And Zeus Makes Three

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 years later, in 2020, in Central Park. My grandpa lives in a building that overlooks the park, so my whole family was able to watch the proposal from his roof. My sister even hid in the bushes next to us, and somehow managed to capture photos and a video. We went up to the roof afterwards and celebrated with everyone, champagne included.

When we first started planning our wedding, all of the pieces came together pretty naturally. The Fourth of July has always been Scott’s favorite holiday. He has notoriously organized an annual sixty-person river float on The Fourth for all of our friends, so we decided to make that our wedding day, using the hashtag #independenceday. 

My family’s roots run deep in Jackson, beginning with the cabin my grandpa bought over forty years ago at Lost Creek Ranch. We visited Jackson annually throughout my entire childhood, and I worked as a wrangler at Lost Creek every summer during college. Scott grew up in Durham, North Carolina, and moved to Jackson in March 2015 after he finished two years working for the Peace Corps in Panama. We’ve both spent a lot of time together at the ranch since we started dating, and even lived out there for half of 2021. Every year, we host a barbeque for Scott’s birthday at the ranch with all of our friends. For this reason, Lost Creek is such an important place to both of us, so it was never a question that we’d get married there. 

What we didn’t realize, however, is just how special it would be to share the ranch with all of our friends and family on our wedding day. Jackson is where our relationship started, so it was only fitting to bring everyone together amid a Teton backdrop for our big day. Despite Scott’s best efforts, we weren’t able to float the river on our wedding day, but instead, we were visited by two horses just as we exchanged our self-written vows. 

Zeus—now a 90-pound Rottweiler—was, of course, our ring bearer. He wore a doggie tux and walked down the aisle with my sister, the Maid of Honor, and then stood with the groomsmen during the ceremony. Naturally, Zeus fell asleep mid-ceremony (like dogs do) and rolled over onto the rings, so we had to disturb his nap in order to complete our union. He stayed for the whole party and was the star of the night—strategically moving from table to table begging for a piece of steak from our guests.

Our wedding was made perfect by all of the collaborative planning leading up to the event. The day was filled with personal touches from those we love the most—from antler chandeliers to our cake that featured an outline of the Tetons. We served a farm-to-fork dinner menu using all local ingredients. And everyone followed our “western formal” dress code to a tee—lots of cowboy hats, boots, and bolo ties, paired with black-tie apparel. My mom and I changed into cowboy boots mid-party. Emily Warren (our officiant) gave an all-time speech, and my sister organized a surprise flash mob on the dance floor, complete with every one of our 160 guests. Everyone in attendance shared in the magical feel of the day. 

After dinner, the tent completely emptied out, as our guests headed into the field to photograph an epic sunset over the Tetons. Minutes later, everyone was back on the dance floor, which stayed completely packed for the rest of the night. Emily—also a songwriter—performed the hit song “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa (which she wrote for the artist), inspired by a night out with us at the Stagecoach. And, as a tribute to The Fourth, we ended the night with sparklers and headed to the afterparty at The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar.

In lieu of Scott’s annual Fourth of July float, which we couldn’t quite pull off, we organized a float on the Snake River the next morning that was attended by almost all of our wedding guests. We wanted our wedding to be more than color schemes and table settings. We wanted everyone to experience just how special Jackson is … and we achieved just that. 

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Advice for Couples

Planning a wedding is stressful no matter what, but it’s all worth it, even when the small details don’t go as intended. (Like, my veil blew off two minutes into the ceremony, and it was too windy to have flowers on our cocktail tables.) Just remember—you’re getting married in the most amazing place in the world, and this will be the best day of your life. In the end, we realized that everything works out just as it should.