Bright pops of color, a ceremony by the stables, scenic mountainside portraits and the sweetest meaning behind their chosen locale – these are just a few details you can expect to fall for at this intimate Wyoming wedding designed by Mac’s Florals. If you’re a horse girl like me, the full gallery by Orange Photographie will quickly convince you to place HF Bar Ranch at the very top of your list of dream wedding venues! Trust us folks, this is one of the good ones.
From the Bride… As a couple who planned our own wedding, we thought we’d share our wedding story with you. Peter and I wedded on June 18, 2022 at the HF Bar Ranch in Saddlestring, Wyoming. I worked as a Horse Wrangler there in college and it was the perfect setting for us to celebrate our nuptials. Peter and I are both from the San Francisco Bay Area and have known each other since high school. We reconnected after college and spent the last 5 years fly fishing, riding horses, and enjoying the great outdoors together. When we struggled to find a venue closer to home, we knew the HF Bar was the place for us. We wanted our wedding to be more than just one day, and a destination wedding allowed us to do this.
Peter and I are both Program Managers at tech startups in Silicon Valley. Our professional experiences came in handy while planning our wedding. During the 1.5 years between our engagement and our big day, we created and managed spreadsheets, timelines, Google Docs, and more, to get us and everyone else organized. I sourced all of our vendors from either Instagram, Google Search, or wedding websites and all were local to either Wyoming or Montana. Once 2022 started, we were on a planning roll!
Unfortunately, in February 2022 (4 months before our wedding), we lost my uncle unexpectedly due to complications with his cancer. My uncle and I were very close. He was my favorite family member. We’ve vacationed together in Wyoming several times and shared many laughs trying to land fish that were way smarter than us. My dad’s other brother and mother had also both passed right after we got engaged in 2020, so this loss hit the family hard.
With this news, Peter & I started to think about moving the wedding back home. In one week, I booked 4 venue tours, interviewed 10 wedding planners, and reached out to a dozen more vendors to see if we could move our wedding home to Napa County all while trying to keep our same or similar wedding date. Every person we talked to ensured us that we had time; that they could help us make it work.
But, in the end, we decided to keep our wedding in Wyoming. I know my uncle wouldn’t have wanted us to change our wedding plans. He knew how much we loved the HF Bar Ranch and he was equally as excited to go on another dude ranch vacation with us.
Our wedding weekend was incredible. We kicked the weekend off on Thursday with the weekly barn dance. I took my bridesmaids on one of my favorite trail rides and the actual big day was everything we hoped it would be. Our vendors executed everything perfectly. Yes, there were some things that didn’t pan out exactly how we wanted, but at that point Peter and I just relished in the moments. Our photos do our wedding justice and we hope to share our story with other couples who are planning their weddings, experiencing unexpected road bumps, or who simply enjoy a good love story.
Photography: Orange Photographie | Event Design: Mac's Floral | Floral Design: Mac's Floral | Wedding Dress: Rita Vinieris | Cake: Sweets by Sam | Invitations: West Pasture Studio | Reception Venue: HF Bar Ranch | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Jenny Yoo | DJ: Bunn DJ Company | Men's Attire: Indochino | Beauty: Ethereal Hair & Makeup Artistry | Rentals: Powder River Rentals | Rentals: BBJ La Tavola | Weddings Rings: Appelblom Jewlery Co