"We definitely weren't focused on learning; we were interested in each other," Paige Laurie says of her initial encounter with Bo Dubbert at an ACT preparation course. "We owe it to our moms for making us take that class," the Wal-Mart heiress says, yet the two Missourians parted ways after dating briefly their senior year of high school.

Four years later, while Bo was vacationing near her college, he mentioned to a friend that he wished he'd run into Paige. The next night, at an L.A. club, "All of a sudden, I see Bo—as handsome as ever," Paige remembers. "It was love at first sight," she says. "I knew I was going to marry him. There was something bigger than us that wanted us to find each other again."

During a December 2006 Whistler getaway for Paige's birthday, the only sound was the jangle of bells until their horse-drawn sleigh—stopping. Bo got down on one knee in the snow. "I said yes about as loud as I could," Paige says. "I was nervous and cold," remembers Bo, who'd arranged to have champagne and a rose-filled suite waiting.

"It was the start of our magical journey," says Paige. Next stop: meeting Colin Cowie in New York. "Paige and I both fell in love with him from the moment we met," Bo remembers. "His zest for life is so amazing; he's a true genius," Paige adds.

Ingenuity, resourcefulness, coordination and an intense fourteen months of planning were required to execute Paige's vision. "I knew I wanted to get married in Columbia, where I was born and raised," she says. "I wanted it to be like a fairytale."

Cowie, whose latest book, “Colin Cowie Wedding Chic,” is a "lavish compilation of wedding details" featuring 1,001 color images depicting every wedding design aspect, is known for his attention to detail. "This entire party, from beginning to end, was made to measure," he says. He even incorporated "the incredible pattern" from the Lauries' fence as a design element. First, however, he helicoptered over the family's spectacular acreage for a macro view.

"We built a series of structures," Cowie explains. The pièce de résistance was the A-frame ceremony site with its stone façade, fountain-flanked aisle, massive windows and floating islands. Paige's father called it "the chapel" during construction, but as the wedding neared, he aptly dubbed it "the cathedral," Cowie recalls.

"My heart was pounding," says Bo, as the cathedral doors swung open and he beheld his bride. They exchanged traditional vows, and Dr. Linda Garbett, a friend of Cowie's who met with them together and individually, "told our love story," Paige says. "She took what we said and created the most special, uplifting ceremony."

Paige envisioned a "formal, glamorous and elegant" celebration but also "wanted it to be fun," Cowie says. The dining pavilion, with its chandeliered fabric ceiling and velvet-upholstered walls was the setting for dinner prepared by Alfred Portale. Servers underwent three days of training. "The food was impeccable," Paige recalls, and the band, Traffic Jamm, "really got the party started" on the sunken dance floor. The cake, which many guests "thought was a statue," was made by Perfect Endings, but the festivities were far from over.

"The energy went from a seven to a seven-hundred" after the midnight fireworks show, says Paige, who donned a Jenny Packham goddess gown for dancing at Club D, where DJ Mateo kept the energy high and the lighting installation was "better than the majority of nightclubs in the world," according to Cowie. "We were the last ones to leave" at 6 a.m., says Bo.

"Logistically, it is not very easy" to create "something of this caliber" for nearly 600 people...in Missouri, says Cowie, but "you know when [an event] is blessed because everything worked on cue," he says.

The dismantling of Cowie's creations began as guests reconvened for brunch and when Paige visited following their 11-day Bora Bora honeymoon, "it was like it had never happened." Although "it was sad," she cherishes the things that endure: true love, friendship and memories of "an experience of a lifetime."

"Colin and I will be friends forever," Paige says. And when they wake each morning in L.A., where Bo has a construction company, Paige tells herself how lucky she is. "I love that I have found—my everything," she says. "We are the perfect example that destiny and fate truly exist."

> Written by Kim Knox Beckius