Planet Bluegrass Wedding with llamas in Lyons, Colorado

When Jackie initially contacted me about her Planet Bluegrass wedding in Lyons, Colorado I legitimately thought it was one of my friends playing a joke on me because it was way too good to be true. All of my friends and most of my fellow wedding vendor friends that know me, or know of me know that I have an undying love for farm animals, especially llamas. With my number one life passion being photographing weddings and elopements and this affinity for llamas when the two things combine my heart *almost* can’t handle it. Obviously, I push through the heart palpitations because I would be crazy to miss out on such an epic day and that is precisely how dream weddings like Jackie and Dan’s Planet Bluegrass wedding came/come to be (like seriously if this already sounds like your idea of the best day ever just stop right now and hit your girl up)!

When Jackie initially reached out to me about photographing their Colorado wedding they didn’t have many details aside from knowing they wanted to start the day engaged and end it married, keep things pretty small with their most favorite people and they wanted llamas to be included. Once I realized they were a real life couple and an absolute dream come true Jackie and I put our heads together and started planning the most magical llama wedding of all! We were fortunate enough to be extended the opportunity to have one last wedding for the year at Planet Bluegrass in Lyons, Colorado (one of my absolute favorite Colorado wedding venues) which is just a hop, skip and jump up the road from an amazing pack llama company called Lightning Ridge Llamas. Once the date was chosen and the llamas were secured everything else started to fall together perfectly.

I absolutely adore the passion that went in to planning their wedding day in a way that was special and unique to both Jackie and Dan. Incredible llamas aside, there were so many sweet and emotional pieces of this wedding day that I will hold close to my heart for the rest of my life. Even though the bride, Jackie, lost her mother before her special day it was so evident how big of a role she played in she and Dan’s relationship and how truly present her spirit was on their wedding day. Jackie’s mother is the one that encouraged her to keep trying, keep dating and keep looking of that special someone. Shortly before they went on their first date Jackie got the news of her mother’s cancer so it was hard for her to be emotionally present when they met, but in her words it was evident that “[Dan] He was very committed and loving from very early on, so I knew he was a good person and had a great heart.” Sadly, Jackie’s mother did pass before their big day, but she was honored with a framed photo and a moment of silence while Jackie played a beautiful song dedicated to her on the piano. I encourage all of you to listen to the song Bluebird while scrolling through the images from their special day at Planet Bluegrass.

Jackie and Dan designed Jackie’s wedding ring through Sarah O. designs based out of Denver. Jackie gifted her bridesmaids little macrame keychains which kept with the boho theme of her wedding day, along with macrame details in her ceremony and a beautiful boho style wedding dress she picked out from Anthropologie’s BHLD wedding line. The bride, Jackie, got ready at the charming little cabin on site at the Planet Bluegrass wedding venue in Lyons, Colorado.
Jackie and Dan had some special guests at their wedding (aside from family and friends of course) – pack llamas from Lightning Ridge Llamas based out of Allens Park, Colorado. Liberty and Copper were definitely serious contenders for best dressed with their adorable floral collars made by Bloom Bar in Boulder, Colorado. Their wedding first look was definitely unique and one of my favorites to document!
The llamas joined the bride and groom for some couple’s portraits following their first look before heading over to mingle with their guests before their beautiful fall wedding ceremony in the trees along the Fall River at Planet Bluegrass in Lyons, Colorado.
The bride’s dogs, Lucas and Curtis, who she admits may love Dan even more than they love her after he became a member of their family, posed together for some portraits before their wedding ceremony too. I love that they included their doggos in their special day! As you can see these little fur babies are 10/10 adorable!
I absolutely loved the charming boho details that Jackie and Dan incorporated in to their wedding ceremony with the help of A Spice of Life catering. Their wedding ceremony altar was a beautiful macrame piece, and the rustic wooden chairs had the aisles lined with simple little pampas grass details put together with the help of Bloom Bar, a Boulder Colorado florist!
This moment during Jackie and Dan’s wedding ceremony is one that I will remember for the rest of my life, and one that I can’t reminisce on months later still without my eyes filling with tears. The couple shared with me before their wedding day that the groom’s father was suffering with alzheimers. Before Dan came down the aisle his Dad, Dennis, was gushing to me about how special and wonderful his son is, but then asked me what they were there to celebrate that day. I explained to him that his son was getting married to Jackie that day and was about to walk down the aisle. His eyes quickly filled with tears and he apologized and made a little joke about how he was emotional because he’s Irish. When Dan and his mother walked down the aisle, his Dad jumped up from his seat and embraced them both with tears flowing down his face and gave him the most heart-felt congratulations. It was an absolutely beautiful moment and I feel so incredibly lucky to have been there to not only witness it, but document it too.
There was hardly a dry eye in the audience as Jackie came down the aisle with her father and met Dan at the altar. It is so apparent just how meant to be these two beautiful humans are.
At the beginning of their wedding ceremony the bride Jackie, with her groom Dan by her side the entire time, played the song Bluebird on a keyboard, dedicated in memory of her mother who was sadly taken too soon but was a large part of their wedding day and their relationship.
Their riverside ceremony at Planet Bluegrass was adorned with such beautiful boho details and filled with emotional readings by family members. I absolutely loved how after they shared their first kiss as husband and wife the guests that lined the aisle seats grabbed the pampas grass and waved it through their air while they processed down the aisle. The little seedling pieces (can you tell I’m not a florist?) floated through the air like glitter as they processed down the aisle as husband and wife!
They headed to their cocktail hour on the lawn at Planet Bluegrass and shared drinks and laughter with all of their closest friends and family members! It was truly a perfect fall day! It’s hard to believe that the night of their wedding was our first large snow storm of the season because of how perfect the weather was during their entire wedding day!
Planet Bluegrass was the perfect fall-esque backdrop for their amazing wedding day! Jackie and Dan got most of their couple’s portraits finished before the ceremony and after their first look so they could spend as much time as possible with their guests during the cocktail hour and wedding reception, but after a sun-soaked day we couldn’t resist taking some more bride and groom photos along the river when the sun dipped below the mountain ridge!
The bride and groom held their wedding reception in the barn on-site at Planet Bluegrass. It was beautifully decorated by the Bloom Bar and A Spice of Life catering team with floral centerpieces, blush linens and boho details along family style seating that circled around the head table where they sat with their immediate family members.
The bride and groom were announced in to their wedding reception after the sun and fully set and the snow-storm started to blow in. We couldn’t have timed it more perfectly if we had tried. They went straight in to their first dance with a beautiful song by one of my favorite bands, Head and the Heart, after being announced to their wedding reception, followed by a double parent dance (where the mother-son and father-daughter dances happened simultaneously). They gave a heart-felt thank you + welcome toast for their guests and then listened to sweet words from their close friends before enjoying a big dinner with all of their favorite people. It was such a magical day and I loved every second of documenting it!

Planet Bluegrass Lyons Colorado Wedding Photographer – Sharee Davenport
Dress Boutique – BHLDN (Anthropologie’s bridal store)
Dress Designer – BHLDN
Florist – Bloom Bar for the decor at the venue and Ruffly Rose for the bride’s bouquet and groom’s corsage.
Menswear – Banana Republic
Catering and Day of Coordination – A Spice of Life
Hair Artist – Lydia Molyn (the bride’s cousin from France!)
Make Up Artist – Marguerite Andragna (bride’s friend)
Bride’s Ring Designer – Sarah O. in Denver
Wedding Llamas – Lightning Ridge Llamas

Here as some fun facts about Jackie and Dan, as told by the couple themselves –
“How did you meet? Tell me about your first date:

We met on Bumble. I had just gotten out of a couple month relationship about a month before and wasn’t really wanting to jump back in, but my mom kind of got to me with her “don’t give up” speeches, so I figured it takes a while to meet someone on there anyway, so I started to look. On bumble, the female has to start a convo with matches or they disappear in 24 hours. I hadn’t started a convo with Dan yet but he had the option to extend me so he did and I thought that was sweet so I initiated a conversation. He didn’t say much on his profile which I thought appeared lazy at first but one word I kind of liked was “sarcasm” and some of his pics caught my eye. .. especially one with a dog. We chatted on the app for a few weeks before either of us could actually meet up. On our fist date we met at “The Thin Man” bar for a drink before I had to head to a concert with a friend. I drank a Bloody Mary for dinner and he had a beer. We had 2 rounds and I told him he needed to change one of his pics on his profile because it made him look homeless. . . (He was sitting against a brick wall in what looked like an ally with a dog) which ironically is the pic that caught my eye because I tend to like guys that look discheveled (homeless in my friend’s words).

Share your proposal story here:

Dan and I went to Steamboat with the dogs for a weekend of outdoor winter fun over the first weekend in March. We rented a great airbnb and had spent the day skiing (which I hadn’t done since high school!) and then came home and made ourselves a great dinner and were hanging out on the couch when he proposed after presenting me with a frame of pictures he had put together of our first date and some special times.

What is each of your favorite things about the other?

Jackie about Dan: His sense of humor and his ability to take a joke and his love of animals that equals mine. His organizational skills. His willingness to work on himself for the betterment of us. Dan about Jackie: Caring person, big heart, fitness/health, very giving, that she loves animals more than people.”

Planet Bluegrass Wedding with Llamas in Lyons, Colorado | Jackie + Dan