With a love of color and a willingness to let the design team run wild, Ali and Brian transformed The Connors Center into a whimsical garden inspired by the joyful world of Rifle Paper Co.

Every part of their celebration felt like an extension of who they are, from the vibrant seasonal florals and hand-painted bugs to the signature cocktails named after their beloved cat. Inspired by the joyful, illustrated world of Rifle Paper Co., their wedding transformed the Connors Center into a colorful secret garden filled with unexpected details, playful design, and a whole lot of heart.

I especially loved photographing a celebration that felt so true to them and full of personality. Rather than following a traditional wedding formula, Ali and Brian created a day that felt entirely like them.

The Ophelia Gown

For her wedding day, Ali wore the Ophelia gown by Saint Bridal, a modern romantic design that perfectly balanced structure and softness. The gown featured a luxuriously wrapped, fully structured bodice that sculpted the figure before gathering into a handcrafted organza garden rose at the waist.

The floral detail flowed naturally into the A-line skirt, which was finished with a dramatic front slit. The combination of the sculptural bodice, delicate organza rose, and effortless movement of the skirt gave the gown a romantic silhouette with a distinctly modern edge.

And that garden rose at the waist felt especially fitting for a wedding so deeply inspired by flowers.

A Colorful Wedding Inspired by Rifle Paper Co.

Color was the starting point for Ali and Brian’s wedding design. Ali has always loved color and wanted the day to feel bright, whimsical, and fun. Rather than creating a carefully restrained palette, she gave her creative team permission to embrace the color wholeheartedly and let the design run wild.

Seasonality was just as important. The couple wanted to work with flowers that were naturally in season and at their absolute freshest, allowing the floral design to feel abundant and completely connected to the time of year. The result was a celebration bursting with dahlias, English roses, poppies, and other colorful blooms in shades of pink, coral, orange, yellow, and red.

The inspiration from Rifle Paper Co. was less about recreating a specific design and more about capturing that same sense of joyful maximalism. The wedding felt like stepping into one of their illustrations, but instead of paper and ink, the garden came to life through flowers, trees, color, and hand-painted details.

A Secret Garden Ceremony at the Connors Center

The ceremony brought the garden inspiration to life in the most beautiful way. Vibrant seasonal flowers surrounded the ceremony space, creating the feeling of a secret garden tucked into the grounds of the Connors Center.

And then, just as Ali and Brian exchanged their vows, it started to rain.

No one rushed to stop the ceremony or seemed particularly bothered by it. The rain simply became part of the moment. There was something incredibly fitting about the couple standing together beneath the falling rain, surrounded by flowers and greenery, promising their lives to one another.

Colorful secret garden ceremony at the Connors Center featuring vibrant seasonal flowers.

Bride walking down the aisle through a whimsical secret garden ceremony filled with colorful flowers.

Couple exchanging vows surrounded by bright dahlias, English roses, and poppies.

Romantic garden ceremony filled with colorful seasonal flowers at the Connors Center.

Colorful wedding ceremony surrounded by saturated pink, red, orange, and yellow blooms.

Newlywed portraits surrounded by colorful garden flowers at the Connors Center.

Romantic couple portraits surrounded by bright pink, orange, yellow, and coral flowers.

Colorful wedding portraits featuring lush dahlias, English roses, and poppies.

Cocktails Inspired by Their Life Together

The food was thoughtful and seasonal, with a menu that included Seared Statler Chicken Breast with Lemon Jus, Herb-Marinated Halibut, and a Roasted Vegetable Tart. During cocktail hour, guests enjoyed a variety of passed hors d'oeuvres while mingling and celebrating.

But the real showstoppers were the cocktails. The couple served a non-alcoholic Lavender Lemonade alongside the Teton Cooler, a bright combination of vodka, lemon, grapefruit, and basil simple syrup.

And then there was the Eddie. Named after their cat and household king, the Eddie was made with bourbon, simple syrup, bitters, orange, and a cherry garnish. It was exactly the kind of personal, slightly playful detail that made the entire celebration feel so distinctly like Ali and Brian.

Flowers That Went Big

The floral design was anything but subtle, and that was exactly the point.

Bright dahlias, English roses, poppies, and other seasonal blooms were layered together in a vibrant palette of pink, coral, orange, yellow, and red. The arrangements felt lush and abundant, with the flowers allowed to be the stars of the design.

But the floral team didn't stop at bouquets and table arrangements. Three full-size trees were installed inside the reception tent, completely transforming the space into an immersive secret garden. Colorful pillars were incorporated throughout the installations, adding another layer of architecture and color.

Walking into the reception felt like stepping into an oversized garden illustration brought to life.

Vibrant reception tablescape surrounded by lush dahlias, English roses, and poppies.

The Bugs Were in the Details

Ali has a particular appreciation for how cute bugs are, so naturally, they needed a place in the wedding design.

Hand-painted watercolor bugs appeared throughout the wedding signage, adding tiny moments of whimsy and personality to the celebration. They felt like little discoveries tucked throughout the day, exactly the kind of detail you might find wandering through a real secret garden.

A Playful Take on the Wedding Cake

The wedding cake was another opportunity to break from tradition and have a little fun. Instead of a classic tiered design, Ali and Brian chose a long, rectangular cake finished with loose, sculptural swoops of frosting and pops of color scattered across the surface.

The result felt almost like a piece of the wedding design itself, artful, playful, and colorful without taking itself too seriously. With its unexpected shape and painterly frosting details, the cake fit seamlessly into the whimsical, Rifle Paper Co.-inspired aesthetic of the day.

A Wedding That Felt Like Them

What made Ali and Brian’s Connors Center wedding so memorable was not just the incredible design, it was the way every part of the day felt like a genuine reflection of them.

From Brian’s completely floored reaction as Ali walked down the aisle to the rain falling as they exchanged their vows, from a dragonfly landing among the reception flowers to Brian taking over the dance floor for a Yung Gravy performance, the best moments were the ones that couldn’t have been planned.

The result was a wedding that was vibrant, joyful, wonderfully unexpected, and completely their own. And honestly, that’s my favorite kind of wedding to photograph, the ones where the beauty is everywhere, but the people and the story are always at the center.