From a playful, Colorado-inspired welcome party at a private family home to a tented reception kicked off by a surprise marching choir and pre-dinner dancing, Hayden and Will’s multi-day wedding celebration blended deeply personal touches with high-end design, immersive entertainment, and an unforgettable culinary journey. Designed by Ruth Emma Creative within the breathtaking natural landscape of Colorado, the weekend unfolded as a masterclass in intentional event production, where every culinary choice, floral arrangement, and musical cue was thoughtfully curated to reflect the couple’s unique personality.
A Thoughtfully Curated Culinary Experience
Food and beverage played a central role throughout the weekend, with each distinct event possessing its own customized personality. The festivities kicked off with a welcome party hosted at the Sohr family home. Leaning into a playful, Colorado-inspired atmosphere, the evening featured an array of passed bites designed to delight guests upon arrival. The menu included Korean fried chicken with chili honey glaze, green chile braised pork tacos, spicy tuna crispy rice, bison sliders, and fresh street corn. To wash it all down, the bar served specialty cocktails such as the Green Gardener—crafted with tequila, cilantro, ginger, lime, and serrano—alongside an Alpine Negroni and traditional Carajillos.
For the main wedding day, Caribou Catering stepped in to deliver an elevated menu that maintained an abundant and fun energy. The cocktail hour set a luxurious tone with roaming oyster shuckers, a dedicated Osetra caviar station complete with waffle potato chips, crème fraîche, and chives, and a full sushi and sashimi station. These upscale offerings were complemented by passed bites, including elk carpaccio, blackened tuna tacos, and tortellini finished with truffles. As they mingled, guests were greeted with refreshing rounds of passed Select Spritzes, lightly dirty martinis, and Old Fashioneds garnished with custom-branded orange peels.
The celebration extended well beyond the formal dinner, shifting seamlessly into a lively late-night party fueled by comfort foods and sweet treats. Miniature espresso martinis were served alongside churros, warm chocolate chip cookies paired with milkshake shots, caramel mousse bombes, carrot cake, and a mini wedding cake. Later in the evening, as the dancing peaked, late-night bites arrived to re-energize the crowd: garlic cheese bread, pigs in a blanket, truffle fries, Chick-fil-A sliders, and petite patty melts provided the ultimate transition from an elegant dinner to a full night of celebration.
Sculptural Florals and Intentional Design
Designing within an expansive natural landscape presents unique aesthetic challenges, but Ruth Emma Creative approached the challenge with a philosophy of concentrated impact. Rather than spreading floral elements thin across the vast venue, the design team focused on concentrated moments of color to maximize visual resonance.
This philosophy was established immediately at the ceremony site, where a striking chuppah was composed entirely of yellow branches. The strict restraint of utilizing a single ingredient created a powerful, sculptural visual statement against the natural backdrop. As the day progressed into the cocktail hour, the color palette transitioned into warm bronze and terracotta tones, carefully chosen to complement the selected furnishings and the surrounding environment.
For the dinner reception, long tables featured distinct, color-blocked floral compositions arranged in rich shades of burgundy, bronze, and yellow. This intentional use of color and repetition allowed each floral installation to feel thoroughly considered, architectural, and deeply connected to the surrounding topography.
Rather than relying solely on floral displays, the design team also incorporated personal architectural elements into the reception space. Inspired by a meaningful piece located at the entrance of the family’s Aspen home, designers created a large circular stone sculpture to serve as the seating assignment display. Reinterpreting this familiar architectural form brought a deeply personal touch to the celebration. Guests’ names were artfully arranged around the stone structure, creating a subtle, poetic representation of the couple’s closest family and friends coming together in one place.
A Classic Cake Paired with Nostalgic Sweets
The wedding cake, crafted by Coppelia Cake Design, was intentionally kept classic and understated. Rather than serving as the sole focal point of the dessert experience, the elegant cake provided a sweet, traditional moment before the evening transitioned into high-energy dancing and nostalgic late-night treats. By pairing the understated cake with a playful assortment of miniature desserts and comfort-driven late-night sweets, the couple ensured that the dessert progression felt dynamic and integrated into the broader narrative of the evening.
A Seamless Musical Journey from Ceremony to Reception
Music served as the emotional backbone of Hayden and Will’s wedding day, woven thoughtfully through every phase of the itinerary. Guests arrived at the ceremony to the sound of a string quartet playing classical and traditional selections. The pre-ceremony music featured Jeff Buckley’s rendition of "Hallelujah," followed by Chris Stapleton’s "Joy of My Life" for the processional of Will and the family members. Hayden then made her grand entrance, walking down the aisle with both of her parents to Paul McCartney’s "Maybe I’m Amazed."
A family friend, Benjamin, officiated the ceremony, which incorporated a traditional chuppah and the couple’s heartfelt personal vows. The ceremony concluded with a dramatic and joyous surprise: strings and a surprise choir joined forces to perform "Best of My Love" by The Emotions.
Rather than letting the music conclude at the recessional, the choir took the experience a step further. They led the entire congregation directly from the ceremony site into the cocktail hour while singing Jill Scott’s "Golden." This clever theatrical touch created a seamless, joyous transition, allowing the emotional weight of the ceremony to dissolve instantly into pure celebration without any lag in the guest experience.
The emphasis on live, high-energy music continued seamlessly into the reception, featuring performances by BE Collective. Guests entered the grand tent to find the choir, band, and string musicians performing a rousing rendition of Joe Cocker’s "With a Little Help from My Friends." In a break from traditional wedding timelines, the performance transitioned immediately into an opening dance set, getting guests onto the dance floor before dinner even began.
Hayden and Will followed this joyful opening with their official first dance to Prince’s "I Wanna Be Your Lover," graciously inviting all of their guests to join them on the dance floor after the conclusion of the first chorus.
Later in the evening, the traditional parent dances offered tender moments of reflection. Hayden shared a father-daughter dance to Stevie Wonder’s "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," while Will and his mother danced to Tom Petty’s "Wildflowers." The reception ultimately drew to a close with a high-energy mashup of "New York, New York" and "Empire State of Mind," serving as a fittingly grand finale to a weekend where music was intentionally utilized to carry guests effortlessly from one unforgettable moment into the next.
