An Intimate Mountaintop Wedding at the Aspen Mountain Club in Aspen, Colorado

Mark Weingarden and his 8-year-old son had just arrived at The Little Nell in Aspen, Colorado when they first encountered Gabrielle Konin.

“We sat down in the Living Room of The Little Nell, where we were staying, and an extremely attractive woman in a particularly perfect blue ski outfit approached and sat next to us on the inviting, beyond comfortable, sofa,” Mark describes. “Although the last thing on my mind was dating, after carefully looking for a ring on her left hand, I still had to talk to this beautiful person.

Both my son and I enjoyed a little conversation with her and ordered her a glass of wine which, mind you, she refused reputedly to allow me to put on our tab but finally, after great insistence, accepted. Post sharing a very nice innocuous chat and glass of vino she was headed out. I without hesitation realized this was a bright, independent, successful beautiful woman whom I was without question interested in getting to know her better.”

“While Gabrielle was ever so sweetly departing, my son, Mattox, looked at me with his huge blue eyes and made an assertive aggressive gesture to his palm suggesting, ‘Hey dad what are you doing??!! Why didn’t you get her digits??!!’ I realized his intention was nothing short of incredibly innocent and very sweet, thinking of his single dad, so I motioned to Gabrielle if she would mind coming back to allow me to take the opportunity to teach my son a little something that hopefully he will soon not forget.

I explained quite candidly that every guy with any intelligence would without question try to get this incredibly beautiful woman’s phone number, but dad was intentionally remaining a bit cool and coy so to speak. I intimated bluntly that I was more than certain we would see Gabrielle again very soon and wanted to avoid being like everyone else. I knew with absolute confidence that this would not be the only time we would run into her and better that I wait until the next opportunity.

As anticipated, we did run into her on Aspen Mountain at the famous ‘Bonnies,’ when we were leaving to go back up for some more runs and invited her to join us. The balance remains a very interesting reality to say the least, but we ended up getting married in what could be considered a storybook experience in Aspen where it all first unfolded.”

Gabrielle and Mark’s Colorado wedding took place towards the end of summer, planned by Gold Leaf Event Design & Production and the Little Nell management team. As the bride and groom exchanged vows atop a mountain, it was as if their love story had come full-circle from the day they met.

“Our wedding was without question so tastefully choreographed to the highest degree on every level,” says Mark. “As we wanted a very intimate experience being only a party of 50, we decided to take it to another level with the gastronomy and wine. We both are admitted foodies and appreciate wine – thus, we ended up having a fairytale experience at 11,212 feet elevation on the outside deck overlooking one of the most amazing views in Aspen valley.

The scenario was remarkable with a six-course wine pairing event with an amazing ceremony as the starter. Again, just incredible on every level.”