Married at Big Sky

From the Bozeman Daily Chronicle... 3/26/07

Bride, groom say 'I do' on slopes of Big Sky
By MICHAEL BECKER Chronicle Staff Writer
Weddings are not unusual in Big Sky. The natural beauty of the place makes it an ideal setting for ceremonies year-round.So when Matt Dodd and Ashley Hegseth, both instructors at Big Sky Resort, decided to get married on the mountain, no one batted an eye.

That is, until they revealed the rest of the plan.

At about 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon, Dodd and Hegseth wed while traveling down the mountain, followed by about 30 guests and a minister on skis.

The idea for a moving wedding sprang from frustration. Dodd, a native of Georgia, and Hegseth, who comes from Northern California, had a hard time planning their big day.

"We had no idea how much work planning a wedding would be," Dodd said.

During one exasperated debate about two weeks ago, Hegseth left her fiance alone for an hour. Apparently it was enough time to come up with the idea of a moving wedding, something they had only joked about before.

"I sort of went back and forth on the idea," she said. "I don't want it to be a joke necessarily, but at the same time neither of us have been the kind of people to take things too seriously.

"Dodd said that once the couple's powder-hound friends learned of the idea, it took on a life of its own.

"There are a lot of things that spiraled widely out of control," he said.

The plan was to send the entire wedding party down the Mr. K run, a training slope at Big Sky. The guests would be arranged on either side of an "aisle." Since the bride is a snowboard instructor, her guests rode snowboards, and vice versa for her ski instructor groom.

The minister skied backward to face the crowd. The flower girl, the maid of honor and best man all skied in their own places too. The entire affair was captured by cameramen circulating around the party.

As for attire, they knew right away that tuxedos and a gown were probably out of the question. Dodd wore a black ski jacket and pants, and Hegseth wore a white ski suit with a small skirt. She did hold on to the tradition of a veil, though.

How did their families react to the idea?"Our family on both sides were a little surprised," Dodd said. "Surprise is the best way I can put it."

The Rev. Mike Boucher, who married the couple on Sunday, has known Dodd and Hegseth for four years and said the plan really didn't surprise him.

"Matt has some farfetched ideas that always sound a bit foolish at first to me, but the way he brings these together and he puts so much into these ideas and they always seem to work out in the end," Boucher said.

Boucher, who is also a ski instructor, wore a helmet camera during the ceremony and even built a lectern on skis that accompanied him down the mountain. The lectern housed the PA system and weighed 70 pounds.

"The hard part when we get to some of the steeper parts of the run will be keeping that from running me over," Boucher said Saturday.

Boucher said it was fitting that the couple's wedding would be moving.

"Them moving forward represents them moving toward something greater than each of them individually as they come together," he said.

Hegseth also explained that, given how their relationship has gone, a moving wedding made sense. The couple met while they were both traveling, and Dodd proposed while they were traveling in Las Vegas.

"So it makes sense that we get married while we're traveling," she said."I think we both kind of like to forge our own path," Dodd said. "I think that's one of the reasons we get along so well."

After the wedding, the couple held a reception at the resort for those unable to attend - or keep up with - the ceremony. Hegseth said they have also planned a more traditional ceremony that will take place in California in July.