Mckinley & Will Like most love stories, ours starts out with a spark. But, the difference between our story and others is that our spark was literal.  Will and I met in 2014 on a beach in Thailand—at a full moon party—when my hair caught on fire and he ran to the rescue and put it out. We hit it off immediately and spent the rest of the night dancing on the beach. We were both backpacking through Southeast Asia with friends and went our separate ways just days after we met. Will is a Kiwi (from New Zealand), and…

Tana & Sam WORDS BY TANA HOFFMAN + PHOTOGRAPHY BY JENAE HUCKINS I met Sam on a cold snowy day in Teton Village, right after Christmas. We’d known about each other for a while, both made familiar with the other by many mutual friends. So, it didn’t surprise any of them that our first date started in the tram line at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. After that, we spent the next three days chasing each other through the snow. We always felt drawn to the mountains. Now, fervently, to each other.  Since that first date in 2014, our story has…

tips for an off-grid celebration Picture this.  Your entire family and friend group all together, outside, in a place not only wild, but that also holds a vein that runs through you. You imagined it your whole life—a backyard wedding in this exact locale (even if you didn’t quite have the space nailed down yet) set among the mountains and the trees, with the occasional glimpse of passing wildlife.  Can you imagine a more serene setting in which to sanctify your union as a couple? Neither can we.  And neither can many other couples who embraced the backyard wedding obsession…

Abby & Scott It all started in March of 2017 when I was visiting Jackson, from New York City, for Rendezvous Fest and attended a dinner party at Scott’s house. The night we met, Scott snuck me into the back door of the Tavern (now The Roadhouse) to skip the line (Sorry, Tavern!) and we stayed out dancing all night long. I immediately fell in love (with Scott’s three-month-old Rottweiler, Zeus, that is), and the rest is history …  One year later, I moved from New York and into the same house where I met Scott. Then, he proposed two…

Lina & Mike For as long as I can remember, I wanted to get married in the town where my father grew up. I spent every summer and winter of my life in Wilson, Wyoming. It has always been where my heart felt most at home. There was just one thing missing—a groom. Mike and I met in college at Ohio University. He played football, and I played field hockey. As athletes, we found ourselves in the same social circle. But between practice, workouts, travel, and academics, we hardly had time to socialize (aka, flirt).  But that didn’t stop us. …

Laure & Robert Robert (Bobby) and I originally met in New Jersey when I was 16. He grew up in a little town called Boonton, and I grew up one town over in Lincoln Park. His sister, Kelly, and I were friends and attended the same high school Bobby graduated from. I was at their house one day when Bobby was home visiting his parents. Who would have known, on that day, that our paths would cross again?  Fast forward some 20 years later to 2016, and we reunited when Kelly and I took a trip to Florida to see…

Caroline & TJ It was November 23, 2019, when TJ and I first met in the barn at my family’s ranch. I am originally from Plano, Texas, and grew up visiting my grandpa’s farm in West Texas. My family was looking for a ranch in Montana, Wyoming, or Idaho, and when we visited Jackson, we fell in love! We purchased the Willow Bend Ranch in February of 2019, and I started Jackson Hole Goat Yoga in June of the same year.  I was hosting my first ever winter yoga session and TJ’s sister, Tatum, dragged him to it. I met…

Paloma & Patrick Paloma and I are both from Massachusetts, but it took a pandemic to dislodge each of us from our respective cities: hers, Boston, mine, Worcester. We met while climbing in the White Mountains of New Hampshire on July 25, 2020—a fatalistic chance encounter. Early memories include Paloma’s pleasant smile, and the notion that I was, quite possibly, being hypnotized by way of her beautiful hazel eyes.  That day was to be my windfall.  At the time, I was on the precipice of moving westward in pursuit of a new life, leaving behind a career, and selling my…

Alise & Tycen Tycen set out for Jackson Hole at the age of 18 with dreams of deep Wyoming powder, flowy mountain biking trails, and plenty of trout and whitewater to satisfy his need for an epic new stage of life.  I (Alise), the Jackson-grown girl attending college in California, was always desperate for winter break to roll around—the one month of the year I could come home, get my fix of cold weather, and max out my ten-day Jackson Hole Mountain Resort pass.  The winter of 2019 had its way of changing many things about my future, especially when…

Mary Susan & Hunter Hunter and I met in 2017 at my former restaurant, Cashio’s Meatball Market, in Birmingham, Alabama. Hunter would come in, sit at the bar, and hang out. Sometimes he would round up a group to join him, and other times he would just come alone. I thought nothing of it at the time, as we were both in other relationships. But looking back, I realize that there was just a natural, unforced chemistry between the two of us.  Our relationships ran their course, and we both found ourselves single again in 2019. Then, one night in…