One of the more interesting wedding inquiries I received was Caitlin’s message that after perusing some of my personal work on my website, she said her parents’ ranch was in the background of my Round Grove Ranch photos from Townsend. I’ve been connected to that ranch through work and photography for about 17 years, so it was fun to think about Caitlin riding the school bus past me back when I was tending sheep or feeding cattle. It’s really funny how life brings people together, which sparks the story of how she and Xiaohan met in Seattle. Caitlin is a beautiful writer and some of her story may be too personal to share here, but this is a tidbit I love: [after meeting on a hike to which their mutual friends invited them] “On a high, I invited everyone to my house to watch the fireworks over Lake Union that evening, assuming they would already have plans but to my surprise everyone (including Xiaohan) was excited to come over. When I got home I fell into a frenzy cleaning the house I shared with roommates and hiked a mile and back to bring back enough beers to be a proper twenty-something hostess (I didn’t yet have a smartphone or a car, so everything was hard-fought). I was so tired by the time my new friends arrived…but immediately perked up when I saw Xiaohan arrive, scrubbed and tubbed and clearly a little dressed up, with an American flag from his recent citizenship ceremony in one hand and a summer sausage in the other. We had discussed our mutual love of charcuterie (fancy or no) on the hike. That particular moment of him arriving, looking so cute in the golden Seattle light is one of my most vivid and cherished memories.”
Caitlin and Xiaohan’s day in Seeley Lake at the Double Arrow Ranch was a perfect late September day in Montana. Their favorite band, The Country Lips, traveled all the way from Seattle to play! Xiaohan made the cake and Caitlin’s sister, Bailee, made the cake topper (twice, as her cat broke the first one). Caitlin did all the graphic design for the invitations and signage and it was good! And the Double Arrow is a place that has a long family history on Caitlin’s side, so it had a lot of sentimentality beyond being a wedding venue.
Vendors:
Venue: Double Arrow Lodge
Coordinator: Elysian Events – Christianna Parell
Hair Stylist: Ceremony Salon & Spa, Alaina Perez
Makeup Artist: Ceremony Salon & Spa, Kirsten Dye
Florist: Southbound Flowers
Dress: Sarah Seven from The Dress Theory, Seattle
Menswear: Paul Smith
Catering: Double Arrow Lodge, Seasons Restaurant & Stirrups Bar
Bakery: Bernice’s Bakery (dessert assortment), Xiaohan (cutting cake)
Band: The Country Lips
Officiant: Jen Garcia