A Denver Wedding with Soju Shots, Tacos, and Late Night McDonald’s
After meeting while working in Germany, Maddie (she/her) and Alyssa (she/her) built a life filled with European adventures, two beloved pups, and a proposal hidden inside a phone photo album during a beach picnic in San Diego.
Three years later, they brought family and friends together in Denver for a wedding that felt entirely their own. With guests dressed in all black, Korean soju shots instead of a champagne toast, a taco truck, late night McDonald’s, and a soft serve bar in place of cake, every part of the day reflected the celebration they wanted to have.
Tell us about your story!
Maddie: We met in November 2019 when we both started working in Germany. We became friends and didn’t start dating until January 2021. Some would say we were dating months before, but it took us some time to realise it. Once we did, we quickly fell in love. We welcomed our first puppy, Oliver Mak, in spring 2021, spent our time travelling across Europe, and after meeting each other’s families and moving in together, we knew we wanted to spend our lives together.
On June 7, 2022, we were having a late night picnic on the beach in San Diego when I proposed. While we ate Chipotle and drank champagne, Alyssa was scrolling through a photo album I had made on my phone, filled with our favourite memories, goofy moments, and important stages of our love story. The final photo simply read, “Insert engagement photo here,” before I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me.
Soon after, in August 2022, our second puppy, Charlie Jo, joined our family. We continued building an amazing life together and spent three years planning the wedding of our dreams.
Did you run into any challenges while planning your wedding?
We found that a lot of wedding vendor questionnaires still asked for “bride” and “groom” information. That was our biggest pet peeve!
We were also very conscious about looking for small businesses for our day. We didn’t want a corporate DJ company assigning someone the week of the wedding. We wanted people who would be with us throughout the entire planning process. We found some really amazing people who felt more like friends at the wedding than vendors.
What made Denver, and your venue, the right fit?
Maddie: I’m from the Midwest, specifically Wisconsin, and Alyssa is from Southern California, so Denver felt like the perfect in between spot for our families to travel to and explore.
Our venue, Upper Larimer, was a blank canvas that allowed us to bring our vision to life. Not to mention, it was downtown, so the after party options were just a block away.
Do you have any advice for keeping a wedding budget on track?
When we started the planning process, we made a list of our most important vendors. We knew we were willing to pay extra for a really good photographer and videographer, and spend less on things like invitations.
Alyssa is very Type A, which came in handy during planning. She kept an Excel spreadsheet of how much we were spending. From the biggest vendors to the stamps we bought for invitations, everything was accounted for.
What were you looking for in your photographer and videographer?
For the photographer, we wanted someone who could be a fly on the wall. Aside from couple portraits and family group photos, we didn’t want posed photos. A lot of our family hadn’t met each other, so we wanted to see people mingling, laughing, and forming friendships. We wanted to see the little moments that we missed. Madeline J Studios captured all of that perfectly.
For the videographer, we spent a lot of time watching video collections and knew we didn’t want a sentimental video full of stolen glances. We wanted twerking on the dance floor and shots on the deck. We vibed with Foster Creative from the very beginning and knew they understood our vision.
How did you choose the menu for your wedding?
We had an amazing taco truck. We knew we wanted a food truck but weren’t sure what kind of food.
We spent a week in Denver trying so many food trucks! We almost left Denver without making a choice when, literally on our way to the airport, we stopped at a tacos and Nacho Libre festival. Seriously!
Taco Block was amazing. They let us try everything, and we loved it so much. It was a huge hit at the wedding.
What did your wedding day look like from start to finish?
Maddie: We had a pre ceremony cocktail hour where guests arrived dressed in all black and were immediately handed a beer.
The ceremony was indoors at Upper Larimer, with lots of greenery and white flowers by Lafayette Florist. I wore a beautiful suit, and Alyssa wore a big white dress from A&bé by Jenny Yoo. Our friend officiated, and we laughed the whole time.
Afterwards, we went out to the deck where, instead of a champagne toast, we toasted with Korean soju shots. Then we had dinner from Taco Block before heading straight to the dance floor with music by Top Denver DJ.
We wanted it to be a huge party. Since we live so far away, even a lot of our wedding party hadn’t met each other. We wanted everyone together celebrating, and that’s exactly what happened.
Towards the end of the night, we announced there was a late night snack of McDonald’s and a double barrel soft serve machine with a full table of toppings. We aren’t cake people!
Were there any vendors who went above and beyond?
Our wedding planner was absolutely amazing. She helped with literally everything, from interviewing vendors to setting up all the flowers.
We had an idea of how we wanted our photos, so we gave Maddy a few inspiration pictures. The gallery we got back was beyond what we could have asked for. She captured everything beautifully.
How did you make wedding traditions work for you as a couple?
Maddie: When we were deciding who would walk down the aisle first, I knew I wanted to walk with my dad, and Alyssa wanted to walk down the aisle alone. To help calm her nerves, I walked down first so she could stare at me the whole time.
Everything else just fell into place. We never thought about who traditionally stands on which side of the altar. Alyssa just picked her good side to face the crowd.
When we chose the walking order for our bridesmaids and bridesmen, we had a mix of girls walking with girls, guys walking with guys, and girls walking with guys. We paired people up based on who we thought would get along.
We are lucky to have people in our lives who didn’t bat an eye at any of the untraditional choices we made. It was our day, and we wanted it to reflect us and who we are, not how weddings are “supposed” to go.
Captured by Madeline J Studios
Catering Taco Block
DJ Top Denver DJ
Dress A&bé by Jenny Yoo
Florist Lafayette Florist
Hair Rouge Roller
Planner Events by Bee
Rings Shane Company
Shirt Uniqlo
Venue Upper Larimer
Videography Foster Creative
