Max and Aaron got the perfect fall day for their wedding at the Surf Hotel in Buena Vista, Colorado. When I asked Max about her wedding day inspiration, here’s what she said:

“I’m almost inclined to say think of an enchanted forest, or Norse mythology; the feeling that you get when you listen to songs by Bon Iver, sort of that magical but kind of dark and moody vibe. Fairycore comes to mind.”

I absolutely loved this vision, and I’d say the day was full of magical, enchanted forest vibes. For one thing, the aspen trees were incredibly colorful, which was exciting for everyone.

See what I mean?

Their Story

Max and Aaron have a really sweet story, and Max tells it so well. So here’s their love story In Max’s words:

“Aaron and I met randomly at a house party of a mutual acquaintance 3.5 years ago, and roughly half a year later he summoned the courage to send me a friend request on Facebook (ahhhh modern romance). That turned into hours of texting while I was visiting family out of state, which then led to our first date at the Bohemian Biergarten (I blew off all my evening work to see him but he doesn’t know that). Honestly, I wasn’t really looking for anything at the time, but we clicked immediately and that’s more or less how everything started.

Since we started dating we realized early on that we’re both low-key obsessed with this indie “sad-dad” band called The National. Considering they’re divorced dad rock, it was kind of a shot in the dark that we’d both love them so much.

Fast forward a few months into dating, and Aaron surprises me by learning how to play this one song called Slow Show (this will be important later I promise), in which there’s a lyric at the end where the singer says “You know I’ve dreamed about you, for 29 years before I saw you. You know I’ve dreamed about you, I’ve missed you for 29 years.” At the time Aaron was 29 so it felt very intentional. A few months later, he surprised me with tickets, airfare, and Airbnb to a music fest put on by the band in Ohio called “Homecoming”, by literally asking me to homecoming and it was unequivocally the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

As you can probably tell, Max and Aaron are awesome people. You can check out their engagement session in Boulder here!

Surf Hotel Wedding

I already told you about Max and Aaron’s wedding inspiration – a magical, enchanted forest, moody vibe. Surf Hotel in Buena Vista was the perfect venue to bring this vision to life. Max started the day by getting ready in one of the Chateau stone cottages. She met Aaron outside under the golden aspen trees for a first look. They held their ceremony in the Surf Hotel courtyard and then celebrated all night to the beat of indie-folk music. It was such a fun and beautiful day.

Vendor Team

Venue: Surf Hotel

Florist: Wild Holly

Hair and Makeup: Graykin Hair & Makeup

DJ: The Get Down

Buena Vista Wedding Photographer

I’m primarily based in Boulder, Colorado but I also go to Buena Vista regularly! If this blog inspires you to get married at Surf Hotel and you’re looking for a photographer, check out some of my work and then fill out my contact form to get in touch!

Highlights from Max and Aaron’s Wedding at Surf Hotel