A European-Inspired Wedding in the Colorado Mountains

Most of us would agree: Liquid courage gives many new relationships a helpful nudge. But not so for Alexandra Alston, who met her future husband, James Deagle, at his Denver rugby game in 2007. Yes, she'd had a bit of bubbly—it was her 21st birthday—yet it didn't embolden her to chat James up. In fact, she recalls barely talking to him. Days later, she returned to Yale University as a junior, but James, an interactive developer, couldn't stop thinking about the "pretty girl running around with Champagne." When she was back home in Colorado for the summer, he asked her out, and a relationship blossomed.

Once she graduated, they moved to Los Angeles together, and in 2010, Alexandra took James to Las Vegas for his birthday. But he had a different celebration in mind. On their last night, he took her to the Palms Place Hotel. After dinner, they went to the top floor, where—you guessed it—chilled Champagne and a suite covered in rose petals were waiting. "I had absolutely no idea it was coming," she says. "I started tearing up, and he proposed."

For their wedding three years later, Alexandra, an event production manager, dreamed up an affair that would combine James's Italian heritage with her love of French culture, using Italian food, toile fabric, the woodwork at Versailles, and the flora of Provence as inspiration. The duo wed on June 8, 2013 in front of 120 guests on the lakefront lawn of Colorado Springs's historic Broadmoor resort, which Alexandra had visited as a child.

To create the suite, Italian paper was letterpressed with gold and navy ink using a vintage 1933 press.

The couple exchanged self-penned vows under a length of gauzy linen. A violinist played Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" as Alexandra walked down the aisle.

Pillows covered in Parisian fabric made wooden benches more comfortable for guests attending the ceremony.

The bride posed with her six attendants, all in earthy shades by Amsale.

Following the nondenominational ceremony, officiated by James's uncle, revelers enjoyed Colorado microbrews, French cheese, and Italian charcuterie. A sidewalk-style chalkboard sign listed the cocktail-hour menu.

The groom (in Hugo Boss) stole a kiss from his new wife (wearing Vera Wang) in the foothills of Cheyenne Mountain.

Mini scrolls calligraphed with guests' names were attached with French-themed charms to strips of toile that represented each table.

Guests moved into the hotel's manor house for a three-course feast featuring shrimp-and-tomato pasta, a Deagle family specialty. Crystal chandeliers, gold candelabras, and lots of greenery added up to an elegant setting for dinner. "We wanted a long, slow dinner with great food, great company, and, of course, great wine," says Alexandra. Celebrants laughed and sipped, then laughed and sipped some more—much like the bride herself on that fortuitous 21st birthday when she met her groom-to-be.

A leather-bound dessert menu, designed by the bride, mirrored the lush motif of the stationery suite.

A replica phonograph gave the cocktail hour an Old World bistro feel.

Location and Catering: The Broadmoor
Event Design: Alexandra Alston Deagle of Kristin Banta Events
Event Planning: Table 6 Productions
Flowers: The Perfect Petal
Custom Decor: Eclective Hive
Photography: Jenna Walker Photography
Videography: Living Cinema
Lighting and Draping: LMD Productions
Stationery: JS Design
Calligraphy: Pretty Writing
Cake: Fantasy Frostings
Music: Carte Blanche (ceremony and reception); Felicity Muench (cocktail hour); Anthony Soike with Red Shoe (after-party)
Rentals: Classic Party Rentals
Hair: Mahogany West
Makeup: Makeup Therapy
AV: Dance Trax Productions
Chargers: "Fleur de Lys" dinnerware