Mary & Connor

CATERING Desoto Grill desotogrill.com

LOCAL ACTIVITIES

Paddle Ridge glacieroutdoorweddings.com

LODGING North Forty Resort northfortyresort.com

PHOTOGRAPHY

Marianne Wiest Photography mariannewiest.com

VENUE Glacier National Park nps.gov/glac

VENUE North Forty Resort northfortyresort.com

Freshman year of college, Conner and Mary met on the most romantic app the internet has to offer, Tinder. They enjoyed many adventures from the start, spending their weekends camping on the beach, four-wheeling in OHV parks, and boating on local lakes. Their love started in the great outdoors and grew with every passing recreation. They survived long-distance with Mary’s engineering internship in Lodi, California. Over the years, they continued their love of travel and camping in Yosemite, Tahoe, the Bitterroot Valley, Nashville, and Las Vegas. After college, Mary and Conner bought a house on the lake to continue their beloved camping trips with a little more comfort. In June of 2021 Conner got down on one knee in front of their closest family and friends to ask Mary to make him the happiest man on Earth by marrying him.

Conner and Mary have always been avid National Park enthusiasts, growing up camping and hiking was their first point of common interest during the initial Tinder trials. When it came time to plan their wedding, they sat down and scrolled through Pinterest to build their vision board and stumbled upon an article entitled “This is your sign to get Married in Glacier National Park.” They wanted to bring their closest family and friends on this important adventure with them and after one look at the photos they were hooked! Mary started with the National Park theme and found the “Ranger” invites which she was immediately obsessed with. This became the color scheme and building block for the wedding adding a retro National Park spin to signs and decor. The rustic feel was amplified in the amphitheater style venue under the gorgeous Montana greenery. The North Forty Resort transported all of the guests to a block party style cabin in the woods. Conner contributed the whiskey and cigar bar and convinced the entire wedding party to go white water rafting as part of the rehearsal!

The saving grace for planning a destination wedding is the preferred vendors list. After picking a venue, ask for the preferred vendors list to get the inside scoop on the top vendors for the area. This list is going to be vetted and the vendors will already be familiar with your venue. From there, asking questions of your vendors about the venue or other vendor suggestions based on your style and preferences helps fill in the gaps. The professionals who work weddings year round will be one of your best resources for weather, style suggestions, and color matching elements of your venue if you don’t get the opportunity to see it in person.