thing or two about wedding planning. Her main takeaway? Remember what’s important. “While I wanted the weekend to be beautiful, I always remembered why I was doing it: Matthew and I spending time with our closest family and friends,” she says.
Throughout planning, Karli would make a decision she was happy with and move on—she didn’t allow herself to second-guess or put too much emphasis on little details. “I couldn’t tell you the hors d’oeuvres or napkin color—I just enjoyed the wedding weekend. People put a lot of time and money into planning these events so every detail is important, but be sure to enjoy the experience.”
Besides that, Karli recommends “trusting your vendors to execute your vision—give it your own creative stamp, but let them do what they do!”
CEREMONY SITE / Vail Wedding Deck / PHOTOGRAPHER Stephanie Brazzle / BRIDAL GOWN DESIGNER Yasmine Layani / HAIR & MAKEUP Meagan Bechtel / GROOM’S ATTIREThe Black Tux / RECEPTION SITE The Arrabelle at Vail Square / FLOWERS Moss Floral Design / STATIONERY Pink Champagne Designs / CAKE Bride’s grandma’s pies / CATERING Arrabelle Catering / MUSIC LeForce Entertainment / LIGHTING LeForce Entertainment / VIDEOGRAPHER Jonathan Mayfield / WEDDING RENTALS Colorado Party Rentals – La Tavola Fine Linen Rental – Premier Party Rental / WEDDING PLANNING & DESIGN Karli Spangler Events
