A modern club-ready mansion with an incredible view of Colorado is not the first thing that comes to mind when a bride tells you they are having a casual backyard wedding.   Amanda & Chuck were very fortunate to have the use of their best man’s home for their wedding.  The house was full of spectacular lighting, amazing architecture, jaw-dropping views, & of course about 70 of their closest friends & family for the wedding of their dreams.  Their awesome DJ from Elite DJ also did a fabulous job re-mixing some techno for their reception, such a relief to not hear the same wedding songs again!  And Elite DJ added in even more lights to give the dance floor a truly club feel.  I LOVE it when their is good lighting, it makes the pictures so much better (check out what I mean by playing the slideshow below).  The Food Guy also provided great food with a fun potato bar.  Their friends & family had huge smiles all night as the moment finally came that many of them have been predicting for years.  You see Amanda & Chuck grew up together as next door neighbors.  Their parents are good friends & they used to joke about their children getting together one day.  And eventually, after a few years moved away & apart, they were re-connected, and a new love for each other grew to what it is today.  Now they are enjoying their new home together in Broomfield, CO and as you can see by the expressions of all photographed, it was a love match made in heaven!

Bride & Groom's first sight

Broomfield mountain wedding

As a wedding photographer, and small business owner I am so thankful to be a member of The Wedding Connectors, and to now be a board member as well.  Running my own business is the most difficult challenge I have ever taken on, but having a close group of people that understand where you are coming from, and have the same passion for weddings as you do, is a priceless feeling.  The Wedding Connectors are a group of extremely talented, passionate local business owners that all work in the wedding industry.  We all have a similar goal in mind – to be the best we can be, by helping out those around us.  We are all artists in our own way, and we spend our weekends creating that art form for people celebrating love & life….you know – weddings!

Whether you are a bride or a wedding vendor this a group to check out.  We all have big goals for our businesses, our clients, and ourselves, and are sure to do big things together.  We work really hard at what we do…but we also like to have fun! TWC hosts venue happy hour tours every month so that wedding vendors can get a chance to check out different locations and to connect with other wedding vendors.  Play my “mini-music video” below for a taste of our most recent tour of the Denver Botanic Gardens.  The gardens are beautiful year around, and I love photographing here, so I was more then happy to document this event for TWC.

Also, a big thank you to Denver Botanic Gardens, Catering by Design, Ambassadors Rolls Royce Limousine Services, Brilliant Blooms, & everyone else whom made this event our best one yet!  I can’t wait to see where we go next!

Engagement Shoot - Union Station downtown Denver

Khristina & James have one of those loves stories that belong in a movie.  James & his friends decided to take a guys trip to Los Angeles, while at the same time Khristina went on a girls-only vacation too, also to L.A.  Then as faith would have it, their trips collided & a match was made in heaven…or uh, California to be exact.  They both went home to separate states but stayed in touch long distance.  Then when James got a job transfer to Denver to work on the remodeling of the Union Station, Khristina followed him out here & their love for each grew, as well as their love for Colorado, of course.  Now they are happily engaged, loving Denver, & having a wedding this summer at St. Ignatius Loyola Catholic Church with a reception to follow at the Brown Palace.   They both love the city, but since we will also be taking pictures downtown on their wedding day, I recommended we do the photo shoot at night to get a much different feel & look from their daytime wedding pictures.  And since James is working on the reconstruction of the Union Station it only made sense to get some memorable shots around the building that actually brought them to Colorado.  Here are just a few of my favorite shots from our night out downtown.

Kalissa & Chris are excitedly preparing for their second baby, Brynlee, to be born. They had their maternity pictures taken when they were pregnant with their son Kale and wanted to continue the tradition of preserving this time in their life with photos. A couple days before the shoot the weather was forecasting snow & rain, so we were really afraid we were going to have to reschedule, which isn’t easy to do when you’re just a few weeks away from delivery. But luckily the weather gods once again were on my side (I can’t believe how many outdoor sessions I got away with this winter/spring) and we had a nice overcast day, perfect for pictures. Red Rocks was the perfect backdrop for our portrait session, and I have to also thank Kalissa’s mom for coming along and helping babysit so I could also capture some more intimate portaits of just Kalissa & Chris. Kalissa wanted to do something unique with Kale’s name, so we came up with the idea of painting the name on her stomach, which Kale had a lot of fun helping out with. Kale is one of those toddlers that are so cute you just want to squeeze! And he is so smart & well-behaved that you know he is going to be a fantastic older brother!