A Planner’s Elegant Ranch Wedding in Aspen, Colorado

When you’re both Colorado natives and count Aspen as one of your favorite spots, you head to the mountains for an elegant, ranch-style wedding to say “I do.”

That was the case for Lindsey Dienstbach, owner of Bello & Blue Events, and Tyler Morgan, a project manager at Pinkard Construction, whose entire love story took place in the state. They first met at an event that Lindsey planned, then again at a wedding where Tyler was a guest. They then ran across one another at a party for Tyler’s boss, but it wasn’t until they both found each other taking a pickleback shot, at a Denver bar, did they become inseparable. 

For their nuptials, the planning came easily but was not without its challenges. They knew the day would celebrate the Rocky Mountains and include their mutual favorite color, blue. But because Lindsey plans weddings professionally, she didn’t want her own party to take place where she had previously done an event. The pair landed on T Lazy 7 Ranch, just ten minutes outside of Aspen, and invited 120 guests (it was a wedding before the pandemic.)

"Not only did I get to enjoy our dream wedding, but I got to share my passion, my business, my work with my husband, and our nearest and dearest family and friends," Lindsey says. "I was so proud of the end result."

Lindsey and Tyler’s weekend kicked off with a welcome party complete with cowboy boots and barbecue that led into a day with gowns and bow ties. It was all the glitz and glamour of the wild, wild west.

Read on for all the details of this couple’s mountain-inspired, Aspen wedding, planned by Bello & Blue Events and photographed by Lauren Fair Photography. 

To incorporate their favorite color, Lindsey designed the color palette to be neutral tones with a touch of “something blue.” That included the invitations created by Sweet Zion Paperie.

Because she's a wedding planner, Lindsey had a head start on vendors, like shopping at one of her favorite bridal salons, Anna Bé, for her dress. There, she found her Tara La Tour mermaid-style gown. She paired it with a cathedral-length veil for the ceremony and later swapped it for a lace cape at the reception. “I loved having separate looks as the day progressed,” the bride says. “I felt like a queen.”

Lindsey relied on the expertise of her Bello & Blue team to create her dream bouquet, a mix of peonies, garden roses, quicksand roses, dahlias, ranunculus, cosmos, sweet peas, and greenery–all bound together with a thick, blue silk bow and accented with pearl pins.

The bride said she always loved bridesmaids in white gowns, so the wedding party mirrored the couple in white BHLDN dresses and timeless black tuxedos. 

On the wedding day, Lindsey gave Tyler a vintage Rolex Submariner from the year 1991. "Since our wedding date was 9/1/19, I loved that it had the same numbers in a different order," she says. "He wears it every day."

Lindsey and Tyler found wood doors at a warehouse sale and refurbished them so they would stand as an entrance to their ceremony venue–even though it was the middle of a meadow. Lindsey wanted the décor to look like it grew out of the earth, so low arrangements surrounded ghost chairs, keeping the focus on the ceremony arch and the Maroon Bells mountains in the backdrop. 

“Once everyone was together, the doors were opened, and the bagpiper led everyone through the doors, past the reception tent, and out to the ceremony site,” the bride says, noting the bagpiper was a nod to Tyler’s Scottish heritage. “Our guests loved that whole experience. It added special significance and shifted the energy.”

Because of the long aisle, the bride decided to walk halfway alone—like Meghan Markle—then meet her father just behind the chairs. “Taking my time, walking toward the ceremony on my own was one of my favorite memories,” she says. “I just kept taking deep breaths and mental photographs of what was happening around me as I kept getting closer.”

"The week of the wedding we took a gondola ride to the top of Aspen Mountain, ordered a bottle of wine, and sat there together writing our vows surrounded by the most amazing view," recalls the bride.

“Following the ceremony, Tyler and I grabbed a signature cocktail and jumped in the car with our photographers and cinematographers to head up the road to Maroon Bells,” Lindsey says. “Taking that time together to take portraits and experience the beauty right after we said ‘I do’ really allowed it to all sink in.”

While the newlyweds took pictures, guests kicked off the party with cocktail hour. The lounge area featured a blend of rustic and glam furniture in blue velvet, neutral hues, and wood, all under strands of bistro lights. It added to the Aspen ambiance and provided the perfect setting for sipping his-and-her themed drinks. 

The couple put a lot of thought into the bar. On the physical bar, a custom sketch of the landscape in blue made it a focal point, while a mix of glassware on gold shelves added refinement.

They also designed two signature cocktails, a version of an Old-Fashioned with bourbon and a spicy margarita with a chili salt rim. 

Every detail spoke to the Aspen locale. The couple’s guest book was a coffee table book featuring images of Colorado.

Fittingly, the escort cards included bleached Aspen leaves attached with a wax seal. 

The reception took place under a sailcloth tent, where chandeliers hung over a white dance floor and tables were topped with candelabras, blue-patterned china, and low arrangements of roses, sweet peas, and greenery.

“We wanted to achieve a perfect balance, creating an intimate and formal space outdoors emphasized with a bit of understated luxury,” Lindsey says. To personalize each place setting, the couple wrote a note to each and every guest, which sat on the charger. It ended up being one of their favorite details of the day. 

The couple served quite the Colorado-inspired dinner. From togarashi-seared yellowtail to fire-roasted beef tenderloin and pan-seared scallops, no one was left hungry. If they were, there was more food on the dance floor, including disco churros, covered in edible glitter and dipped in Nutella, and truffle parmesan French fries. 

Of course, there was cake too, a five-tier confection filled with lemon thyme cake, carrot cake, and chocolate buttercream. 

None of that compared to the couple’s entertainment. Since music is a big deal to them, they hired the ultimate wedding band, the Jordan Kahn Orchestra, who kept the dance floor packed all night. “Our band was one of the highlights of our wedding,” Lindsey says. “Guests couldn’t stop raving about our amazing band. They really helped make the party.” That included the couple’s first dance, a cover of “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac.