In a nod to their love of hiking and adventure, Crystal and Alicia Blakely said “I do” atop a mountain in Vermont — and they did it after hiking there in their wedding dresses.
“It was so special,” Crystal, 29, tells PEOPLE. “I can’t wait to experience more adventures together!”
Crystal and Alicia — who both changed their last names after they married — hit it off immediately when they met in 2013 as freshmen at Dean College in Franklin, Massachusetts. The dance teachers attended classes together, shared many interests and quickly became best friends.
We were inseparable, says Crystal. “She makes me laugh so much – I always have so much fun with her.”
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They roomed together for all four years of college and halfway through their senior year realized that they both loved each other more than friends and decided to date each other.
“We definitely went slow,” says Alicia, 28 (turns 29 on December 16).
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Alicia and Crystal Blakely.
Photo by Amelie Marie
After graduating in May 2017, the couple moved to New York, where they auditioned and took classes.
When the COVID-19 pandemic brought life as they knew it to a halt, they decided to go back to school and become healthcare workers. Before heading to graduate school in Maine, the couple spent 23 days in the summer of 2021 hiking the Vermont Long Trail, a 273-mile trail that traverses the entire state.
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“We were surviving in the woods together,” Crystal says. “We definitely went through obstacles – that’s when I really felt her support. And then when she felt down, I was there for her.”
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They went engagement ring shopping the following summer, but Alicia didn’t pop the question for several months.
One night in November 2022, Alicia woke Crystal up at 2 a.m. and suggested they go for a ride. “I was excited,” says Crystal.
They drove to Acadia National Park and watched the sunrise together atop Cadillac Mountain. Then Alicia proposed to him. “I love you so much, I just want to spend forever with you,” Crystal remembers her now-wife saying.
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Crystal and Alicia Blakely.
Photo by Amelie Marie
When it came time to think about their wedding day, Crystal says they had the “crazy idea” to hike Camel’s Hump in Vermont and get married on top of the mountain. And this September, they did exactly that.
They started their wedding day on September 30 with a “first look” photo shoot. (where did that happen? did they start climbing yet?). “I immediately started crying,” says Crystal. “She looked so beautiful.”
Then it was time to climb.
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Alicia and Crystal Blakely.
Photo by Amelie Marie
The couple carried their wedding bouquets and a bottle of champagne in a backpack – and hiked to the top in long wedding dresses, which didn’t slow them down at all, they say.
“It felt like we had just flown up a mountain,” says Alicia, now a pediatric nurse. “I just lifted my dress over my knees and said, ‘Okay, let’s go!'”
“We had a lot of fun,” she adds. “We loved hiking in our dresses.”
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Alicia and Crystal Blakely.
Photo by Amelie Marie
Along the way, the couple received many congratulations from their mountaineers. “Everybody we passed was like, ‘Oh my God, you’re getting married? It’s so exciting. It’s great,'” says Alicia. – Everyone was very excited for us.
“I thought it was super special,” says Crystal, who is studying to become a physical therapy assistant. “We were all strangers, but that didn’t matter. Everyone was very excited about us getting married.”
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Alicia and Crystal Blakely.
Photo by Amelie Marie
After exchanging vows at the top, the nearby hikers even clapped.
“It was great fun to see everyone’s reactions,” says photographer and officiant Amelia Kehoe, who specializes in adventure weddings and elopements. “Alicia and Crystal were beaming throughout – they had a great day exploring together.”
They then drank a bottle of champagne, hung a “just married” sign on their backpacks and hiked down the mountain, where they met up with their immediate family and friends for a reception at Crystal’s parents’ house.
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Crystal and Alicia Blakely.
Photo by Amelie Marie
The newlyweds — who changed their last name to Blakely as a nod to Crystal’s maternal great-grandmother — are encouraging other couples not to be afraid to have a fun, “just us” wedding.
“Definitely commit and be brave and do it,” says Crystal. “An intimate, fun adventure made our wedding day that much more special. It’s definitely worth it.”
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Source: HIS Education