Priest Lake Idaho Wedding

Colton & Vanessa’s gorgeous moody fall Priest Lake Idaho Wedding was full of memorable moments! This stunning wedding felt like a long time coming. After postponing their wedding twice due to Covid, they were finally married in 2022. I was so stoked when they asked me to travel to my favorite lakeside down in the Idaho Rocky Mountains. I was born in Moscow, Idaho, so North Idaho is my home. It’s super special and meaningful for me to get to shoot a North Idaho wedding!

Wedding Venues in North Idaho

Colton and Vanessa chose one of my favorite wedding venues for their Priest Lake Idaho Wedding, Cedar River Weddings & Events! Here is a list of several of my favorite North Idaho Wedding Venues:

Elkins Resort in Priest Lake Idaho
Talus Rock in Sandpoint Idaho
Homestead Barn in Dover Bay Idaho
Settlers Creek in Coeur D’Alene Idaho
Firebrand LLC in Cocolalla Idaho

From the Bride and Groom themselves

How did you and your partner meet & fall in love?

Colton and I are both nerds, and met in our first year of Civil Engineering school in a statics class. He was assigned to a homework group with a bunch of my guy friends, and after a couple days of pestering, I convinced them to join us for a study session so they could make the introduction. I was working at a fly shop at the time, and Colton is an avid fisherman, so I asked him to go for an evening fishing date that week and we immediately hit it off. I think they say, the rest is history!

What was the first decision you made when planning your Priest Lake wedding?

Our first decision in planning our wedding was finding a North Idaho Wedding venue that fit our style and our guest count! Colton and I are big outdoorsmen, and finding an informal outdoor venue in Priest Lake was first and foremost. Cedar River Weddings & Events was a major find seeing as it was on the river, and that’s how we got our start together!

What were your priorities when planning your wedding day? What was most important to you about your wedding?

Our biggest priorities were photography, alcohol, and food (in that order). Colton and I are very family and friend oriented. Our number one priority was throwing a party that everyone would enjoy to their fullest. We had over 350 guests at our large wedding! We really wanted to make sure to have an open bar, transportation for all guests to utilize that bar (we rented buses) and amazing food to keep everyone somewhat in check. I would also consider myself a major photo snob! And I was not willing to let a single photo opportunity fall through the cracks at such an epic party, which is why we hired Maggie! After talking to guests post-wedding, the photos, food and alcohol were the top 3 things they remembered most! Overall, I think we hit it out of the park!

What feeling or moment sticks out the MOST from your wedding day? What part of the day had the most effect on you or your relationship?

I would say the dance floor sticks out the most and then the food. Colton and I love to boogie and dance. The feeling of having all of our family and friends dancing together and celebrating us was one for the books! And I’ll NEVER forget that feeling. Although, the ceremony had the biggest impact on our relationship. It felt amazing for us to stand together and look back over all the people who love and support us all in one place. It made us feel unstoppable as a couple to have so many people on our side.

What was the funniest moment of the day?

The funniest moment happened on the dance floor. Our groomsman, Corbin, danced so hard he completely ripped his suit pants in half. And in an effort to keep him on the dance floor, Coltons uncle Matt gave him his own pants and went home in his underwear. That’s how you know our people were there to party.

How did you pick your Priest Lake Idaho wedding vendors? What were your priorities when choosing your vendors?

Choosing our vendors came down to finding people that aligned with our desire to cater and document our wedding with family and friends! Every single vendor had some history with us, or fell right into this category which is something that made our day so special!

For example:

1) Maggie’s sense of adventure and desire to do anything for a gorgeous wedding photo (including getting in the river), made her the perfect destination wedding photographer!

2) Our groomsman Brandon is a graphic designer and made our entire fly-fishing themed wedding suite.

3) I worked for Chef Jesus (head chef at Cottonwood Grill) all through highschool at the Basque Center, and he drove meals for over 350 people up to McCall for our big day!

4) Madeline Elise went to highschool with me (and a large portion of our guests) and was an obvious choice to film our wedding!

5) Bridget Burnett and I have known eachother since the day she was born (literally) and having her take our getting ready photos was very special!

Colton and I really value “Our People” and what they bring to our community and life. Being able to support their careers, while having them be a part of our big day was one of the best parts!

Any future advice for future couples, please share here!

At the end of the day, everyone is there to celebrate you, and no one really remembers the table settings and all the details that are easy to stress over. That being said, focus your energy on prioritizing what means the most to you two on your big day! For us, this meant making sure our family and friends enjoyed one hell of a party and that it was all thoroughly documented! Just glancing through all of Maggie Grace’s gorgeous photos, I think it very apparent we accomplished just that!