Lara and Paul’s YMCA of the Rockies Wedding in Estes Park Colorado took place on a beautiful fall day in early September! We were all holding our breath and crossing our fingers and toes in the months, weeks and days leading up to their wedding and hoping it would be able to take place with all of the gathering size limitations going on due to COVID-19. Thankfully, Lara and Paul had an intimate guest count and plenty of room to socially distance so their wedding was able to go off without a hitch (well, other than the two of them getting hitched, of course)!
I had the opportunity to photograph these two a few months prior for their engagement photos in Rocky Mountain National Park, so I was so excited to have them in front of my camera again on their wedding day! It’s always a joy to shoot a YMCA of the Rockies Wedding because the entire property is so gorgeous! The last handful of weddings I have photographed there have been at the YMCA of the Rockies Overlook ceremony spot, so I was excited to be photographing their ceremony at the outdoor Sarah Smith Chapel because it had been close to 5 years since shooting a ceremony there! They got ready with their families in one of the gorgeous lodges on the property and had their reception in Assembly Hall C, which had plenty of room to socially distanced and still had a dance floor with room for people to safely bust a move ;).
I hope you enjoy their wedding photos as much as I enjoyed taking them!
The morning began with Lara getting ready in the lodge on the YMCA of the Rockies property that their families were all able to stay at. Lara had her hair and makeup done by Bella Capelli, her mom helped her get dressed and then her grandmother hand sewed a gorgeous bow on to the back of her wedding dress. One of many sweet personal touches that went in to their wedding day! I love that Lara and Paul had their wedding day program made to look like a newspaper – such a clever idea!
The groom, Paul also got ready in the YMCA of the Rockies lodge but in a room upstairs! They each exchanged gifts and sweet letters to one another before they met up in the meadow for their first look before the wedding ceremony!
Lara and Paul shared their first look in the meadow adjacent to the lodge where they both spent the morning getting ready. After that, we ventured around the YMCA of the Rockies property to take their bride and groom photos with more Rocky Mountain views before heading to their ceremony spot at the Sarah Smith outdoor chapel!
They had an emotional and heart felt ceremony with their families and closest friends surrounding them! Their altar was decorated with gorgeous floral installations made by their super talented florist, Beet and Yarrow! I love how excited Paul was when Lara was walking down the aisle. Sometimes people worry that a first look will take away from the “down the aisle” first look moment, but that’s never the case! They were both smiling so hard throughout the entire ceremony that it was contagious. Such sweet moments to witness and document! After the ceremony and family formals, we took a few quick shots with their bridal party and a few more of the two of them at their ceremony site before heading to Assembly Hall C for their YMCA of the Rockies wedding reception!
Their wedding reception was beautifully decorated by Taryn with Tied and True events and more gorgeous flowers from Beet and Yarrow! Since they had a morning wedding they served brunch for their reception meal – which is always such a hit (I personally could eat breakfast for any meal of the day!). After they enjoyed a meal together Lara and Paul had beautiful toasts from their best man, maid of honor and their parents. Then, they took to the dance floor for their first dance, mother son dance and father daughter dance! After the kiddos were done tearing it up on the dance floor they cut their cake, signed the marriage license to make it legal and sealed it with a kiss! Little did we know, that while we were inside celebrating their wedding reception the Cameron Peak wildfire had jumped over the Rocky Mountains in the Estes Park area so we saw massive billows of wildfire smoke when we left the reception building. We obviously had to take full advantage of that being a part of their wedding day, so we headed up to the YMCA of the Rockies overlook area to get some more photos with the crazy smoky skies (don’t worry, we were still a safe distance away from the fires and weren’t in any evacuation zones – but we still made it quick!)
What an incredible wedding day Lara and Paul had! I’m so happy to have been a part of documenting so many sweet and wonderful moments for these two and their families. Major shout out and be sure to check out the dream team of Estes Park wedding vendors that made this day such a huge success!
Planning – Taryn with Tied and True
Venue – YMCA of the Rockies at Sarah Smith Chapel and Assembly Hall C
Ceremony Music – Christen Stephens
Flowers – Beet and Yarrow
Hair and Makeup – Bella Capelli
Dress – Truvelle Bridal