For Maura and David, one date led to another. “David and I met at Bob’s Steak & Chop House. He was sitting with a guy I had met a few nights before when I was on a date with another guy. I stopped to say hello and ended up sitting down next to David,” Maura says. “The moral of the story: go out with someone because you never know who that will lead you to meet.” For the proposal, David chose a romantic beach-side spot at the Rosewood Little Dix Bay in Virgin Gorda. For all of David’s plans, he didn’t quite expect it to rain right after Maura said yes. “We had to run to a shelter, and then the service staff reset the table and the moon was bright the rest of the night,” she says. The couple planned a small destination affair in their favorite mountain town.
Maura and David chose to throw a smaller wedding, with only 76 guests. “We handpicked every one of them so that when we looked up, we were truly surrounded by our family and friends that are family to us as well.” They planned a few nights of events for their out-of-town guests. “We got married on a Friday night but the wedding party started on Wednesday. Thursday we had a golf tournament for all the guys and a summer-style Aspen lunch for the girls. Thursday night instead of a rehearsal dinner we hosted everyone at our home for Texas BBQ and margaritas,” she says.
Maura looked to local designer Vatana Watters for her wedding day looks. “I wanted a simple dress since it was the top of the mountain,” she explains. “I put on my dress and my friend said to me before I even looked in the mirror, ‘this is your dress.’ And it was! I was an older bride and thought it was the perfect style for me. I ended up getting a second shorter Watters dress that I wore at the party after our dinner,” she says. For her bouquet, she chose a classic design that paired perfectly with the natural beauty of Aspen. “I have always loved the simplicity of Calla Lilly’s so they were the main flower I used,” she says. “My bouquet was wrapped with a rosary that was given to me when I was born. It’s very special to me.”
Instead of a best man, Maura and David incorporated their dog Jake as their only wedding party member. “We were an older couple when we got married and didn’t want a wedding party per se. David had given me Jake for Christmas two years earlier, and he was our child in so many ways. We took him often to our place in Aspen and knew we wanted him to be part of it! He spent most of the ceremony not paying attention but biting at the flies circling his flower collar,” she says.
One of Maura’s favorite photos was when her photographer caught a light moment during the ceremony. “As I was putting the ring on David’s finger, I was actually placing it on the wrong hand. My momma said gently, ‘other hand.’ And then one of David’s best friends yelled ‘loop hole’. Needless to say, we had a great big laugh in the middle of the ceremony,” she says.
The most special moment of the day was just before Maura’s father walked her down the aisle. “He told me how much he loved me, how proud he was of me, and how I would always be his little girl. The way he looked at me is something I will never forgot,” she says. “He went home to Jesus last year so that moment is even more special to me almost 13 years later.”
