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Courtney and Adam hired me for their wedding way back in February. They told me of their plans to take a jeep tour up the mountains of Ouray and get married on a peak because they are adventure people. That is my kind of people, I got so excited about these images. Then in May she contacted me to say that the whole family had kind of fell on hard times and they wouldn't be able to pay many of their vendors (me included) the final payments for our services. I could tell in the email she was devastated by this, and I knew that photos were so important to her, and I had been so excited about this wedding myself! They had given me a retainer, and since it was too late to book another wedding on that date (which is why retainers exist), I told her I would come up and cover as many hours as the retainer would pay for. I don't like the idea of a client's money being spent on nothing. Good news was the Switzerland of America Jeep Tour was not one of the vendors that got cut out, they had already been paid in full. So I drove up to Ouray, met Courtney for the first time, and got in the fun red jeeps with all their friends and family. It was a very fun adventure, I had actually never been on a jeep tour like this before. I'm not sure if you'd been to Ouray, or out towards Silverton, but there are these amazing red mountains. As we reached the ceremony location one of these beautiful red mountains appeared as their backdrop! We got everyone out of the jeeps, and it looked like a storm was rolling in so we got the ceremony rolling too. I think storms in the high country are absolutely beautiful! They look so epic and powerful and I thought it fit the epic feel of their ceremony so well! It did mean they had to speed things up a little and we had to rush through some bride and groom portraits to avoid being poured on, but it was all totally worth it! I feel so happy to have been able to give Courtney and Adam some beautiful images of their day, even though I was only able to be with them for 2 hours, it was an amazing experience and I loved every second of it. Thank you Courtney and Adam for giving me such a fun adventurous opportunity.

Katie and DJ got married at Ridgewood Event Center on July 5th. It was such a beautiful day, Katie looked like a straight up vogue model in her dress, and everyone there was so nice and fun to work with! Katie is a triplet, her sister Lizzie got married earlier this year and her brother Cameron got married last year. This meant that Katie's wedding was the final wedding of the Wiegert triplets, and this resulted in a lot of wonderful stories during the reception. I teared up a bit when their step father spoke, stating that he had not spoken at either of the other two weddings, but now was speaking to all three of them about how they welcomed him into the family in such a wonderful way. DJ is a member of the United States Marine Corps, and because of that Katie and DJ have been living in North Carolina, but both of them grew up around Durango. Knowing each other for so long also brought up some wonderful and some funny stories at the reception. My favorite story was about how long DJ has known that he was going to marry Katie, years ago before they were even dating he told Katie's mom Jill that he was in love with her daughter and that he wanted to marry her. He never gave up, and it made me feel like I was in a movie haha! I had so so so much fun at this wedding, thank you so much Katie and DJ for letting me be a part of your day, it was so beautiful and I hope the images can convey a small portion of what an amazing day it was!

I was so excited to get to do this wedding, because I have been photographing the Latham family for so long! I did David's senior portraits, along with two of his siblings and some family portraits through the years. It is so fun to see people grow through the years, and seeing them find love like David has with Tori is an absolute joy! Tori and David are also F.R.I.E.N.D.S. fans, and if you've met me or my husband you may know that we are die hard fans as well. Tori and David incorporated some really fun F.R.I.E.N.D.S. related bits into their day, some of which had me crying of laughter. David even incorporated a really well done F.R.I.E.N.D.S. joke into his vows. I'm sure there were guests who didn't watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S. that may have been a bit confused as to why he kept saying giving, sharing and receiving so much. Their wedding took place family land, they put everything together themselves and it was absolutely beautiful! About a month ago I met with them at the location the ceremony and reception would be (same plot of land) and they had flattened it all out and just laid the seed for the grass, so it was just dirt when I last saw it. I could see their vision of what it would look like in my mind as they described it to me, but it was even more beautiful when I got there on the wedding day. I love when couple's are able to find that line between personal and party. What I mean by that is, it can be hard to not get swept up in the planning, guests, party mode, and remember that this is you and your partner's day. That it is about you two coming together as one, and I feel like Tori and David did an amazing job of taking enough time to make it about their guests and the day, but also making it about themselves and focusing on each other. Congratulations Tori and David I can't wait to see how you two grow as a couple!

Allison and Travis had the most beautiful intimate ceremony at Allison's family cabin at Electra Lake north of Durango. Allison walked down the hill to the tune of a video game she and Travis play together, and Travis had his first words he ever spoke to Allison ("Nice Corgi") embroidered on the inside of his jacket. The intimate details they incorporated throughout their day helped to lay out the story of their love. It was so fun getting to know their relationship and story through the way they put together their wedding day.

I was so excited to be contacted to take part in this exciting session. Beautiful flowers, beautiful model, and adorable sheep! A shoot all about creativity, beauty and nature. I had so much fun and am so excited about the images. So I am going to just let them speak for themselves now.

I say "engagement" session because these guys have already been married for five years. However they are having a wedding in September! I totally relate to this way of doing things, my husband and I got married and then had a larger wedding later after we had already been married a while, and we plan to have another wedding one day in Brazil where he is from, but we haven't gotten to that quite yet. Ty and Richard met me along the river trail to take in some of the lush green that is booming there. Since their wedding is in September this will give them a great combination of summer green and fall colors! I love all their cute snuggle poses, they were the best models! Not to mention Ty's eyes look amazing, (her makeup skills are incredible) and she has one of the best serious model faces I've seen, though her smile and laugh are equally beautiful. So excited for their wedding!!!

Have you ever been to a morning wedding? It is officially my new favorite thing. Ally and Robert had their ceremony at 10:00am. Granted this meant everyone needed to wake up really early, but not just because the ceremony was in the morning, it was also Iron Horse weekend. The Iron Horse is a big bike race here in Durango, racers (although most people I know are just riding it not necessarily racing) ride their bikes from Durango to Silverton through the mountain passes trying to beat the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Train. This is such a large event that the roads are entirely closed from Purgatory Mountain to Silverton to give the riders room and security in their riding. Although Ally and Robert's venue, River Bend Ranch isn't between Purg and Silverton the right side of the road was closed between 7-9:30, making it impossible to turn into River Bend. So our solution was just get all the vendors to River Bend before the road closed at 7am. I am not really a morning person, but I can be, and all the pros of this morning wedding make waking up early SO worth it!!! First of all the light was absolutely amazing! The ceremony locations at River Bend face these beautiful red cliffs to the east, but this means that during afternoon ceremonies the sun is shining right at them, so a lot of times I try and get behind the couple and officiant to get some of my more dynamic back lit images. For this morning wedding however the sun was behind the couple the whole ceremony, and not only that but the sun came through the trees and lit ONLY Ally and Robert near the end of their ceremony and it was thoroughly breathtaking! My other favorite part of this morning wedding, BRUNCH! I love breakfast foods, and brunch is always a favorite of mine. They had Yellow Carrot cater and not only did they have amazing cocktail time snacks and beverages as always, they made made to order breakfast burritos, chicken and waffles, and the most adorable little Crème Brûlées and french toast sticks -------------------> It was all so beautiful, personalized, and entirely fit this wonderful couple's personalities. The dress Ally wore has been worn by many women before her, passed down through generations, and they had a great display of photos from all the past women who have worn the dress. It was of course tailored and modernized a little bit to fit Ally, and it looked SO GOOD. It was so fun to play with in the wind! Another upside to the morning wedding, which people technically can take advantage of in afternoon weddings as well, was the first dances having some natural light coming in. I had a wedding almost a month ago where they danced outside, and this was just as beautiful as that light-wise. So fun to capture!!! Overall the whole day was just magical, it has been raining here all the time lately which is quite out of character with our normal weather, but on Ally and Robert's wedding day the sun was out and it was an absolutely beautiful day! Congratulations Ally and Robert on making that jump into married life so smoothly, I wish you all the joys and happiness each other can bring! Venue River Bend Ranch Hair and makeup by BeautyMARK Cake by Yellow Carrot Catoring by Yellow Carrot Flowers by Yellow Carrot DJ Durango DJ

This weekend we were in Charlotte North Carolina for our Up with People friend's wedding. My husband and I traveled with Marie in UWP in 2017 for about six months, so when she got engaged we were sooo excited. Then she asked me to shoot her wedding and my excitement level went through the roof. I LOVE getting to capture my friend's love. We had heard so much about Dave when traveling with Marie, he seemed like a really awesome guy. We got to Charlotte a few days early to check out all the venue's and help with some wedding prep and get to know the family and everyone. Dave definitely met and exceeded our expectations, he is such a wonderful human, we are so happy for he and Marie, they are ADORABLE together. I also got my first real experience at putting together a lot of wedding details, my wedding was so small and simple we didn't really get into details. We helped in the assembly line of putting together the program fans, Natan cut the corners to be rounded and I taped the back and front together around the popsicle stick. We made 140 of them, it was a process but it was actually really fun, and boy did the guests need them as fans! It was 90 degrees with 50% humidity on the wedding day, and coming from 50-60 degree weather in Durango lately, it was a bit of a shock haha. We survived though, having break times during portraits, lots of water and the adrenaline of wedding day adventures to distract from the heat all helped. It was really such a beautiful day though despite the heat. Marie and Dave had a beautiful first look in front of this amazing window (so inside away from the heat), sharing personally written letters with each other. They were so cute, and it was all so beautiful. They had their ceremony in a little park near a river, and their reception a local brewery's brewery room where they got to choose all the beers to have on tap! It was so cool, and everything just really fit their personalities together. Congratulations Marie and Dave!!! Thank you for letting us be such a big part of your day, we had such a fun time hanging out with you all week. Can't wait to see where the future takes you two!

To say I loved this wedding would be an understatement. I am in love with this wedding, and this couple. I was straight up geeking out all day about how beautiful everything was, and how adorable they were. Stephanie looked absolutely AMAZING, her dress was so beautiful and elegant, I wish I had had her dress for my wedding, I want to steal it haha. Not only was it gorgeous but it also felt like it would be so comfortable when I held it, I loved the flowy texture and the thick high quality lace, and don't get me started on the buttons. I cried when she came out and showed her dress off to her bridesmaids, she just looked so amazing. Her hair, done by Hair Fusion's Alyssa, was fabulous! So many little curls placed together into an elegant bundle, (I also wish I could've had her hairstyle for my wedding haha). There was never a moment all day that I felt in a rush, like things were getting hectic, or that time was running out. Everything just flowed together smoothly, I was able to take Stephanie and John aside for different portraits around the grounds as the light changed. They had their first dances as soon as we returned from their official portrait time, and danced outside in the sunlight which was absolutely beautiful. All the little girls threw flower petals from the ceremony as they danced, it was so fun and intimate but also casual and fun! It was such a great combination of everything I love in a wedding. Their ceremony went by in a flash! Thirty minutes goes by so quickly when filled with stories and love. Stephanie and John told stories as their vows, I had never heard someone do their vows this way before and I absolutely loved it. They planted seeds with the help of their parents to unify them in lieu of a candle or other unity practices. It was such a lovely ceremony. They added so many personal details, I love personal details! For example, John's tie clip was made of titanium crystals by his grandfather on the Kleespie side of his family, the other side of his family is Christensen, so he tied his tie in a christensen knot combining both sides of his family. I grew up with John, we went to high school together, I can't ever remember him being as happy as he is with Stephanie. The way he looks at her, and just the way he is around her, just exudes pure happiness and love, such an adorable love. I hardly had to give them any direction when doing their portraits, I set them up in a pose and then I learned to just be quite and give them space while they went on being adorable. Only a few slight tweaks were needed between capturing their natural cuddly nature. Wedding days like this are why I love my job! Thank you John and Stephanie for everything, for letting me open up my creative side and letting me be a part of such a wonderful day!

This past weekend we had the first inaugural Southwest Wedding Bazaar at River Bend Ranch in Durango. The purpose of this event was to act similarly to a wedding expo in the sense of showing off different wedding vendors to engaged couples, however instead of a bunch of booths and vendors standing around with pamphlets it was a big fake wedding! Caterers, cake designers, florists, wedding planners and designers, hair stylists, make up artists, wedding dresses, wonderful drink vendors, photographers, videographers, and more all getting together to put on three different ceremonies throughout the day and a cocktail hour feel throughout the grounds. It was SO MUCH FUN! All the different ceremony sites were decorated and designed in different styles, all beautifully curated. Three different couples all dressed and styled to the nines. It was so fun to work with all the vendors, getting to know everyone a little better. It was amazing having such beautiful scenes and set ups to photograph and video. Best part was being able to really show these potential wedding couples what I can do and how hard I can work. I felt so much more of a connection with each couple that approached me than I do with couples that come by my booth at an expo. (TL;DR Photos at the end) The vendors were all so amazing, the collaboration between everyone came together so beautifully. Blue Leaf Design made wonderful signage, beautiful lettering on acrylic for table numbers, place settings, informational signs and more. Dirty Dishes provided beautiful vintage stemware, plates and cutlery, making the event not only much cuter and more detailed but also waste free! Violet Mae Vintage brought so many fun pieces to create super cool spaces with funky furniture and decor outside. Heirlooms Durango and Love Untamed Collective did some really amazing design work on each ceremony space as well as the event in general. Jaime Becktel with Southwest Ceremonies performed two wonderful ceremonies, she fit so well into the style and feel of each one! Scott Perez performed the third ceremony and he made it short and sweet. Linnaea Design, April's Garden and Adela Floral put together some gorgeous floral arrangements, all so different but equally beautiful. Linnaea Design arranged beautiful white blossoms up the trunk of a willow tree, she also created some amazing earrings out of flowers! April's Garden used some fun tropical looking leaves and palms along with pampas grass to create some really unique pieces, including an awesome southwestern style lei! Adela Floral's bouquets and hair pieces were so rich and full of deep beautiful color, I know it sounds a little odd but the word juicy just comes to mind haha, they were so beautiful! Stylists from The Chair and Reign Hair Salon did fantastic work on each of the bride's hair and makeup. Bree from The Chair did Erica's hair and makeup, the boho bride with the fun hat! I just have to tell a little story about Bree, I was doing a wedding last year where the bride's stylist never showed up. They didn't call, they were unreachable, and so Bree came up last second to do this bride's hair, never met before, and she absolutely saved the day! She is super great. There was some amazing food and drink vendors as well. Thirsty Rooster teamed up with Dirty Dishes and Vanessa Sirois Aerial Bartender to kind of welcome you into the space. They are so awesome, not only did they have fantastic drinks but they have amazing personalities and just a really fun overall vibe. I highly recommend them for any event where you want some fun people and cocktails around. On the other side of drinks there was Compact Coffee serving up personally crafted coffee and chai drinks. They are a great little pop up coffee stand, ready to set up wherever you need to add that extra flare and comfort to an event. And just like Thirsty Rooster, the people behind the business are half the reason you need to book them, because they are just such amazing people! (Plus they have the most adorable baby ever!) There were just so many awesome vendors there, Wild Rose Cakes brought some gorgeous cake's that were almost too beautiful to eat, but I definitely still ate them. Confections & Curiosities had so many adorable little cakes, and you know I gotta try them all because they were sooo good... so because of her I am fat now haha. Cyprus Cafe, and CJ's Diner also contributed to my weight gain of the day, delicious. At least I got to dance some of the calories off with music by Liver Down the River (they are so fun!) and Stand Alone Entertainment DJing into the night (8:00 is night right?) I was a little disappointed that I was so busy taking my own photos I didn't get a chance to go into Snap Shack's awesome blow up photo booth. They brought soooo many fun hats and other accessories to dress up in! A HUGE Thank you to River Bend Ranch, Meg Roberts (Love Untamed Collective and visionary of the SWWB) and Local First for putting together such an amazing event. I hope to see it again and again in the years to come!

My husband and I technically got married twice, we got married, and then a year later we had a bit bigger wedding to celebrate with friends and family even though we had already been married for a year. Well Stormy and Joshua have us beat in many ways! They have been together for 20 years, and married for 3. Their wedding day however, didn't feel any different to me in terms of strength of love and emotion. Even though technically it was a vow renewal, it had all the same energy and attention to detail as any wedding I've ever seen. My husband's family was not able to make it to either of our weddings, the teeny tiny one or the larger celebration, because they all live in Brazil. We always wanted to go down there to have another wedding, but as time passes I couldn't help thinking maybe it had been too long and we are missing the window. Stormy and Joshua have shown me that there is no window, there is no amount of time that is too long to stop and celebrate your love time and time again. I have another vow renewal later this year for a couple that has been married just about as long, and I am so excited, because I am now officially in love with vow renewals. I think it is such a wonderful idea. I know that weddings are EXPENSIVE and when you're young and wanting to get married, you don't always have the funds to throw the kind of celebration you want. I love the idea of getting married, and then having a wedding when you can afford it! A wedding is a celebration of love, and these guys have so much love and celebration in them. The day was hectic, but what wedding day isn't?! They didn't let anything interfere with having an amazing ceremony, and epic party! And they had a lot of wonderful friends helping all throughout the day. You could tell, not only did they love each other an enormous amount, but they were loved as a couple an enormous amount. Congratulations Stormy and Joshua on pulling off an awesome day! #weddingday #durangocolorado #cascadevillage #purgatoryresort #durangocoloradowedding #coloradowedding #durangophotographer #rusticwedding #countrywedding #cowboywedding #rusticchic #longtimelove #ido #mrandmrs #karacavalca #dayoflove #coloradoweddingphotographer #mountainwedding #vowrenewal #purgatorymountain

You may or may not have heard of the "First Look". And if you have you may be wondering what that is, or why everyone seems to be talking about it. Many brides and grooms have been opting to see each other before the official ceremony, in a more private setting called a "First Look". There are many reasons people have been choosing to do a First Look. Here are some pros and cons to the First Look, as well as some pros and cons to the traditional ceremony first look. So what exactly is a First Look A first look is when you have a set time and location to see each other for the first time in your wedding attire on your wedding day that takes place BEFORE the wedding ceremony. Generally the one half of the couple (in hetero couples, the groom) is placed in a predetermined location, facing away from where the other half of the couple will walk up (in hetero couples, the bride). The bride then comes up behind him and either taps him on the shoulder to signal he can now turn around, or walks up near him and tells him it is now safe to turn around and look. After the couple sees each other for the first time in this private setting, they can have a moment for themselves to just take each other in, hug, gush over how attractive the other is, read love notes or personal vows, sing a prepared song, do a little dance etc. So why do this? Why are so many couples opting for the First Look? What is the benefit? Well let's go over some of the pros and cons of doing this First Look, shall we? Pros: The first time you see each other is private and shared just between you two (and me and my camera of course) You both will look your freshest! The nerves of seeing each other for the first time will be gone and then you can simply look forward to and enjoy your ceremony (but trust me it will not make walking down the aisle and seeing each other any less emotional or amazing!) You no longer have to stress about not accidentally seeing each other beforehand. Helps to ensure that there is enough time for the most important photos (the ones of you two!) Gives you the opportunity to have photos of yourselves in different lighting scenarios and looks throughout the day. You can schedule all wedding party photos before the ceremony, so afterwards all the formal images left to take are family photos and then you’ll be able to head to your reception quickly instead of having your guests wait for a longer period of time. You can even try to get all the wedding party and family photos done before the ceremony which allows everyone to get to the party time faster! And allows you to go straight from ceremony, to first married photos, to hanging out with your guests! You could even enjoy the cocktail hour you put so much money and time into! This is a great trial run of walking around and moving in your dress before you have to do it in front of everyone at your ceremony! Cons: Seeing each other before the ceremony goes against tradition. But did you know the reason for this tradition comes from arranged marriages? So that if the couple didn't like the look of each other they could no longer escape because they were already at the altar by the time they could see each other? (Veil over the face plays in to this as well.) Lighting might not always be as great earlier in the day. It is one more thing to plan time for in your schedule before the ceremony. Pros and Cons of the "Traditional First Look" You do not see each other before the ceremony and the first time you see each other is when the bride is walking down the aisle. Pros: You get to keep up with tradition. If you are wanting to have a cocktail hour for guests between the ceremony and reception, taking the bulk of your images after the ceremony will allow your guests to mingle and enjoy drinks while you’re getting your pictures taken. The light could potentially be better. Cons: If the ceremony begins late, or family photos run longer than expected, then it’s always the bride and groom photo time that gets cut short. The photo time after the ceremony will take longer so guests will have approximately an hour and a half to two hour break from when the ceremony ends to when the reception begins (this can be a pro or con depending if you want to entertain your guests during this time or not!) #firstlook #firstlookprosandcons #weddingdaytrends #weddingday #weddingideas #weddinginspiration #weddinginspo #coloradoweddings #durangocolorado #fourcorners #weddingtrends #weddingtraditions