1. Real Weddings

Malissa & Paul: A Rustic Wedding in Fraser, CO

Malissa and Paul met one Saturday afternoon on a blind date. They chatted for so long that coffee and chocolate chip cookies led to a casual dinner da

Malissa and Paul met one Saturday afternoon on a blind date. They chatted for so long that coffee and chocolate chip cookies led to a casual dinner date. The Bride Malissa Fiegel, 35, interior designer The Groom Paul Foley, 37, screenwriter The Date September 13 Two and a half years after their first date, Paul was struggling to find the right moment to propose to Malissa. He had the ring (his grandmother’s) but couldn’t think of anything original enough for his proposal. While tossing and turning one night in bed, Paul simply turned on the lights, woke Malissa up, and asked her to marry him.

Malissa carried a bouquet of orange dahlias, mums, ranunculus, anemones, and green leaves tied with a cream-colored satin ribbon.
For the DIY escort cards, Malissa printed out each guest’s name onto hand-ripped paper and stamped the cards with a pig, chicken, or carrot depending on the guest’s meal choice. The cards were set on a bed of pinecones at the reception entrance.
Antique mason jars filled with arrangements of orange dahlias, mums, ranunculus, and anemones worked nicely with the square tables. Malissa created small platforms for the tables using brown silk fabric, ribbon, and raffia to display the centerpieces, table numbers, and votive candles. For the table numbers (which she printed at home), she gathered sticks from around the ceremony site to use as stands.
Guests went home with Malissa’s grandmother’s hot cocoa mix. Malissa and Paul wrapped the mix in stamped paper squares tied with twine. They had had the rubber stamp custom-made for the wedding.
Small orange flower arrangements lined the aisle and were tied with brown satin ribbon to every other chair.
The outdoor ceremony site was perfect with an existing arch made of vines set between two large pine trees.
Baby pictures of Malissa and Paul were hung from branches (which the couple had gathered from the ceremony site) that had been placed in an orange glass jar.
Malissa and Paul’s three-tiered carrot wedding cake was covered in cream cheese frosting. It was decorated with brown ribbon, roses, and mums.
The younger guests left Malissa and Paul’s wedding with brown bags filled with games and toys. Each favor bag had a name tag attached with ribbon.
Malissa printed and assembled all the programs at home using white, orange, and brown paper from Paper Source.