The Crowd: A love story that blossomed from both coasts
As a warm summer day began to fade behind the Rocky Mountains, casting shadows upon the Roaring Fork River pulsating downstream in Aspen, Colo., a beautiful young woman in a flowing white gown stood on the edge of land as the water moved southward.
Lauren Alanna Lyon reached out her hand for the tall, handsome Jack Krawczyk, who was dressed in black tie and standing in the natural splendor of the Coldstream Trout Lodge. Jack took Lauren’s hand and pulled her close to him, their lips meeting.
At 5 p.m. July 21, Lauren and Jack were pronounced man and wife to the cheers of loving family and friends who had traveled to the middle of the country coming from Newport Beach and New York and Pennsylvania.
Lauren is the daughter of prominent Newport Beach parents Curt and Wendy Lyon and the granddaughter of the late and much-loved Leon and Molly Lyon. The bride attended Harbor Day School and Corona del Mar High School, then Princeton University, graduating in 2006.
Jack was born in Poland and came with his parents Greg and Teresa Krawczyk to the United States when he was 9 years old. He grew up in Murrysville, Pa., and attended Carnegie Mellon University, also graduating in 2006. Following the university, Lauren moved to New York City to pursue a career in finance while Jack headed west to San Francisco and signed on with Google.
Some call it “kismet.” Lauren from Newport Beach, who was then living in New York City, and Jack from Pennsylvania living in San Francisco, were introduced by mutual friend Sarah Newhall two years ago at a dinner party in New York. The chance meeting was love at first sight.
Following a two-year, bicoastal courtship, Jack proposed to Lauren in San Francisco under the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge.
A wedding on the Roaring Fork River in Aspen would bring together 160 guests for an elegant affair under a spectacular white tent festooned with pink and white blossoms that were elegantly juxtaposed between the formal, the traditional, and the natural and contemporary blending of life choices.
Lauren’s brother, Blake Lyon, who also resides in New York City and works in the financial arena, served as “man of honor” and Jack’s sister Aga stood up as the “best wo-man.” The wedding couple took their vows in front of a massive two-story stone fireplace, with the Lyon family labrador, Lucky, standing at attention.
As dinner was served, the party danced to the music of the Denver-based band Syndicate as celeb photographer Kate Holstein clicked away. Guests included Ambassador Brenda Johnson and Merle Cayne from Manhattan, Lauren’s uncle Gen. William Lyon and Aunt Willa Dean Lyon, cousins Bill and Christina Lyon, Newport’s Scott Burnham family, the Danny McKenna family from Emerald Bay and the Mike Schulman family. Guests came from Melbourne, Australia, London and Gstaad, Switzerland.
An afterparty at Aspen’s chic Caribou Club kept the crowd dancing until dawn.
The newlyweds will reside in San Francisco.
THE CROWD runs Thursdays and Saturdays. B.W. Cook is editor of the Bay Window, the official publication of the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.
