Sarah + Nate
Sarah and Nate had such a beautiful spring wedding at River Bend Ranch! Everything went so smooth, everyone was just so happy and joyful and I had so much fun working with everyone there.
I have had the joy of photographing Sarah on 3 different occasions before her wedding, so even though we met through photography, by the time I was shooting her wedding we were friends! Which is my goal with all my couples, that on the wedding day it doesn’t feel like I’m just a vendor and they’re just a client, but that I am helping capture and memorialize a friend’s special day.
Sarah looked so beautiful in her dress from Bri’s Bridal and Holly did such an amazing job with her hair and makeup! It was so fun watching her bridesmaids react to seeing her all done up for the first time, she looked stunning!
Nate and his guys also looked great in Tuxes from Bri’s Bridal, they were so on it when I showed up for their getting ready images.
Sarah and Nate chose to do a first look, which allowed us to finish all their family and wedding party portraits before the ceremony. I loved being able to get those necessary (but not always fun to take) photos out of their way early so they could focus on just getting married and celebrating! It really made the day just feel so smooth and stress free!
Their ceremony was under the big beautiful willow tree at River Bend, I LOVE this spot, it has the willow, the water, the red cliffs, it is just such a beautiful location and Brittney at River Bend really helped make everything so beautiful and magical! Their ceremony was just gorgeous, even with (maybe especially with?) the spring wind!
Before the new married couple entered their reception for their grand entrance, we had on the schedule to take some shots, and I mean spirits not photos haha, because as soon as they entered their reception they went straight into their first dance. I love this new tradition that has been popping up in many weddings I’ve done in the past few years, there are just so many pros to doing it this way! It makes the grand entrance especially grand, if you are nervous about your dance you get to get it done first so you don’t have to worry about it through dinner, and you still have some beautiful natural light for your first dance images. I loved the way their first dance images turned out, well I love how everything through the whole day turned out because everything was just so beautiful all day long!
Their whole reception was so fun, Southwest DJ did such a great job keeping the flow, Thirsty Rooster did such a great job with fun drinks for everyone, and Porky’s Smokehouse was delicious! Sarah and Nate chose to be nice to each other when cutting into their beautiful Skillfully Decadent cake and feeding it to each other, Sarah’s sister caught the bouquet, and all their guests really got down on the dance floor which is always so fun to watch.
I really can’t overstate how beautiful and wonderful this day was, it was such the perfect wedding to start off my 2021 wedding season. I absolutely love this couple, and although I am happy for them starting their new adventure outside of Durango, I will miss getting to work with them and see them around town. But clients turned friends, are still friends even if they don’t live here.
So congratulations Sarah and Nate, I know you will have such a beautiful life together and I can’t wait to watch it unfold from afar!