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Mountain Mayhem: Wedding Bells

01 - Christine Benedetti and David Cook's wedding on the East Cape of Los Cabos, Mexico. Julieta Amezcua photo.
julietaamezcuaa |

Christine Anne Benedetti and David Allen Cook of Snowmass married in Mexico on May 9. Christine works at the Aspen Historical Society and David is a co-owner of Aspen 82.

Their beach ceremony took place on the East Cape of Los Cabos with cocktails and dinner afterward in downtown San Jose. “After Hurricane Odile hit Baja last fall, we were worried, but the peninsula has rebounded beautifully and is better than ever,” said Christine. “It was the ‘Every 10-Year Swell’ that came in a week before the wedding that made beach conditions interesting, but put smiles on all of the surfers in the group.”

The happy couple honeymooned in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Uruguay.



Summer Leonard and Jeff Flack’s summer wedding took place at T-Lazy-7 Guest Ranch on Aug. 7.

Among the poignant toasts made in their honor was one by Summer’s maid of honor, Ilia Lopez. “From mountain biking to hiking to all things galaxy, you two complete each other,” she read. “Every once in a while, two people meet and you know instantly the stars align.”




The couple lives in Aspen. Summer is a nurse at Aspen Internal Medicine and Heritage Park and Jeff works at The Little Nell.

After a ski season of enjoying El Nino snow on the slopes, the Flacks will be honeymooning “somewhere warm” next spring.

Jamie Cundiff and Jeffrey Werner had a mid-mountain wedding at the Merry-Go-Round on Aspen Highlands, where Jeff has been the resident caretaker for five years and the couple calls home. Jamie works as an educator at Aspen Center for Environmental Studies

“It was so meaningful for us to exchange vows on our ‘front porch’ and share a bit of our unique mountainside life with family and dear friends,” said the bride. “Fortunately, the weather was glorious! I walked down the aisle to ‘Wildflowers’ by Tom Petty, we had our first dance to Led Zeppelin, and guests left with CDs of our fave songs that looked like mini-vinyl records.”

The newlyweds escaped to Maui immediately following the wedding and spent a week sipping Mai Tais in the sun and exploring the diverse landscapes of the island.

Eliza Greenman and Andrew Burlingame of Snowmass had an East Coast wedding in Rhode Island on Sept. 25.

Eliza is the marketing director for Aspen Center for Environmental Studies and Andrew is a supervisor for William H. Baker Construction.

After eight years together, Andrew and Eliza returned to their hometown to tie the knot with almost 200 friends and family from near and far. They were married in her childhood church (where her parents were also married) and then headed to the Greenman family home for a backyard reception where highlights included toasts from the brides’ father and both of their sisters, a live band and an ice cream bar. For their honeymoon, the happy couple headed to Kauai, Hawaii.

Kalyn Bean and Al Fiandaca of Aspen tied the knot on Nantucket in Massachusetts, on Oct. 3. Kalyn works at Rocky Mountain Connections and Al can be found behind the bar at Pinons Restaurant.

They chose to get married on Nantucket “because the island is a special place to both of us,” said the bride who is originally from New Hampshire while the groom is from Massachusetts.

“We were blown away by the love and dedication from our Aspen friends and how many traveled the long distance to celebrate the weekend with us,” Kalyn continued. “Although the weather leading up to the wedding was less than perfect with crazy winds and intense rain from a Nor’easter AND Hurricane Joaquin, it did not affect the party. Flights and ferries to and from the island were canceled, but we were surrounded by our family and friends and the wedding was more amazing than we could have ever imagined.”

For their honeymoon, they traveled to Tucker’s Point, Bermuda.

Congratulations to all the newlyweds!

Contact May with insights, invites or info: allthewaymaymay@hotmail.com

Aspen Times Weekly

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