I just wrapped up my 11th season as a Colorado wedding photographer and Colorado elopement photographer. After having 109 couples spend their wedding or elopement on the other side of my camera and 140 collectively with my team of incredible associate photographers I can say without a doubt that it was the busiest year I have ever experienced since opening my business.
Amidst all the wedding goodness my kiddo wrapped up his 4th grade school year in virtual school and after a grade and a half of at-home learning he was finally able to return to in-person learning for his last year of Elementary school in the Fall, I bought a whole lot of Costco snacks, ordered Chipotle on Door Dash more often than I’m willing to admit, perfected my ‘online grocery shopping’ skills (but sadly still not my cooking skills), spruced up my boudoir studio in downtown Erie, checked a few hikes off of my bucket list including Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park and Lake Isabelle in Arapahoe National Forest, continued having virtual hang-outs with friends and video chats with family, Brayden got invited to join me for a mountain elopement in Vail and gladly accepted his ‘assistant to the regional manager’ job title with pride, I got to see my best friend for a quick stay/va/cation and her engagement photos at one of my favorite places in Colorado: the Maroon Bells, my kiddo turned an entire TEN YEARS OLD and entered into the land of double digits. To celebrate, we did a campervan trip through the Oregon and California coasts to see the ocean and the Redwood Forest for some mid-season rest and relaxation. We went to Folk Festival in Lyons and I got to experience one of my favorite wedding venues Planet Bluegrass in Lyons for something that wasn’t a wedding, I rented a ‘home away from home’ in Estes Park for a week of sunrise and sunset elopements in Rocky Mountain National Park and was able to drive Brayden up Old Fall River Road and down Trail Ridge road for the first time! He saw moose, elk, deer, and even a little bear cub – which was the magical little trip within a business trip that we both needed! We soaked up one of the most beautiful and long Fall seasons Colorado has seen in a while and peeped the beautiful leaves all along the front range and at a few mountain spots, used it as an excuse to drink all of the extra apple cider and watch Hocus Pocus and Halloweentown even more times than usual, welcomed the much needed free time that came up as busy season started to wind down in November, had a much-needed surgery to help my back survive future wedding seasons and after finishing up the beautiful wedding and elopement galleries from the end of the year, I binge-watched my way through Netflix while working my way through an intense but worthwhile recovery. OH! And I decided to branch my incredible team of associate photographers into a business of its very own, but that wasn’t technically announced until after 2022 began and you can read more about it at the bottom of this post ;).
2021 was a wedding and elopement season like none other. People have been socially distanced, missing their family members, realizing how valuable time and moments with their friends and family members really are and extending their engagements for entire calendar years and they absolutely partied accordingly when their wedding and elopement days came around. The wedding celebrations have been bigger and more emotion-filled than ever before, the elopements have been filled with even more happy tears, guests both in person and virtually, and such a deep appreciation for taking the next steps in life after a really tough couple of years.
Thank you to every single couple, client, guest, human, (wildlife wedding crashers too), and most importantly everyone’s dogs that hung out on the other side of my camera this year. Thank you for choosing me, thank you for trusting me, and thank you for being so incredible.
It was nearly impossible to narrow an entire year of moments into a single post… hence this post being a little bit (or a lot a bit) belated, but I hope you enjoy this ‘little’ snippet of wedding and elopement goodness that took place during the year.
I truly love the heck out of being a Colorado wedding photographer and as much as I’ve always lived a ‘happy to hustle’ mentality 2021 taught me that I do in fact have limits on how much I can say “yes” to in a year. My mental health and my physical health need a bit of time off in between weddings and elopements to rest and recover, which is exactly why I’m proud to have branched my incredibly talented team of associate photographers into a business of its very own: The Colorado Photographer Squad! These are humans whom I’ve worked with over the past decade+ in business and who I would trust to fill my shoes if something prevented me from getting to a wedding of my own (knock on wood that this never happens!). I’ve also hired an incredible assistant to keep up with emails when I’m busy documenting all of the gorgeous weddings on the calendar for 2022. I’m looking forward to another year of hard work with a little bit more balance thrown into the mix :).
Here are some of the amazing Colorado wedding venues we got to photograph at in 2021:
Planet Bluegrass, Chautauqua Dining Hall, YMCA of the Rockies Overlook, YMCA of the Rockies Sara Smith Chapel, Sunrise Amphitheater, Hotel Boulderado, Rembrandt Yard, Cheley Lodge and Grove, Taharaa Mountain Lodge, St Malos Church / Chapel on the Rock, Holy Ghost Church, Moss Denver, The Barn at Evergreen Memorial Park, Lonehawk Farm, Wedgewood Boulder Creek, The Barn at Raccoon Creek, Romeros, Red Barn Picnic Area in Golden Gate Canyon State Park, The Lodge at Breckenridge, Donovan Pavillion, Vail Wedding Deck, King Acres, The Little Nell, The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park Resort, Chautauqua Auditorium, Evergreen Lake House, St Julien Hotel, The Tivoli, Twin Owls Steakhouse, Black Canyon Inn, The Lyons Farmette, Riverbend, Lionsgate Event Center, Chateaux at Fox Meadows, Church Ranch Event Center, Devils Thumb Ranch, The StVrain, Lionscrest Manor, Boettcher Mansion, The Manor House, Dunafon Castle, Hangar at the Stanley, Willow Ridge Manor, Blanc Denver, Asterisk
Here are a few of the amazing reservable Colorado elopement locations we got to photograph at in 2021:
Chautauqua lawn, Windy Point Campground, Sapphire Point, Sprague Lake, Moraine Park Amphitheater, Upper Beaver Meadows, 3M Curve, Sunrise Amphitheater, Maroon Bells Amphitheater, Point Park, Golden Gate Canyon State Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Halfway House… and so many amazing locations in Keystone, Breckenridge, Dillon, Boulder, Estes Park, Summit County, Larimer County, Crested Butte, Twin Lakes, Aspen, Telluride and more that I try to keep off of the Googler to keep them intimate for clients that choose to elope there!
A massive literally couldn’t have done it without them screaming it from the top of every single rooftop and mountain top in the world THANK YOU to my incredible team of lead photographers, second shooters, and videographers that made this season possible: Natasha, Matthew, Katie, Lisa, Alex, Haley, Isabelle, Rachel, Adam, Cat, Nicki, and Julia.
And last but certainly not least a handful of my favorite wedding vendors whose friendship and familiar faces gave us all a glimpse at a social life this past year: Ceremonies with Lisa, Boulder Blooms, Details Details Planning, Kim J Beauty, Cherry Bomb Events, Mountainside Events, The Perfect Moment Events, The Perfect Touch Planning, Brianna Leigh Weddings, Exquisite Events and Productions, Sturtz and Copeland, Mountain Crust Pizza, Lace and Lillies, Phil Gallagher, Sugarpine Catering, A florae, Cocktail Caravan, Footers Catering, Painted Primrose Florist, Personalized Weddings by Jane, Reverie Floral, Cassandra Garza, Olive and Poppy, Eats and Sweets, Wedlocks Bridal and so many more! (psst if you aren’t listed here it isn’t because I don’t love you, it’s because I have a goldfish memory)