Caitlin and Gary

Caitlin Hott and Gary Whitney, Jr. actually knew each other for quite a while before she would agree to a formal date!

“We met at the Grizzly Rose, where Gary works his part-time fun job running stage security,” Caitlin smiles. “We shared mutual friends and acquaintances from the bar. He claims the first time he really noticed me was when I was with friends celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. I was wearing a ridiculously silly neon green short bobbed wig and apparently that caught his eye!

“We exchanged numbers and talked and texted for a while, but I was a little apprehensive about a date due to our age difference of 15 years,” she continues. “To this day Gary likes to remind me that he was the one who chased me for a while. Finally one night I accepted and we went out on our first real date; he even picked me up! I couldn’t remember the last time a guy picked me up for a date instead of meeting me somewhere. We had appetizers at Bar Louie and saw a movie. The day after our date I felt like I was on cloud nine! A girlfriend and I went to visit him that night as he was working a concert at the Grizzly Rose. I guess you could say the rest is history.”

Gary chose Christmas morning, 2013, for his sweet proposal to Caitlin. “We were alone that morning opening gifts before going over to our parents’ homes to celebrate Christmas,” Caitlin reminisces. “We took turns opening presents, and I had saved Gary’s biggest box for last. I noticed that it felt empty; the inside was filled to the brim with packing peanuts. I kept digging around and I couldn’t seem to find anything inside. I looked at Gary and laughed, asking, ‘Are you sure anything is actually in here?’ He told me to keep looking, that there was definitely something in there.

“Finally, I located a small box that he taped to the bottom of the big box. As I pulled the small box out, before even opening it to see what was inside I looked up at Gary and he was on one knee. I couldn’t even really focus on what was happening, as he was saying the sweetest things on one knee and asking me to spend forever with him. I was in tears, as I’m sure most women are in this moment, but my tears felt intensified as I was five months pregnant with our little girl. I couldn’t believe it was real and that I was being asked to spend forever with my best friend. It was the perfect moment and I loved that he made it something special for just the two of us to share.”

Caitlin and Gary have set Sept. 26, 2015 for their wedding date in a ceremony at the Omni Interlocken hotel in Broomfield. “We are so excited to be sharing this special day with our family and friends,” Caitlin beams.

“Our beautiful daughter will be our flower girl! We’re planning a chic, rustic wedding that reflects our style–lots of flowers, pops of bling, very bold colors and, of course, country music.

“Sharing this day with our beautiful daughter is the most wonderful part of our wedding. “We hope she will look back on photos as a reminder that she was a huge role and part of her parents’ special day.” HLM