Catherine + Duncan's Spring Wedding at Church Ranch Event Center
A garden in early bloom, a friend-officiant, homemade mini-pies, custom disc golf favors, and a flower girl moment that the front row will be telling for years.
WESTMINSTER, CO · APRIL 2026 · ~100 GUESTS
Catherine and Duncan got married on a Saturday in late April that had no business being as warm as it was. Denver springs are usually a coin flip between snowstorm and sunshine, and this weekend the coin landed sunny side up. The gardens at Church Ranch had just started to bloom. The aspens were leafing out. The grass was shockingly lush and green.
If you know anything about Front Range weather, you know that getting a perfect April day isn't something you can count on. So Catherine and Duncan were counting their lucky stars.
A quick word on Church Ranch
Church Ranch Event Center sits on what used to be a working ranch that stretched across 27,000 acres at the turn of the twentieth century. The Church family ran it. Most of that land has been built over by Denver and Boulder and the suburbs in between, but this seven-acre piece is still here, tucked between Wadsworth Boulevard and Highway 36, and it preserves a idyllic garden that is perfect for hosting a spring wedding.
The grounds have a pond, a stone-edged stage for the ceremony, walking gardens with water features, and a reception hall with vaulted ceilings and wood beam trusses inside. The whole place is built for a wedding that wants an even split between indoors and outdoors. And the best part? You get all of it to yourselves.
The first look
I won't pretend I'm unbiased about first looks. I love them. They give a couple a quiet five minutes together on a day that otherwise has none, and they almost always produce the calmest, most real photos of the entire wedding. Catherine tapped Duncan on the shoulder, he turned, and you could see all his real emotion from seeing his beautiful bride for the first time.
A first look also gives the couple extra time for photos without the FOMO of taking photos during cocktail hour. In a day that can feel like a blur, it’s always nice when the couple gets a moment to slow down and just be together.
The ceremony and the flower girl who needed a minute
The ceremony was held outside on the flagstone ceremony stage covered by a pergola and surrounded by trees. Everything was going off without a hitch… And then the flower girl got to the start of the aisle and decided this was, in fact, a lot to ask of one person. She froze. She looked at the crowd. The crowd looked back.
But then, as often happens, the parents took over, scooped her up, and walked her down the aisle with Grandma working hard to coax a smile out of her the whole way.
These are the moments I tell couples to expect and not stress about. Weddings have a script in your head, but the actual day will have it’s own little quirks and hiccups no matter what you do. The flower girl freeze is a classic example, and honestly? I think it made for even better photos.
The officiant who knows them best
Their officiant was a close friend of both of them. Their friendship was built living together during the strange year that was 2020, when nobody could go anywhere and the people in your house were the only people you saw for months at a time.
He knew their inside jokes and how they interacted as a couple. He brought in personal stories and shared little quirks about them, letting everyone, including me, into their world a little bit. These are the kinds of ceremonies I live for. When I leave, I feel like I’ve gotten a peak behind the curtain of their relationship and that always leave me grinning from ear to ear.
If you're choosing between a professional officiant and a friend who really knows you, this wedding is a strong argument for the friend. Especially if your friend happens to be incredibly charismatic and charming.
A dancing recessional
The word “recessional” is somewhat boring. But that doesn’t mean your actual recessional has to be. You’ve said your vows, you’ve had your first kiss, now, it’s time to party! For Catherine and Duncan their recessional was a full on dance party down the aisle, and I have to say, the bridal party really stole the show.
This is one of those choices that changes the energy of the crowd going into cocktail hour. The vibes are high, the tone is set. Choosing a fun exit is a small thing that really pays off. Highly recommend.
A quiet gazebo moment with champagne
While the guests filtered into cocktail hour, Catherine and Duncan slipped over to the gazebo on the property to sign their marriage license. Both of their moms signed as witnesses and they got to have a quiet moment together to take a deep breath and say “we really did it.”
Building in small moments like these to just be together is so important on a wedding day. The day moves fast, you’re both the center of attention, and despite the day being about your relationship, sometimes you both get pulled in a thousand different directions. I can’t recommend enough having a quiet moment after your ceremony to soak it all in, drink some champagne, and
I was there for the wide shot and then I backed off. The catering staff brought over a tray of champagne and a small plate of apps, set it on the gazebo railing, and disappeared. The two of them signed. They drank. They sat for a minute and didn't say much. Their wedding day had been moving fast and would keep moving fast as soon as they walked back to the reception. This was the five minutes in the middle that belonged only to them.
If you can build a moment like this into your day, build it. The first five minutes of being legally married is a piece of your wedding nobody tells you about, and it's worth protecting.
Disc golf and cocktails
Cocktail hour was a hit, as it usually is, but this one had a personalized twist I had never seen before. The favors were custom disc golf discs; each one printed with bride, the groom, and their two dogs. That’s cool enough, but they didn’t stop there. They also set up an actual disc golf basket outside as a piece of the cocktail hour entertainment and guests took turns testing their skills.
Wedding favors that are actually useful are rare, and even more rare that they’re actually useful at the wedding itself. This was such a creative example of bringing your own personalities into your day.
The reception (and the speeches)
For dinner we moved inside, under the vaulted ceilings of the reception hall. The room was set up for a hundred guests and felt warm rather than crowded, which is what you want at this scale.
The maid of honor spoke first. Her speech was long. You could tell she had been waiting a long time to tell a room of people just how much she loved the couple. She talked about the first time Catherine ever mentioned Duncan, what she said about him, and how she could tell immediately that this was the one. She brought receipts, she had specific quotes, and even gave us some academy award worthy renditions of their conversation.
The best man went second. His speech was about three sentences. But despite his lack of words, you could read the emotion, and it was punctuated with deep hugs for both the bride and groom.
This is one of the universal truths of wedding speeches. The maid of honor will go long. The best man will go short. Both will be full of love (and maybe a few jokes).
Pies on pies on pies
There was no cake at this wedding. There were mini-pies in six flavors and all homemade by family.
The pie cutting moment was less ceremonial than a cake cutting tends to be and almost resulted in a few of the minis hitting the floor. Catherine and Duncan cut a slice of a larger pie together, fed each other a bite, and then asked the crowd “aren’t you going to join us?”
I’ll tell you something true, and as a cake lover it breaks my heart to say this, but you need to know. A wedding cake is a beautiful tradition. It's also shockingly expensive. A cake to serve a larger guest count can be upwards of $1,000. For something that doesn’t always get eaten and is often times more of a decor object than a food item, it can be hard to swallow the price. Especially if you’re not cake people. So if cake isn’t really your thing, it’s worth considering going in a different direction. Especially if you have family that is as skilled in baking as Catherine’s.
The first dance
Catherine and Duncan's first dance was simple, but it was clear they had been practicing. They landed somewhere between the hug-and-sway and a fully choreographed dance. It was beautiful and you could tell they were enjoying the moment without overthinking their dance steps.
As the song faded out, the lights dimmed, and the DJ invited the guests to the dance floor. The real party was just getting started.
Why this wedding worked
Catherine and Duncan made a series of small choices that added up to a day that was truly unique to them. A private first look, a friend as an officiant, pies instead of cake, disc golf at cocktail hour, and moments of joy and celebration throughout.
None of those choices are expensive (some might even save money), but they’re the little details that make a day special and unique. So when you think about planning your wedding, think about what makes you unique as a couple, what brings you joy, what are some things that you want to share with the people you love?
Planning a wedding uniquely your own?
Garden weddings, friend-officiants, pies, dancing recessionals, the whole thing.
If you want to talk about what your version of the day could look like, get in touch.