Makayla & Martin: A Rockin’ TJ Ranch Wedding in Bozeman
Makayla and Martin met over a phone line. He works at Westmart in West Yellowstone, she works at Valley Glass in Bozeman, and he called in orders to her. Some meddling coworkers on both ends decided that was going somewhere and made sure it went there. Those two got gifts and a thank-you from the couple at the reception, which is the correct way to settle that debt.
They got married at Rockin’ TJ Ranch on June 20, and the invitations went out as a newspaper front page. EXTRA! EXTRA! MAKAYLA & MARTIN TIE THE KNOT.
Her grandma’s ring
They got ready on site, in the bridal suite at the ranch, which is a genuinely good room to photograph and meant nobody spent the morning driving.
Partway through, Makayla’s aunt brought out her grandma Kathy’s ring and knelt down in front of her to put it on. The room stopped.
Here is why that ring is not just a borrowed piece of jewelry. It is the one Martin worked from when he had Makayla’s engagement ring made. She spent the whole day wearing the original and the answer to it, on the same hand.
Two first looks, and none with each other
They skipped the first look between them. Makayla did two others instead.
Her brother Gavin first, who is also her man of honor. Then her dad, out on the lawn in a cream suit, who had already been wiping his eyes before she got anywhere near him. He turned around and did not recover.
Martin spent his morning at the cabin with his groomsmen, which is a substantially quieter set of pictures.
Then it rained on the ceremony
Not a passing shower. It set in right about four o’clock and stayed.
They got married outside anyway. A hundred and thirty-odd guests sat on wooden benches down a petal-strewn aisle and put up umbrellas, and Makayla came down that aisle on her dad’s arm in the rain, under a driftwood arbor covered in blue and white flowers. Nobody left. Nobody moved it inside. The whole thing reads better in the pictures for the weather, not worse.
They did shots out on the grass afterward.
And then the sky opened up
By evening it had cleared into one of the better sunsets I have shot in the Gallatin Valley. Pink and orange running the whole width of the sky.
Makayla changed into a short dress and a pair of turquoise cowboy boots, and we took them back out into the field while the light held. Those frames are the ones I would put on a wall.
The speeches got everybody
Gavin went first and cried through most of it. Her dad went next and did the same. Somewhere in there it stopped being a toast list and turned into the room telling these two what it thought of them.
Then the party. Sometime after dark the dance floor turned into handstands and back walkovers, which is not a normal wedding development and I fully support it. It ended with a tunnel of glow sticks and Martin dipping her in the middle of it.
The vendor team
- Venue: Rockin’ TJ Ranch | rockingtjranch.com
- Videography: Capture Now Studios
- Gown: The White Dress, Bozeman
- Hair: @kissbridalhmua and @beautybyrachellev
- Makeup: @makeup.by.diana_ivonnee
- Florals: Rosauers
- Photography: Charles Moll Photography
Planning a Bozeman wedding?
If you are getting married at Rockin’ TJ or anywhere in the Gallatin Valley and you want coverage that stays out of your way, I would love to hear about it. The full Rockin’ TJ Ranch venue guide has pricing, photo spots, and the FAQ.
