REAL-WEDDINGS

Real Columbus Wedding: Laura and Austin Whalen

A three-day wildflower party in the woods

Columbus Monthly

Laura and Austin Whalen married on July 30, 2022, at Crockett’s Run.

Who: Laura (Weinel) and Austin Whalen

When: July 30, 2022

The story: The Whalens were both environmental science students attending Miami University in 2012, but they didn’t meet in Oxford, Ohio. They were most of a continent away in the Bahamas, thanks to the university’s marine ecology program, studying sea stars. The proposal eight years later happened in an altogether different climate, though: on a mountaintop in Colorado.

The details: “Austin and I care very deeply about the natural world, so it was incredibly important to us that our wedding paid homage to nature,” Laura says. “Before our public ceremony, we hiked the trails on our venue's property—me, barefoot, of course—just the two of us and our photographer. About a half-mile back in the woods is a gorgeous waterfall, where we had a private vow reading ceremony. It was so special and intimate and beautiful.” She describes their wedding as an earthy, wildflower party in the woods. To that end, guests took home wildflower seed packets from American Meadows as their favors.

Of note: All of the key songs of the day were by musicians that the couple had seen live. This included Billy Strings’ “Love Like Me” and Trampled By Turtles’ “Alone” (processional), “See the World” by Caamp (recessional) and “The Mountain Song” by Rayland Baxter (first dance).