Perfect Timing
Perfect Timing
Nial & Sean
On Christmas morning of 2012, I answered my sister’s front door in Chicago to find Sean on one knee with a ring in his hand asking me to marry him. I was shocked and thrilled because I was led to believe that we would be spending Christmas apart since Sean had to work at home in Jackson. We had been dating for five and a half years, and I was ecstatic to begin planning our dream wedding.
Without a doubt, I wanted to have our ceremony at the Chapel of the Transfiguration in Grand Teton National Park. I’d fallen in love with the place years earlier, and I knew that with its beauty and charm, it would be the perfect spot for our friends and family members to witness our nuptials.
As Sean and I began the planning process, we quickly became overwhelmed and felt like we were getting too far away from what the wedding was supposed to be about—us. We knew we wanted a “no-stress” wedding, and we were not headed in that direction. We got frustrated with the process, our lives got busy, and wedding planning took a backseat. We bought property, built a house, and had a beautiful baby boy. Things were going along just great. Years went by, life happened, and we began to consider ourselves married.
Fast forward to March 2015. Our son had just had his first birthday, and Sean and I couldn’t believe the whirlwind of emotions we were going through—in a good way. We felt full of joy, gratitude, and fulfillment for our little family. It was the perfect time to finally make our marriage official. This go-around, we quickly agreed to keep things as simple as possible.
Once we committed to simplicity, everything fell into place naturally. Planning our wedding went from an overwhelming task to a fun, intimate, and exciting process. Including immediate family and our son in the wedding day was a must for us, and we prepared our guest list of twelve adults and six kids.
The Chapel of the Transfiguration was the perfect place for our small, intimate mountain wedding. And the views from the chapel were hard to beat. When the day arrived, we were stress-free and giddy with excitement. To add to the intimacy of our nuptials, we exchanged love letters instead of gifts before the ceremony, which was one of my favorite parts of the day. With our son between us, we exchanged vows. I had dreamt about this wedding for so long; I was elated.
After the service, we went to Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis Club for celebratory drinks and dinner. Having all of our guests seated at one table was another small-wedding detail that I loved. It was a blissful and satisfying day. After eight years together, two and a half years of engagement, and one son, we were officially a family.
Wedding Details:
wedding date
16 July 2015
ceremony location
Chapel of the Transfiguration
reception location
Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis Club
officiant
Ron Pogue
hair & makeup
Frost Salon
photographer
Ashley Wilkerson
florist
JH Flower Boutique
caterer
The North Grille
dessert
Chef Rich