STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREEN BOSSICK

City employees put up the street barricades Saturday morning.

And, as skiers headed to Bald Mountain to schuss through spring corn, a small army of workers began constructing what looked like a bronze arch on 4th Street.

Mike Smith of Audio Star began setting speakers up around the street, while Kacie Spenst of Bloom Theory arranged floral decorations featuring white roses, spirea and hydrangea.

Wedding guests posed for pictures in front of a red sports car.

They had mere hours to work before the street would turn into an outdoor wedding chapel.

Tiffany Berger, the event planner, has lived in the Wood River Valley for 15 years, but she’s never seen a street wedding.

“This is a family that lives in Seattle but has a family home here. The groom was close to the Kneelands who owned a gallery down the street, so it was important to the couple to have something unique, something involving art. And his mother has a home in West Ketchum,” she said.

“They said, ‘What if we got married in the street outside Gail Severn Gallery? I said, ‘No way!’ But they went to the City Council and paid all the permitting fees, had all the city departments sign off on it. And here we are.”

Kacie Spenst arranges the floral decorations.

In addition to capitalizing on the art scene of Sun Valley, it was important to the groom and bride to use local vendors to give back to the valley.

“That’s pretty cool because a lot of people who have weddings here hire from outside the valley,” said Berger.

In this case, all 15 vendors came from the valley, with the exception of the woman who designed the archway—she came from Riverton, Wyo. Penny Weiss, who owns The Event rental and event design company, worked with the fire department to get the right size tents and stoves for Rasberrys to set up its kitchen in the alley behind Gail Severn Gallery.

“I plug the kitchen in and give it to the caterer,” said Weiss.

The archway was created with plywood.

Berger said the wedding couple wanted the sculptural arch, which offered a window on Baldy, to feel like an extension of Gail Severn Gallery, which boasts Mark Stasz and Rod Kagan sculptures outside.

“For them, it’s like creating another piece of art. And they’ll donate the flowers to local organizations like the Senior Connection or The Hunger Coalition—places that can use a little bit of cheer.”

Just before the appointed hour, guests began arriving on shuttle buses. They took pictures of one another next to a red sports car set up in front of the wedding venue and grabbed champagne and mineral water from a champagne stand set up on the sidewalk.

A couple women scurried over to the Board Bin and had their picture taken under the “Girl Street” sign.

Cocktail tables awaited guests outside Gail Severn Gallery.

Barb Lock and Carol Carrothers followed some of the wedding attendees from the Warfield after being told of the wedding.

“I don’t normally crash weddings, but this is way too accessible!” quipped Lock. “I like the idea of having a wedding in the streets, but it’s kind of risky given the weather in spring.”

For a spring day in the Rocky Mountains this could not have been more perfect with plenty of sunshine, only a light breeze and temperatures around 70.

A couple from New Jersey, in town to ski, stopped and watched the proceedings.

“I love the arch,” said the woman.

Peter walked by ski poles in hand, wearing his neon vest and bicycle helmet. And passersby in shorts and flip flops, on bicycles and with dogs settled in, taking pictures of the wedding crowd in its long gowns and fur stoles.

As the guitarist finished Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” the 105 wedding guests settled in on benches on front of the archway.

The bride arrived in a shuttle bus that pulled into the alley. And while one person carried her bouquet, another kept the train of her dress off the ground as she walked past the caterers.

Then, as the guitarist played The Beatles’ “In My Life,” she turned the corner and she and her escort walked through the crowd to the arch.

“I think it’s awesome,” said Mike Smith. “Pretty cool to close things down and put on such a unique wedding.”