Morgan and Cale were married two days before Christmas and they were soooo wonderful to work with.  No matter what I suggested, they were game for it.  Their church was in a suburban neighborhood, but as my second shooter and I drove around the neighborhood looking for potential first look and portrait spots, I spied a little hill and figured that if we were careful with our camera angles, it could look like an epic spot with a view of the mountains.  Now, to most people it just looked like a weird mound with a busy road on one side and sea of houses on the other, but when I told them about it, Morgan and Cale didn’t hesitate to trust me and head on outside on a cold December day!

It involved a bit of a walk in her wedding dress, but again, Morgan was game.  And when I asked her if she would sit down on the dirt and dried grass and prickly stuff for some awesome pictures, again she was in for the adventure.  If Morgan had been worried about her dress, we wouldn’t have been able to get these incredible pictures.   So future brides take note!  If you’re not worried about a dirty hemline or a wrinkle here or there, your photographer can get some AMAZING images!

I love pictures of brides getting ready.  Morgan was positively radiant.  She was so happy and full of all the cutest exclamations!

The first look.  Nothing better than a bride and groom in a field!

They had the sweetest first look.  They smiled, they cried, they kissed, they chatted.  The above shot is part of those first look undirected moments!  I felt awful when we finally interrupted to begin the portraits.

I love the dramatic sky and lighting in that shot!

I will love Morgan forever for being willing to sit down on that field in her dress!

This mistletoe is such a sweet story.  Cale produced it from his pocket toward the end of our shooting time and asked if we could use it for a few pictures.  (He also ran around with it on the dance floor during the reception!)

Morgan was such a gorgeous bride!

The light just got more and more beautiful and we used up every last second of it before the last of the sun slipped behind the mountains.

I love this shot by Holly (my second shooter for the day)–such a fun behind the scenes angle!

The ceremony at Abiding Hope Lutheran Church in Littleton had everyone alternating between tears and laughter.

If Morgan’s parents look familiar, it’s because we photographed her sister Meredith’s wedding in June!

Little kids watching the ceremony.

The reception was held at the Inn at Hudson Gardens.  It was such a fun spot for a Christmas wedding because the Hudson Gardens was all decorated for their Hudson Holidays light show.

I’ve learned three things about Bowlin weddings.  #1: I’ll cry during the toasts.  #2:  The party will be awesome and a total dance party.  #3:  The interior will be gorgeously decorated.  (Dave and Gerri, can you guys maybe have some more babies so I can keep photographing such incredible weddings?) 

The blue uplighting, silver and blue centerpieces, and the subtle Christmas touches like the glass ornaments in the centerpieces made it such a winter wonderland!

Their family friend makes the coolest videos to play at the beginning of the evening.  She interviews the parents of both couples as well as the couple and splices in photos.  I’m stealing the idea for when Ellie and Will get married!

Sisters. 

First dance!

And then the party began!

Marlis and Russell were in town from Australia for the holidays, so we booked their wedding and did the engagement shoot while they were here!  We lucked out with the timing and had plenty of snow–Russell’s first experience it!

These two are sooooo cute!  I can’t wait for their wedding!

My Colorado readers of course already know this, but for those that live in less freakish areas, on Thursday the recorded high was 71 degrees…but that night a winter storm rolled it and it was snowing by Friday morning and by Friday afternoon it was bad enough that Nic was on a snow release from work!  (Gotta love spring in Colorado!)  We had about 5 inches of snow at the studio and I asked Laura and Dan if they would be interested in taking advantage of it.  They were, and I can only imagine how much fun they didn’t have driving down here to the Springs and then out to the studio.  Snow is always so exciting to catch, though, so I’m so glad they made the trek down here Friday night!

Who doesn’t go swinging in the snow?!

How perfect are Laura’s boots for this shoot?!  (She had the perfect heels at Ellie and Andrew’s wedding, too.  I never forget good shoes.)

When I suggested a piggyback ride, Laura said yes…but then confessed that she has a fear of being picked up.  I figured things would go one of two ways: either it would be HORRIBLE and we might all end up in tears, or it would be ridiculous and awesome and full of laughter.  It went the second way. 

They totally belong in a J Crew catalog!  (And I love Tess’s “snow beard” so much!!)

Earlier it was just a snow goatee….

Tesla got off her leash for a few shots…but she soon showed us that she would much rather run in the snow than pose for pictures!  (Which was just fine with me–she didn’t even know what perfect shots she was creating!)  I love that it’s so cold that you can see Dan’s breath in the fourth shot!

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Here’s one of my favorites from last week’s wedding. It was a snowflake themed wedding, which was appropriate, since it began snowing in Denver as the wedding ceremony began!

The venue was beautiful and perfect for showing off the weather in the giant window!