Real Wedding: Rayne & Michael – Photography by Tyler Branch

We met five years ago at a concert in Asheville, North Carolina. I was with my best friend, Katie, who introduced us because Katie and Michael went to high school together. We danced all night and have been inseparable ever since. I think our story is so magical because it was basically love at first sight.

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Michael proposed on a trip to California. We were there to race in the Big Sur marathon. The night before the race, we were both nervous and anxious, talking about the race on a private beach, and then out of nowhere Michael got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I don’t think I’ve stopped smiling since that day! We live in the mountains of Denver. We both love to travel and to be outdoors after work and on the weekends, hiking, biking, climbing, and skiing in the winter. So we chose Yosemite National Park to get married. We didn’t have too many plans for the wedding, other than to have our ceremony early in the morning in the field under Half Dome, because we both loved the view from that field, but because of the mosquitoes, we postponed the ceremony until later that evening, and ended up having it in the woods by the river. It was perfect. It doesn’t matter if initial plans don’t work out. It ends up being wonderful, whatever happens. Our wedding style was a mix of bohemian and rustic, and all about our love of nature and the outdoors. Tyler, our photographer, helped us find and incorporate exactly what we had imagined to show our love of nature in our photos. I found my dress at a local Denver boutique, a&bé bridal shop. It was the first dress I saw and the only dress I tried on. I knew it was the one. Marriage to us means that you can see yourself with that person, happily, for the rest of your entire life. You are committed to the same goals in life, and you will be there for one another through the good and the bad. It also means that you have a forever dinner date to hole-in-the-wall restaurants and that every day is a sleepover with your best friend. If we could give one bit of advice about your wedding day, try to remember it’s all about having fun. Don’t stress over tiny details. The day is about you and your husband’s love for one another — make it about that and nothing else!

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Photography, Tyler Branch assisted by Nick Radford | Brides Dress, Houghton | Brides Shoes, Freebrid by Steven | Grooms Attire, Banana Republic | Bridesmaids Attire, BHLDN | Flora & Cake, Sweet Dreams Wedding Cakes & Flowers |