Autumn at Spruce Mountain Ranch was photographed by Tina Joiner of Tina Joiner Photography.
How They Met
Jordan: We met on Tinder. At the time I was traveling around the country for work, so we initially found each other on the app. We talked there for a week or so, and then I tricked Brian into asking for my phone number. He had just adopted a puppy and I asked him to send me a picture. I knew that Tinder didn’t have the capability to send messages with photos and he would need my phone number to text me the picture. We kept talking while I was on a two-week trip to Montana. I returned the day of the solar eclipse, August 21, 2017, and we officially met for our first date that night.
Where did you have your engagement session?
Jordan: We had our engagement session at Spruce Mountain Ranch at the lower ranch. We are getting married at the upper ranch at SPR, so we thought it would be fun to do our engagement pictures at the other venue on the property. When we were interviewing photographers, we shared that we wanted to have our engagement session at the lower ranch since we were getting married at the upper ranch. Many of the photographers we spoke with said that they had never heard of a couple doing that. We were surprised by that, since it seemed like a great way to get unique photos for both the engagement session and the wedding, truly utilizing the beautiful space of Spruce Mountain Ranch.
Tell us about your dogs!
Jordan: We have two dogs, who were both in our engagement session. They are both rescues.
Koa is a Lab mix and he is 3.5-years-old. Zeus is a Great Pyrenees and Shepherd mix and he’s almost 2-years-old. They are closer than any two dogs I’ve ever seen. They are 100% in love with each other. They cuddle together, watch over each other (usually eating one at a time) and worry about each other if one is ever in trouble or hurt. Meanwhile, they are also 100% brothers. They compete with each other over everything, they get annoyed with each other, they wrestle like siblings (or WWE), they steal each other’s toys and they get super jealous of one another.
Everyone says that their dogs are like their children, but ours really are like having two sons. The best part is that they have opposite personalities and body types, but they are so similar too. It’s especially fun to watch them pick up each other’s mannerisms and favorite past times. For example, I bet Zeus is the only Great Pyrenees who runs sprints in his backyard, but that is Koa’s favorite thing to do, so he does it.
What would you share with any couple trying to plan a wedding during this time?
Jordan: I’ve always believed in hoping for the best and planning for the worst. However, with this, I’m going with more of an approach of planning for the best, and if the worst happens, being ready to roll with it. I think the best strategy is to plan for the big wedding we want to have, and if the circumstances haven’t improved, or new problems have arrived, we’ll adjust. My grandpa was a carpenter and regarding making cuts to wood he would say, “You can always take more off, but you can’t put it back on.” For planning a wedding during Covid-19, I’d say, “You can always scale it down last-minute, but you can’t make big additions.”
Autumn at Spruce Mountain Ranch was photographed by Tina Joiner of Tina Joiner Photography.
How They Met
Jordan: We met on Tinder. At the time I was traveling around the country for work, so we initially found each other on the app. We talked there for a week or so, and then I tricked Brian into asking for my phone number. He had just adopted a puppy and I asked him to send me a picture. I knew that Tinder didn’t have the capability to send messages with photos and he would need my phone number to text me the picture. We kept talking while I was on a two-week trip to Montana. I returned the day of the solar eclipse, August 21, 2017, and we officially met for our first date that night.
Where did you have your engagement session?
Jordan: We had our engagement session at Spruce Mountain Ranch at the lower ranch. We are getting married at the upper ranch at SPR, so we thought it would be fun to do our engagement pictures at the other venue on the property. When we were interviewing photographers, we shared that we wanted to have our engagement session at the lower ranch since we were getting married at the upper ranch. Many of the photographers we spoke with said that they had never heard of a couple doing that. We were surprised by that, since it seemed like a great way to get unique photos for both the engagement session and the wedding, truly utilizing the beautiful space of Spruce Mountain Ranch.
Tell us about your dogs!
Jordan: We have two dogs, who were both in our engagement session. They are both rescues.
Koa is a Lab mix and he is 3.5-years-old. Zeus is a Great Pyrenees and Shepherd mix and he’s almost 2-years-old. They are closer than any two dogs I’ve ever seen. They are 100% in love with each other. They cuddle together, watch over each other (usually eating one at a time) and worry about each other if one is ever in trouble or hurt. Meanwhile, they are also 100% brothers. They compete with each other over everything, they get annoyed with each other, they wrestle like siblings (or WWE), they steal each other’s toys and they get super jealous of one another.
Everyone says that their dogs are like their children, but ours really are like having two sons. The best part is that they have opposite personalities and body types, but they are so similar too. It’s especially fun to watch them pick up each other’s mannerisms and favorite past times. For example, I bet Zeus is the only Great Pyrenees who runs sprints in his backyard, but that is Koa’s favorite thing to do, so he does it.
What would you share with any couple trying to plan a wedding during this time?
Jordan: I’ve always believed in hoping for the best and planning for the worst. However, with this, I’m going with more of an approach of planning for the best, and if the worst happens, being ready to roll with it. I think the best strategy is to plan for the big wedding we want to have, and if the circumstances haven’t improved, or new problems have arrived, we’ll adjust. My grandpa was a carpenter and regarding making cuts to wood he would say, “You can always take more off, but you can’t put it back on.” For planning a wedding during Covid-19, I’d say, “You can always scale it down last-minute, but you can’t make big additions.”
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