Up Inspired Wedding in West Glacier, Montana

Kaylee and Harrison’s wedding was a very special one because Harrison is my little brother! It was an absolute honor helping them plan their big day! When Joe and I went up to Montana in January to take part in the My Montana Wedding Showcase, one of our other duties was to find them a venue. When we met with Cathi at Great Northern Resort, we knew it would be a perfect match!

I knew they wanted to be as close to Glacier National Park as possible and Great Northern is a short five-minute drive from to the entrance. They also wanted something with an outdoor ceremony spot and then either an indoor reception or something with at least a tent. Well, Great Northern had both the outdoor ceremony and a tent for the reception, so we were all set there! Once we had the venue, it was time to finalize their vendor team.

Montana has so many amazing vendors, so it was definitely hard to choose, especially when you’re planning an event for your family. You want it perfect, right? We locked in their amazing team and honestly, every single vendor was perfect. It was like they were a part of our family and that made the day that much more fun!! We even hired the Amber to come and do family photos after their rehearsal the day before and we had so much fun and that made for even easier photos on wedding day! I highly recommend that to anyone. A more casual photoshoot with all of your immediate family the day before, because how often is everyone together anymore?

We incorporated many elements from their favorite movie “Up” into the wedding including: an adventure book, a mailbox with handprints for the cards and even had my fur-niece, Avery, come for photos! Kaylee also made a donut wall because if you know The Havery Family, you know we love donuts.

In addition to some delicious Krispy Kreme donuts, we also had an amazing Lemon-poppyseed wedding cake and truffles from Miss Patti! The floral and decor was absolutely gorgeous! We chose picnic tables since it was a more casual wedding in the woods and we lined those tables with garland and bud vases with floral. It was so sweet and pretty! The newlyweds sent each guest home with Huckleberry jam as a little piece of Montana since they’re known for Huckleberries! It was such an amazing day and I wish we could do it all over again because it was so much fun!

Love you, Mr. and Mrs. Havery!

How’d You Meet?

We met at the Great Commission Bible Institute in Sebring Florida in 2016 and instantly knew that there was something special and began dating shortly after. We dated for a few years before Harrison proposed in December 2018 at our favorite spot by the lake at sunset.

The Proposal:

The proposal took place down at the Pier at Lake Jackson in Sebring, my home town. Kaylee and Harrison had a favorite spot that they would visit often and eat ice cream, talk, watch the sunset and just hang out. When Harrison reached out to me to ask if I would assist with the proposal, of course I said yes! I was planning to go to Sebring that weekend anyways for the Christmas Parade, so it was perfect. I left Orlando with a trunk-full of candles, lanterns and crates that I borrowed from my friends at Bluegrass Chic (thank you, Michelle) and headed to Sebring.

Harrison and I had it all planned out – they would go get ice cream and then take a walk down to their pier and watch the sunset in their spot. Little did Kaylee know that when she arrived, she would see their adventure blanket surrounded by lanterns and candles. In fact, as they got closer she was bummed to see that someone else was in their spot. Even still, they walked over and Harrison opened the picnic basket where I had placed the ring, got down on one knee and asked Kaylee to be his wife!

You know how I know all of this? I was creeping in the bushes videoing the whole thing for them. A creeper, in the bushes, getting all teary-eyed as she watched her baby brother propose to such a lovely lady! It was perfect. After I let them hug it out for a bit and take it all in, I hopped out of the bushes to congratulate them and take some photos for them! It was just so perfect! And afterwards, we packed up and watched the Christmas Parade with all of our friends and family. It was the perfect day! Special thanks to my Mammy for helping me set everything up at the pier and clean it up afterwards!

The Wedding:

Our wedding was special because it was the perfect combination of all of the people and things that were most important to us. This included our Australian shepherd, Avery! We wanted a smaller wedding so we could really enjoy all of the people around us. While we were dating we really resonated with the Disney movie “Up” and we were able to incorporate several little details from the movie and the spirit of adventure into our reception. This tied into our venue with the Glacier National Park as our backdrop. We encouraged our guests to enjoy Glacier and to go out and explore because that was something that was important to us. We also recently moved to Missoula and we were able to have local cider on tap. Overall, our wedding was a beautiful blend of all of our favorite things and we created some of the best memories!

Advice to Couples Planning Their Wedding:

The advice that I would give other brides planning their Montana wedding is to hire a wedding planner! This made the time leading up to our wedding so much less stressful. We were able to truly enjoy the days around the wedding because we were able to focus on the people around us. We knew that everything was taken care of and it was really special to be able to enjoy time with family who had come from so far away to celebrate with us. Our wedding also turned out beautifully and we would not change a thing! Even if you are planning your own wedding, take that time to try to be with the people around you because those moments were some of the biggest takeaways from our wedding.

From the Groom:

“10 out of 10 would recommend! BDC was absolutely the best decision we made for our wedding. Katie took care of all the details and made sure that everything ran perfectly and smoothly on our big day. My wife and I got to enjoy every minute without having to worry about a single thing. If you are looking for a wedding planner, you can stop the search now.”