Keely and Mike Westfall’s Colorado wedding was nine years in the making.

Keely and Mike had been friends since he transferred to her high school but started dating as they headed into college and have been together ever since. After graduating, Keely and Mike moved to Colorado, where they had spent a college summer.

One evening, they were watching their local hockey team, the Colorado Eagles, play a game that went into triple overtime. The Eagles finally secured a win and the couple got home around midnight. Keely was getting ready for bed when Mike told her to close her eyes. When she opened them, he was down on one knee and proposed. (She wondered why he was hanging around her so much as she was doing her nightly routine, but she had no idea that was going to happen, she laughs.)

The planning

The couple had talked about what they wanted for their wedding before getting engaged and thought they would go the black-tie route, but after seeing what would become their venue, Villa Parker, their plans changed.

Keely says she was drawn to its unique Mediterranean charm. “After that, everything just fell into place in terms of decorations and vendors and all of that,” she explains.

To accent the space’s warm, natural feel and palette of browns and greens, the pair brought in burgundy and gold as their colors and added lots of greens, leaves, moss and candles.

The bride looked radiant in a gown she purchased from Savvy Bridal one year to the day before the wedding. She had flown to KC to shop with her mother, mother-in-law and bridesmaids, and the boutique was their third stop.

“I didn’t feel a connection to many dresses that I had tried on before,” Keely says. “When I got there, I knew that one was the one.”

“The one” was a gown featuring a unique back that fulfilled her childhood dreams of lace and her more grown-up desire for a backless dress, which she found challenging to find. It offered the best of both worlds.

The big day

A year later, after Keely made her way down the aisle in the dress, the couple exchanged vows they wrote themselves.

Says Keely: “One of the things that my friends said to me was, ‘We’ve always wondered, Why Mike? And after he gave his vows, we didn’t wonder anymore.’”

The pair teared up throughout the ceremony.

“I thought that was really special because our friends and family got to see all of the emotion behind nine years of waiting for the day to happen,” she explains.

At the reception, guests enjoyed a slider bar with bison, fried chicken and black bean options and a mac and cheese bar with a dozen different toppings available, but the real highlight of the night came when the couple shared their first dance. Keely and Mike took five dance lessons to prepare for the moment.

“Basically our goal was to not look like middle schoolers out there just swaying back and forth for five minutes,” she laughs, noting some of the guests were surprised as they showed off their moves to Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together.”

With nearly a decade of history already behind them, we think they’ll make Al proud. 

Vendors

Venue: Villa Parker

Photographer: Ashley Tiedgen Photography

Day of Coordinator: Erika Oltmann

Caterer: Spice of Life

Florist: Moonlight Iris

DJ: Elite DJ

Rentals: Event Rents

Dress Shop: Savvy Bridal

Tux / Suit / Ties: Black Tux

Bridal Jewelry: Borcik Jewelry

Hair + Makeup: BelViso

Wedding Rings: Sarah O

Cake: