Occupations Carolyn is a special education teacher; Timothy is a regional director at Ares Wealth Management Solutions
Wedding date October 11, 2025
Number of Guests 275
Number of Attendants 21
How You Met Carolyn Paletta and Timothy Kelly have known each other since they were kids, but it took many years and perfect timing to arrive at their wedding day.
The Kelly and Paletta families have been close friends ever since Carolyn’s father, Stephen, befriended Timmy’s uncle, Frank, on the Cornell men’s lacrosse team in 1983. Growing up, Carolyn and Timmy would cross paths at family events and lacrosse games but never truly got to know each other until they were both recruited to play lacrosse at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They became friends on campus, but Carolyn transferred to Brown University as a sophomore and the two lost touch as life went on.
Six years later, the friendship between the Kelly and Paletta families brought them back together at the wedding of Timmy’s cousin, Stephen Kelly (who happens to be named after Carolyn’s dad!). Reconnecting over drinks at the wedding, they realized that both of them were living in Colorado and shared a lot in common, including a love for the mountains and many ski trips planned for the upcoming winter. Following a great night of dancing and laughter, Timmy invited Carolyn to join him for a Dead & Company concert when they both got back to Colorado. The incredible show at Fiddler’s Green ended with slow dancing to their favorite song, “Sugaree,” and the rest, as they say, is history! They spent the winter skiing and snowboarding all around the state together, and the adventures have never stopped since.
The Engagement The entirety of our love story took place in the mountains of Colorado, so it is fitting that Timmy proposed in the middle of a hike on Vail Mountain. The two of us are avid hikers, skiers and snowboarders, and that weekend in August was just like any other: we had plans to spend the day hiking before heading to an O.A.R. concert at one of our favorite venues, the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater. I didn’t expect a thing as we started up the trail, but about halfway up the mountain Timmy asked me to take a picture with him. He put his phone on a self-timer, and as we smiled for the photo he dropped down on one knee and proposed! When we reached the top of the mountain, both of our families were waiting for us with champagne. We all celebrated together before heading to the concert as a family. It was the most stunningly blue-sky day, every single part of the proposal was lovingly thought out, and the smile did not leave our faces all weekend.
Wedding Design Inspiration When we began planning our wedding, we knew we wanted to create an experience that reflected the people, places and experiences that we love most. Bethany Beach holds a lifetime of summer memories for the Kelly family, and Carolyn had always dreamed of getting married on the water’s edge with her toes in the sand. The combination of family roots and breathtaking nature made it the perfect location to make a lifelong commitment to each other.
Both of our families are very large, loud and loving, with dozens of cousins and extended family members who all know how to have a good time. We wanted the whole weekend to feel like a big reunion, with everyone piling into houses right next to each other and being able to walk to the beach and into town together. We started each morning with a dunk in the ocean and ended each night watching our friends and family from all walks of life form their own bonds and memories together.
Aesthetically, we wanted to feel as relaxed and comfortable as possible. There were beachy touches everywhere, from our driftwood chargers to our sea glass table numbers, and we let the beauty of the dunes and ocean be the central focus of the day.
What Was Unique and Special About Your Wedding Day It’s hard to know where to begin with this question. Everything that we did for our wedding was designed from the ground up. The Indian River Life Saving Station gave us the stunning beachfront ceremony of our dreams, and then it was up to us to design every detail of the tented reception space. One of the most unique things we did was to recreate the Staniel Cay Yacht Club bar (Carolyn’s favorite bar in the world) at the venue. For the project, we called in help from our wedding guests who sent in nearly 200 flags representing themselves in some way, from states and countries to sports teams and personalized family flags.
The wedding day itself was sprinkled with so many personal details that made it a once-in-a-lifetime event: Timmy’s cousin, Frankie, led a deeply personal and heartfelt ceremony as the officiant; our 2-year-old nephew, James, stole the show as the cutest and fastest ring bearer to ever do the job (he ran a full-sprint down the sandy aisle!); Carolyn’s dad wrote an original song for the father-daughter dance; Carolyn sang Etta James’ “At Last” to Timmy; the groomsmen drank out of big blue cups from He’s Not Here, a favorite Chapel Hill bar; the Paletta boys surfed on each other’s backs during “Wipeout” (a Paletta family tradition spanning over three decades); ending the night the same way our first date ended, by slow dancing to “Sugaree”, and so many more incredible moments it is impossible to list them all.
Favorite Details I was completely obsessed with our flowers and our brilliant florist. I absolutely love flowers, but with our wedding taking place on the beach I was nervous that the florals would look out of place or compete with the natural coastal beauty. I didn’t have any need to worry, because Kate Campbell is an artistic genius who understood everything about my vision and took it to a level I could never have conceived of. The driftwood/floral/dune arrangement that she created for our ceremony site is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Words can’t do it justice; you just have to see it to believe it. There were gorgeous flowers blooming out of sand dunes, lights and arrangements guiding us down to the beach and a color scheme that perfectly complemented the soft blues, yellows and pinks of my bridesmaids’ dresses. There are so many details I loved about the day, but the flowers will always stand out in my mind as true perfection.
Most Unexpected Event On Your Wedding Day By far the most unexpected event of the day was my dad writing, orchestrating and debuting an original song for our father-daughter dance. He had told me that he wanted the song to be a surprise, so he submitted it to the band without my knowledge, and I expected it to be something nostalgic from my childhood. Instead, he had the band learn a song that he had written himself and then used the help of musician friends and AI to create the melody! The song is called “God’s Music,” and I still can’t listen to it without crying. It spoke to the deep, unmatched bond that we share as father and daughter, and I was so touched and surprised that I couldn’t even speak afterwards. It is a moment I will never forget as long as I live.
Piece of Advice My biggest piece of advice is to find vendors who care about you on a personal level and are excited to bring your ideas to life. I know I’ve only done this once, but I can say with 100% confidence that I had the single greatest wedding planning team that anyone has ever been blessed with in the history of wedding planning. My wedding planner, Jen Carson, was the most on-top-of-it, communicative, hardworking, available, listening, caring, understanding, professional planner in the world. I knew every piece of our wedding was going to flow smoothly because it was in her hands. Our tent company, Coastal Tented Events, was an absolute WARRIOR in the face of an impending Nor’easter. Most tent companies probably would have run and saved their own skin when they saw 45 mile-an-hour winds heading straight at us on the beach, but owner Zach McCarthy had zero quit and never showed a glimmer of doubt that he could get the job done. He switched out our sail cloth tent last minute for a sturdier see-through top that ended up being even more beautiful than the sailcloth with the sunset shining through. Then he managed to take the whole thing down, in the dark, just hours before the winds came through. Again, I would trust these people with my life at this point. My florist, Kate Campbell, as I already mentioned is an artistic genius with impeccable taste, vision, and execution. Plus, she was the smiliest and kindest person in the room at all times, making me feel so excited about our ideas and talking about our venue like it was a canvas that we could paint together. Just so much fun. The artist who did our invitations, Jane Toole at Plainly Worded Studio, allowed us to have unlimited revisions until we had the vision exactly right. Everything from our invitations to day-of paper was crafted by her just for us, and with her incredible talent and super responsive style everything came out perfectly and felt exactly like us. Our catering company, Taste Events, served five-star food oceanside to 275 people…. HOW?! It blows my mind what they were able to do, and the whole process ran so seamlessly. Our photographer, Anna Grace, heard me loud and clear when I said that I didn’t want the photos to dominate the day and that the most important thing for me was to capture the natural emotion. I smile so hard looking through the photos, and I feel that she truly captured all of the dimensions of the day. Our videographer, Ethan Wise Films, captured all of the energy of the night in a way that I would have said was impossible and seemed to have the time of his life doing it. Lastly, our band, The District, knocked it out of the park. I kid you not, that dancefloor was not empty for one second. In fact, it was overflowing with people dancing their faces off from start to finish. They learned an original song that had never been played before, they allowed me and a good friend of mine to sing on stage with them, they played multiple family tradition songs to perfection, and they kept the vibes through the roof until the final second of the set. In summary: FIND PEOPLE WHO CARE AS MUCH AS YOU DO and who delight in their work. Nobody on this list acted like their job was a chore. Each one of them approached it like a calling, and the care and heart that they put into the day shines in every detail.
Beauty East Coast Bridal Bridesmaids Birdy Grey Caterer Taste Events Flowers Kate Campbell Floral Groomsmen State and Liberty Invitations Plainly Worded Studio Location Indian River Life Saving Station, Bethany Beach Music The District Officiant Frankie Kelly Photographer Anna Grace Photography Videographer Ethan Wise Films Transportation Jolly Trolley Delaware and Atlantic Transportation Wedding Dress Amsale; Zimmermann Wedding Planner J Carson Events