Glow Sticks, Live Music and a Buena Vista Wedding
Kait (she/her) and Tori (she/her) knew music would be at the centre of their wedding. It had already been there for so many of the important moments, from concerts at Red Rocks to proposals connected to the places and live music they loved.
For their October wedding at The Surf Hotel in Buena Vista, Colorado, they brought that feeling into the whole weekend. There were private vows in the mountains, a western chic welcome party, three live music acts, glow sticks, a live painter, a tintype photographer and a getaway in an old family BMW.
Kait and Tori kept the traditions that felt right and left behind the ones that did not. With Kiki Creates documenting it all, their Buena Vista wedding felt relaxed, personal and much more like a night at one of their favourite shows than a traditional reception.
How did you meet, and when did you realise this was something real?
Tori and I met in Denver in the spring of 2021. Our first date was short and sweet. I knew I was smitten, while Tori needed a little more time to come around. I was ready for something real, and she was mostly looking for a good time.
Apparently, I was harder to ignore than Tori expected.
That summer, we took our first trip to Buena Vista. We went to a concert and a drive in movie, took Rex hiking and bought a jar of moonshine cherries. We still have the same jar in our freezer, and every year we pull it out and eat one. We are not entirely sure we should still be doing that.
By July, we were official. In September, I surprised Tori with a hot air balloon ride over the mountains for her birthday. Later that month, at a Greensky Bluegrass concert at Red Rocks, I said “I love you” for the first time.
When my birthday came around, Tori planned a surprise van trip through Oregon with help from my best friends, Paige and Jake. I am usually the one planning the big surprises, so being completely caught off guard left me wondering, “Have I met my match?”
How did music become such a big part of your relationship?
Music has marked so many moments in our relationship.
We travel to concerts and festivals together, and there is something about standing beside each other during a show that helps everything else fall away. For a few hours, we are not thinking about work, our to do lists or everything happening outside that space. We are simply there together.
Our shared love of music has also connected us with a wider community.
I proposed to Tori in May 2024 at the Tico Time Bluegrass Festival, on a trail overlooking the festival. A few months later, Tori proposed back at Red Rocks during the same concert where I had first said “I love you.”
By the time we started planning the wedding, there was no question that music would be at the centre of it.
Why did you choose The Surf Hotel in Buena Vista, Colorado?
Buena Vista is our escape from Denver. It is around two hours from the city, my dad lives there and we have spent a lot of time in the area together.
The Surf Hotel is also a music venue, so it made sense for the kind of celebration we wanted to create. We wanted the wedding to feel like a mini music festival.
The venue also has a cool, gothic modern feel that suited an October wedding. Between the darker interiors, the mountain setting and the golden aspen trees outside, it already had so much of the atmosphere we were looking for.
What inspired the overall feel of the wedding weekend?
We wanted the weekend to feel personal, relaxed and centred around live music.
Friday began with a private vow session in the mountains before our rehearsal. We then headed to The Lariat for a western chic welcome party with a live band. It gave everyone a chance to settle in, spend time together and start the weekend with the kind of night we would actually choose for ourselves.
The weekend included three musical acts, including a five piece string band, plus a live painter and a tintype photographer.
I also turned the seating chart into individual tickets featuring table numbers and artwork by our live painter. The signage by Kelly Marty included the words, “Buy the ticket, take the ride.”
We knew we had a lot of moving parts, but every detail connected back to the experience we wanted our guests to have.
How did you manage wedding planning and decide where to spend?
Wedding planning felt like a full time job on top of our actual full time jobs. Some days, it felt like we were making fifty decisions a day.
We did not always agree, so there was a lot of compromise, grace and patience. Tori might get a win in one department, and I would get a win in another.
We also started assigning each other tasks and then presenting our ideas back to one another. I was the visionary, while Tori was the master of spreadsheets. She kept our expenses up to date and in line throughout the planning process.
Our biggest advice is to choose the three things you both care about most and put your money there. For us, music was one of those things.
We did not want to spend money on traditions simply because we felt like we were supposed to. Instead of hosting a rehearsal dinner, we used that part of the budget to book a band for the welcome party.
How did you choose your photographer?
I found Kiki Creates on Instagram and immediately noticed the way she approached composition.
Her work felt different from what we had been seeing. She found interesting angles that made each photograph feel original to the couple. I also loved her editing style and thought it suited the darker feeling we wanted for the wedding.
Neither of us particularly enjoys being in front of the camera, but Kiki was down to earth, attentive and sociable. Her energy helped us feel relaxed and at ease.
We also did a private vow session with her before the welcome party, which was such a fun part of the weekend.
How did you approach wedding traditions as a lesbian couple?
We asked ourselves what felt right for us as a couple and what mattered to us individually.
Some choices were easy. Others looked different for each of us. Having a first look with her dad was important to Tori, but it was not something I felt I needed to do.
We both looked at dresses at first, but I eventually found a Favorite Daughter suit I loved. Tori chose not to show me her Daughters of Simone dress before the wedding, so we decided she would walk down the aisle last.
We also chose to walk down the aisle with both of our parents. Instead of having a large wedding party, we asked our siblings to stand beside us during the ceremony.
One of the hardest questions was how we wanted to be announced. We were not husband and wife, and neither of us planned to take the other’s last name.
In the end, the answer was simple. We were introduced using the names everyone already knows us by, “Kait and Tori,” now as a married couple.
It felt original to us, and it felt right.
What happened on the wedding day?
Tori and I spent Saturday morning getting ready separately. I got ready in a room at The Surf Hotel, while Tori was at her parents’ Airbnb. Hair and makeup began around 9 am, with makeup by Faceofmakeup and friends stopping by throughout the morning.
At around 2 pm, I went down to the river to wait for Tori for our first look. We then took photographs around the hotel with our immediate families and Rex before the ceremony.
The ceremony began at 4:30 pm at Surf Chateau. The weather was perfect, and sunlight came through the golden aspen leaves. Guests were welcomed with champagne and light blankets, and a flower arch stood at the end of the aisle.
Two friends from the wedding band played original processional music on mandolin and acoustic guitar. Our friend Emily officiated the ceremony. We first met her after parking our trailer beside hers at a small music festival three years earlier, and we have been friends ever since.
The ceremony lasted around fifteen minutes, which was exactly what we wanted.
During cocktail hour, Emily and her bandmate Luanne performed while food and drinks were passed around. We did not want to miss their set, so we hurried over after taking family photographs.
Towards the end of cocktail hour, we slipped into a back room to sign our marriage certificate. Someone brought us food, including mac and cheese, while we were there.
For our entrance, we walked straight onto the dance floor. Lindsay Lou, one of our favourite artists, had flown in that morning to perform “Nothing Else Matters” for our first dance. Her music is a big part of our relationship, so hearing her sing it live was one of the moments I had been most excited about.
After dinner and speeches, we slipped away to take sunset photographs beside my great grandmother’s old BMW.
Our five piece string band started around 7 pm. Our friend Torrin Daniels from the Kitchen Dwellers had put together an all star group of musicians we usually travel around the country to see at festivals.
Tori and I stayed near the front of the stage all night. At one point, I looked around the room and thought, “I cannot believe this is my wedding.”
During the set break, we cut a small cake by Sorelle Delicatessen, and guests gathered near the fire for s’mores. Then we changed into red reception outfits. Tori wore a short red dress, while I chose red pants and a red cowboy hat.
We came back into the room handing out glow sticks and wigs before the second set began. The band finished with “I’ve Had the Time of My Life,” and the energy in the room was incredible.
The night ended with a sparkler exit. We ran through two lines of guests, climbed into the old BMW and drove away.
Which vendors helped bring everything together?
Everyone was incredible, but a few people really stood out.
Wild Holly Floral Co handled the wedding flowers. Stacy from Graceful Weddings kept everything moving as our day of coordinator. Kiki Creates photographed the weekend and made two camera shy people feel completely comfortable.
Our friend Kevin Watson also played a huge role as our MC and music coordinator. With three musical acts and so many live elements happening throughout the day, having someone we trusted managing the music made a big difference.
Captured by Kiki Creates
Cake Sorelle Delicatessen
Coordination Graceful Weddings
Dress Daughters of Simone
Florals Wild Holly Floral Co
Live music Lindsay Lou and Emma Rose
Makeup Artist Face of Makeup
MC and music coordination Kevin Watson
Signage Kelly Marty
Stationery Kylee Firlit Creative
Suit Favorite Daughter
Venue and catering The Surf Hotel
