A Vineyard-Inspired Wedding at Black Bear Golf Club in Parker, Colorado

Hillary Bishop (24 and an editor) and Ben Stevens (28 and an energy engineer) met at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado, in their history class. Four years later, Ben proposed in San Francisco at the Palace of Fine Arts. The couple chose Black Bear Golf Club for its lush, natural greenery and gorgeous black iron wedding arbor. Wanting their wedding to feel like they were wine tasting in a vineyard’s garden, they used a neutral color palette of taupe, champagne, blush, green and ivory to not overpower the venue. They added vineyard-inspired details in the wine cork escort cards, wine type table names and wine and frozen green grape cocktail hour drinks. They moved inside for the reception, but opened the floor-to-ceiling windows to provide a great indoor and outdoor flow. “It was functional in that it kept the dance floor cool, and those who didn’t want to dance or sit at their table could hang out on the outdoor patio, sip their cocktail, have a quieter conversation and still see what was going on on the dance floor,” Hillary says. “It also allowed the gazebo, which we lit up after the sun set, to be the backdrop of the reception.” For dessert, they enjoyed a four-tier wedding cake and gave guests saltwater taffy (a nod to Ben’s romantic proposal where they ate lots of taffy in California) for the wedding favors.