Caroline Tuthill has always been loyal to her authentic self. It’s what drew her husband Trevor to her on the night they met at a party on their first night at Marist College. “I was doing the sprinkler and dancing really weird. He thought that was funny and cute, and then he gave me a piggyback ride back to campus,” recounts Caroline. Eight years post-piggyback ride, their wedding was a complete mirror of a fun-loving relationship and adventurous lifestyle, and it was unapologetically theirs.

After four states and a few years of long-distance, Caroline and Trevor eventually settled in Boulder, Colorado, where they got engaged in May 2023. Trevor proposed while back-country skiing with a simple, radiant cut diamond ring. “I love vintage, quirky things, and people kept telling me to get something timeless and simple,” said Caroline. “I obviously loved it because Trevor got it for me, but it didn’t feel like me,” said Caroline. Ater sitting with the design for a while, she and Trevor decided to revamp it together. Since Caroline is a vintage lover and die-hard thrifter, the couple reached out to Jenna Katz to create a new hand-carved setting with a satin finish to give the new ring a stylish but worn-in feel.

Six months into their engagement, they still did not have a date or venue in mind. “I’ve never been a person who envisioned my wedding and neither has Trevor. It took us a long time to figure out what we actually wanted.” In the end, it came down to a simple question: In a perfect world, what did their wedding look like to them? “Crested Butte is our favorite place on earth. Then it just clicked.”

The couple spent many nights having dates with their laptops at their favorite breweries, committed to making wedding planning fun. Eventually, they came up with an itinerary for an intimate wedding week with just their families; white-water rafting, creating custom cowboy hats, and eating at their favorite local spots were just a few things on the schedule. They all shared one Airbnb because when you marry someone, you marry the family. Upon everyone’s arrival, the select guests were greeted with invitations designed by Caroline and Trevor, along with locally made coffee mugs and watercolor paintings of wild horses.

The couple found their photographer, Ally Rabon, thanks to luck (and TikTok). “I would post thrift haul videos on TikTok when I lived in Boulder and her boyfriend went to CU Boulder. She reached out and asked if Trevor and I would do a photoshoot. She did our engagement photos for her portfolio and then we ended up using her for our wedding.” Thanks to Caroline’s creativity and Ally’s eye and execution, they captured a day-before Western-inspired editorial photoshoot, complete with horses sourced from Facebook. Naturally.

On the night before the ceremony, Caroline and her mom stayed at a separate cabin, which is also where the girls got ready. It was important to the bride to not see or talk to her groom all day, in addition to his first sight of her as she came down the aisle. Caroline opted for natural hair and makeup, having her mom and two sister-in-laws assist her with both. Meanwhile, back at the Airbnb, Trevor and the guys enjoyed an afternoon of relaxing, having a few beers, and going in the jacuzzi.

Caroline wanted her wedding gown to reflect her personal style first and foremost. She began her hunt before she and Trevor decided on Crested Butte as the destination. “For someone who loves fashion and vintage but is always consuming content and seeing trends, getting a dress a year in advance was a lot of emotions for me,” said Caroline. When she tried on her silk Danielle Frankel gown, the vision became clear. Trevor opted for a custom navy suit, complete with a honey-colored tie to match Caroline’s off-white dress.

On the day of, Caroline was adamant that she and Trevor shouldn’t see or speak to each other before exchanging vows. Before they each left for the ceremony, the couple opened gifts and read love letters from one another. Caroline gifted Trevor a pair of vintage cufflinks with a diamond detail, and a letter she wrote to him on the day they got engaged. For Caroline, Trevor gifted her with a Starling signet ring with his name engraved.

The ceremony took place in an open field with mountains as the backdrop. For the bride’s bouquet, she opted for simple greenery, which juxtaposed the wildflower mix in her mom, mother-in-law, and sisters-in-laws’ bouquets. Some of the flowers were from a florist, but most were from Trader Joes, or clipped from fields and the side of the road since Crested Butte is the wildflower capital of Colorado. Caroline’s mom crafted the bouquets.

Finally seeing Caroline come down the aisle was a moment Trevor says he will never forget. Accompanied by her dad, the bride walked down to “Sweet Caroline” played by a live harpist, a touch that only she and Trevor knew about. Caroline’s brother officiated the ceremony and Trevor’s mom did an opening reading in which she read the sacred Lakota story of the White Buffalo Calf Woman.

After they were pronounced husband and wife, celebrations continued back at the Airbnb where the party enjoyed hors d'oeuvres and dinner prepared by a private chef. Caroline and Trevor shared their first dance to Somebuck’s “Hey Honey”, and the lessons they took in preparation for it was a sweet surprise for their families. The cake -- red velvet with cream cheese frosting, Caroline’s favorite, and funfetti with vanilla, Trevor’s favorite -- was displayed on a vintage silver cake plate and adorned with Caroline’s grandmother’s cake topper. “My mom used them, all of her siblings used them, and now Trevor and I have used them.” As the sun set over Mount Crested Butte, they laughed, danced, ate and drank until the party dispersed into the jacuzzi.

While most weddings source decor from rental companies or scour Pinterest for the latest trends, Caroline had a different creative approach for her wedding and wedding week. Nearly all of their decor was secondhand -- everything was thrifted from vintage stores, estate sales, or found on eBay -- and it complimented the rustic setting perfectly. “The nature and the mountains are so Trevor, and then the vintage and aesthetic came from me,” explained Caroline.

From the second-hand candelabras and silverware, to the vintage bandanas embroidered with everyone’s names that they wore white water rafting, to the couple’s love letters hanging from the Aspen trees during their ceremony, Trevor and Caroline exemplified that a wedding doesn’t have to be traditional to be sentimental. “Looking back, it felt very ‘us’. Our wedding was curated piece by piece,” said Caroline. They spent a week uniting their families in the state that they now call home. “It truly all just came together so perfectly,” said the bride. The only thing that didn’t reflect the new Mr. and Mrs.? “According to our cake topper, I’m blonde and Trevor has one arm.”