Hey there! This is the North Star Gatherings story.
Photo by The Love Club
We are Evin and Barry Urban. We met during college at Penn State through a mutual friend (Barry’s childhood friend turned Evin’s best friend) and were married at Evin's mother's beautiful property, Blue Moon Rising on Deep Creek Lake, MD. The day was so fun, magical and perfect, our guests have been telling us for years that it was the best wedding they have ever attended.
After moving from the East Coast to Denver, we fell in love with the mountains and decided we could share the magic of our wedding day by starting our own venue. Starting in 2017, we began the process of securing land, rezoning our mountain property, blasting lots of rock, and building North Star Gatherings. A few years and two kids later, we officially opened the venue in 2020.
Our forest property sits on a variety of mining claims, and the now-defunct mine the venue is above was called the “North Star Mining Claim”, giving us our name.
We hope to share our passion for connecting with people and nature by providing a magical and unique space, powered solely by the sun and completely surrounded by our beloved mountains, for you to gather and celebrate with your loved ones. We consider it an honor to serve as the backdrop for such a special day.
Thank you for joining our journey!
Meet our Team!
What they say is true: it takes a village! We love our team. They are the heart and soul of North Star Gatherings, working weddings, responding to inquiries, and providing exceptional and personal service to each and every couple.
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Client Experience & Brand Manager
Sydney is the nuts and bolts of North Star Gatherings, and we absolutely love having her on the team. What started out as a freelance relationship managing our social media, turned into us snatching her away from her successful marketing career to work full time with us at the venue!
From thoughtfully replying to every single email, phone call, DM, and walkthrough, she ensures the back-end operations of North Star Gatherings are running smoothly and our awesome couples feel cared for every step of the way. We love her creative mind, hard work, and fun sense of humor.
She’s a lover of travel, yoga, reading, and rock climbing, speaks fluent French, and works remotely all over the world, hopping on a plane whenever she can. She and her husband, Ethan were married in 2020 and love exploring the world together.
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Venue Manager
After a few years managing a boutique coffee shop, Audrey decided to bring her love for people and a party to the venue and we aren’t mad about it! You will see her working weddings at North Star Gatherings.
Audrey is the venue hype man who keeps us young. She is a lover of coffee, and enjoys hiking, running and swimming. If you want to get excited about the outdoors, Audrey will do it with you! She googles literally everything (because internet knowledge is power), reads mystery novels, and really enjoys staying active.
Audrey’s super power is knowing literally all the songs. Ask her about music and you can connect for hours. We love having Audrey on our team!
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Venue Manager
Thea is the gal you want in the car curating a playlist as you drive into the sunset on a camping trip. Hailing from Austin, Texas, she brings two decades of curating moments and planning events, both as a former wedding planner and hostel manager. She leads tours and works weddings at North Star.
She feels most at home when she can see the mountains, and loves to spend a weekend unplugged, hopefully among the trees and high-altitude air.
Married before the days of Pinterest in an old farmhouse at the base of the Mission Mountains in in gorgeous Montana, she and her partner have been together since 2001 and are parents to a very cool tween.
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Venue Manager
Passionate about the outdoors, nutrition, and homesteading, Kristen and North Star Gatherings are a perfect duo. You’ll see Kristen leading tours and working weddings, ensuring everyone has everything they need.
When she’s not homeschooling her three kids, she is tending to her chickens, bees, dog, and garden, or hiking in Colorado’s beautiful mountains! Kristen is a licensed nutritionist, passionate about women’s health, and thoughtful in everything she does.
We are so happy to have Kristen on our team!
Photo by Gaby Scheer Photo.