There’s no better place to celebrate love than Sun Valley and we are lucky to offer everything you need for the wedding of your dreams.
Michael Sinnott and Killarney Loufek had been to a lot of weddings by the time they got engaged. A rather unique couple themselves, it seemed only fitting that they wanted to do something different.
“I always thought it would be fun to get married in the snow,” said Killarney. “That’s when we realized we had been doing our wedding venue search all wrong. We switched to a winter wedding right then, and the ideas started rolling about how to have a fun, unique winter wedding.”
They didn’t want to do a wedding that they had been to before. That’s why they decided to tie the knot in the middle of the winter at a little mom-and-pop ski hill just west of Hailey.
“I always dreamed of getting married in the snow,” Killarney said. “But our wedding at Rotarun was even more amazing than I thought it could be. It was super fun.”
Killarney grew up on the beaches of Southern California, while Mikey grew up here on the ski trails of Sun Valley. They are both accomplished athletes, earning national championships and All-American honors in their individual sports; Killarney in sailing and Mikey in Nordic skiing.
They met through athletic social circles while attending Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. But they didn’t really strike up an amorous connection until after graduation, when they met for lunch one day in San Francisco. Unlike their great timing as athletes, their timing as a couple wasn’t so smooth. Killarney was about to move to Mexico, while Mikey was headed for China.
They didn’t let the distance stop them. Their first date was on the Mayan Riviera, followed by dates in Costa Rica and China. They also didn’t did let the challenges of throwing a winter wedding in the Northern Rockies hold them back from having the perfect day.
Festivities began with a welcome dinner at Warfield Distillery & Brewery in Ketchum. They put together an incredible three-cheese fondue, a Sun Valley staple. Mikey said, “They crushed it.”
The wedding began shortly after at Rotarun—the only free ski area in the country. The transformation from ski resort to wedding site in the middle of February was nothing shy of remarkable. Tara Bella Flowers came in to beautify the surroundings and “did an amazing job. I had no idea Rotarun could be that beauriful,” Killarney said.
A La Parilla’s taco cart, mulled wine and ski rentals from PK’s Sports set the scene, and the dress code of retro ski wear set the mood. The family-friendly, single-poma-lift ski area was perfect for skiers of all abilities. Even Killarney’s friends from Mexico who had never skied before enjoyed it. As Adelaide Mason’s terrific photos show, a great time was had by all.
After carving turns for hours, the celebration moved over to The Mint on Main Street in Hailey. Dinner, including The Pioneer Saloon’s famous Mud Pie, and dancing took over. “The Mint did a fantastic job. It was the perfect blend of amazing food and great acoustics,” the couple said.
Soon after their wedding, the coronavirus pandemic took over and they spent their first few months as a married couple in quarantine in Ketchum, where they happily now call home. While that’s not the ideal way to start a marriage, their wedding was certainly a magical day.
“We feel fortunate to have had a chance to celebrate with our family and friends, given the coronavirus timing,” Mikey said. “I think we may have been the last wedding in Idaho for a while.”
Resources:
PHOTOS: Adelaide Joyce & and Nick Smith
Venue: Scotty McGrew, SVSEF/Rotarun
Flowers: Tara Bella
Transportation: North Side Bus Co.
Amazing Tacos: La parilla
Reception: The Mint
Everything Else: MANY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!
