Amanda was such a beautiful bride…and completely fast at getting ready, too!  I wish you could have seen the whirlwind of activity in the getting ready room and then BAM!  All the girls were done!

See what I mean about Amanda being a stunning bride?

I love these shots of Amanda with her parents!

In Colorado, you’re able to marry yourselves.  A lot of our couples have followed this route and it’s fun to see all the ways they customize their ceremony.  Steven and Amanda performed a Native American basket ritual where they gave each other a basket with items that symbolize their love for each other and their hopes for the future.

You cannot doubt their love for each other.  I’ll let the moments Nic caught speak for themselves:

Their fist official kiss as newlyweds.  (One of the benefits of running your own ceremony, is that you can kiss and hug throughout [as you can see above]!)

The wind was TERRIBLE that day, so we did all of our pictures inside (wind is actually the worst possible weather for photographers–unlike rain, or snow or sun or cold or hot, it’s the one thing I just can’t stand)!

My take on the left, Nic’s on the right:

I love cake shots!!  (I’ll share my trick on the next “photography tip tuesday.”)

Nic is the toast shot master in our house.  I usually toss out 90% of mine.  But dude!  This one’s mine this time!

First dance (God bless DJs and their wonderful lights!):

When I got the shot on the left, I told Nic he might as well pack up and go home, cause I’d just rocked it.  ;P

Party time!!  I love this shot of Steven’s brother dancing with Amanda!  I think it perfectly captures how much fun he was having dancing all night!

Amanda and Steven, thank you for sharing your incredible love for each other with us!  We drove home talking about how cute you are together!

Everybody else, stay tuned for the portrait shoot we did with them later that weekend!

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I like a behind the scenes shot that gets us both in the shot!

This guy is so cute!

Last weekend found us photographing Lauren and Andy’s wedding at St Mary’s in Littleton and their reception at The Sanctuary.  (I know around shared the above shot, but it just sums up their snowy day so well I couldn’t not have it in their official sneak peek!)

Getting ready:

I blatantly stole this shot from my friend, Abbotsford wedding photographer Rachel Ludwig.  I’ve been wanting to do it ever since I saw her version months and months and months ago!

A few portraits before the wedding ceremony:

The church had requested that they arrive very early before the ceremony, so we had lots of time for pictures.  But as cold as it was outside, no one wanted to spend a huge amount of time out there!  So we got a little creative and I took these bridal portraits of Lauren in the cafeteria, using some dramatic natural light from a window:

Time for a little touch-up…

And then show time!

Couples often worry that if they see each other before the grand walk down the aisle, that moment might not be as special.  But just look at their faces in this shot right after “the hand-off!”

The proud mother, father, and grandmother of the bride:

St Mary’s Catholic Church in Littleton was beautiful and their priest’s homily was great.  He made us want to move to his parish!

We absolutely had to take a big bridal party shot in the snow (our biggest bridal party yet–ten on each side)!  A big thanks to all twenty of them for making the trek outside!

The reception was held at The Sanctuary, and it could not have been a more beautiful spot!  The cake fit the weather perfectly!

The first dance:

LOVE this shot of Lauren!!

I am a sucker for a good father-daughter dance shot:

The Christmas tree made a great back-drop for the dance floor!

The DJ’s lights were the coolest ever, and I always got excited when a new group of people moved over to them.  The light coming off them is so fun!

And I’m going to end with the dance-off shot, cause it’s so rad.

Andy and Lauren, thanks for your graciousness and for allowing us to photograph your beautiful wedding.  It was the perfect way to kick off 2009!

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Behind the scenes…

You know that beautiful “bride and groom walking through snow” shot up top?  Lauren suffered for that one!  She was for pretty much barefoot out there, so when we came in she went straight for the bathroom and a warm towel for her exceptionally red feet!  (I’d show the color version, but then you’d see just how red they were and accuse me of “cruelty to brides.”)

Nic at the ceremony getting his “ninja shots,” as our August ’09 bride Leigh coined it:

I thought that the bridesmaids’ bouquets were amazing–photographs can’t do them justice, because the white fluffy stuff sparkled with glitter.