Jamie Leigh Farmer and David Gardiner Patterson met through work in the oil and gas industry. A mutual friend thought they’d hit it off and invited them both to coffee. “Dave walked in the coffee shop, and I thought, ‘That’s the guy I’m going to marry,’” says Jamie. After their first date, she convinced him to start a company together, and the first time he met any of her family was when he met all of her family at a board meeting. A year-and-a-half of dating later, and he proposed at home in Houston.
As soon as they were engaged, they knew wanted to get married in the Aspen Chapel and host their reception on top of Aspen Mountain. To help plan, they hired Juls Sharpley of Bubbles & Bowties to create a contemporary garden-inspired wedding, and to capture it all, they hired Kelly Hornberger on photo and Julie Hill with Elysium Productions on video.
After appointments in New York City came up short, Jamie found her dress at Joan Pillow Bridal and fell in love with a Mira Zwillinger gown. “It fit right, wasn’t too white, and the one in the store was almost ready-to-wear. I loved the designer’s attention to detail, and that her team wanted almost 30 measurements to make the dress fit perfectly,” explains the bride. For beauty for her and her bridesmaids, Jamie trusted Gambuti Robson Hair + Makeup.
The groom wore a navy suit from Paul Stuart with a Salvatore Ferragamo tie. And bridesmaids wore long lavender gowns by Likely for the ceremony and shorter dresses for the reception in the same shade. They were also each gifted a pair of Nicola Bathie earrings that matched their personalities.
On August 25th, 2018, guests were picked up at their hotels, whisked away to the chapel by CTS Aspen, and greeted by a garden champagne party. Inside the space, everyone sat on Aspen Branch’s custom-made, white benches and gazed upon the ombré floral arch. The bride and groom began their processions to the “Wedding March” on the organ, but Aspen Chapel’s music director, Susan Nichols, led a transition into “All You Need is Love,” accompanied by a vocalist and trumpet.
After the first kiss as husband and wife, guests walked out to “La Vie en Rose” and grabbed a handful of rose petals to toss at the newlyweds upon their exit. While the couple went off to take a few photos, the garden champagne party resumed with a string quartet and pedicabs available for rides around the chapel.
Once everyone got to The Little Nell, they took the Silver Queen Gondola to the hotel’s Aspen Mountain Club for a cocktail hour, as the band, Northstar, provided entertainment. For dinner, guests found their escort cards on a floral wall, that later doubled as a backdrop for SocialLight’s photo booth, and took their seats at round tables with textured, white Wildflower Linen tablecloths and pewter-trimmed settings.
The newlyweds made their entrance and then went straight into cutting their trio of cakes by d’Elissious. Halfway through the reception, the bridesmaids slipped on their shorter dresses and the bride made a quick change into a Versace gown from the ’90s, that she found on 1stdibs. “This dress had pavé rhinestone bars that held it together, very similar to the famous Elizabeth Hurley black Versace gown with clothespins, that she wore to an event with Hugh Grant. This was the white, little-bit-less-risqué version,” says Jamie.
After the band’s set was over, DJ Ronnie turned up the heat on the dance floor. And guests were kept fueled by an espresso martini bar, oxygen bar, and dessert station. When they did want to retire, people simply took the gondola back down.
