I married my best friend on a golden September afternoon at Stonehaven Mountain Retreat, and it was nothing short of pure magic. Just twenty of us (our nearest and dearest) gathere...d beneath the simplest wooden arch draped in wildflowers and baby’s breath, framed by a cathedral of towering pines that whispered secrets older than time. The mountains rose up behind us like silent witnesses, serene and picturesque.
But the venue? It felt like coming home to a place I’d never been before.
Traci’s house is the kind of mountain home you dream about: warm and welcoming. We got ready in her cozy upstairs bedrooms (laughing, sipping champagne, while the guys claimed the deck with its insane views of the Rockies. Everything smelled like fresh coffee, pine trees, and love.
The ceremony was surrounded by forest (no manicured perfection, just wild Colorado beauty), and afterward we danced under string lights on the patio while the sun melted into the most ridiculous pink-and-lavender sky I’ve ever seen. Dinner was family-style thanks to the full kitchen inside! It felt like Traci had opened her own heart and said, “Come, celebrate here.”
Traci herself? She’s a quiet miracle. Calm, kind, fiercely protective of the intimacy of the day. She flitted around making sure every tiny detail was perfect without ever once stealing the spotlight. She even surprised us with little thoughtful touches that did not go unnoticed.
If you want a big, loud wedding, go somewhere else. But if you want to stand under an arch of pines, surrounded by twenty people who would die for you, in a house that hugs you like family, with views that make you cry the moment you step outside… run, don’t walk, to Stonehaven Mountain Retreat. Traci gave us the most sacred, soul-filling day of our lives.
I’m still crying happy tears every time I look at our photos. Thank you, Traci, for letting us get married in your little slice of heaven. It will live in our hearts forever.
— Forever the luckiest bride in Colorado,
Jenny James
September 2024