Allison and Brad
Peaceful Valley Ranch
Lyons, Colorado
July 7, 2007
According to the press, last weekend was the most popular wedding date in history. Allison and Brad celebrated lucky 07-07-07 in grand Colorado style — at an authentic ranch in the mountains. Peaceful Valley Ranch was a perfect setting for this fun, laid-back couple, and Mike and I loved the rustic feel of the place. They got married outside, next to a pond and a stream. We all celebrated in the lodge’s party hall, served by really fun cowboys.
You might remember Brad and Allison from their engagement portraits last fall. They displayed several of their engagement portraits at the wedding, and I hope they will love their wedding photos just as much!
The ladies got ready in the cabin-style main lodge.
Meanwhile, the guys were hanging out at the Hideaway Cabin.
Allison’s nephew
Allison’s niece
All rise for the lovely bride
Gorgeous storm clouds rolled in during the ceremony. I didn’t enhance them in Photoshop; they really looked that intense.
Hugs from her Mom and Dad
On her right hand, Allison wore a ring that had belonged to Brad’s great-grandmother.
I loved this moment. On the right is Brad’s great-aunt, Patricia. Just before I took this picture, she told me a beautiful story about her mother, who was Brad’s great-grandmother, and how close Brad was with her. Just then, Brad and Allison walked up, and showed them that Allison was wearing Brad’s great-grandmother’s ring. Patricia was thrilled, and a bit choked up, to see her mother’s ring.
The cake was a perfect match for the relaxed, mountain feel of the wedding.
The reception venue was decorated with these animal heads, so I had some fun with them.
Venue: Peaceful Valley Ranch
nice green…
what a nice shade of green that the bridesmaids and the flower girls’ gowns wore! 🙂
it is rare to get those kind of shade of green for a fabric 🙂
you make such beautiful pictures!!! thank you very much for sharing them!
Allison linked this post in an LJ post of her own, so I’m just visiting, but I have to say WOW! You do amazing work!
I especially love the black and white with Allison’s back to Brad, leaning in for a kiss…so precious.
I’m very envious that you get to play with a camera and call it work!
=D
Love the shots!
Thanks so much! I’m really glad that you notice that our emphasis is on the moments, even more than the scenery. But being in Colorado certainly does help. 🙂
How wonderful! Congratulations to your daughter, and to you, the father of the bride!
Re: He looks so in love with her.
I totally agree. I wish every couple could be like these two. They seem so completely happy together.
It really was a great place to get married! We love the unique venues and fun themes. Mike and I enjoyed it so much that we are actually thinking about renting the Hideaway Cabin for a weekend sometime.
Thanks! Mike and I balanced very precariously on some rocks to get those pictures, so I’m glad they were worth it. 🙂
Aw man, you figured out my secret! 😉 Yeah, Colorado has got to be one of the best places for a photographer to live and work. Wow, it’s just beautiful here.
Don’t you have some beautiful lake areas up in Michigan? I don’t think I’ve ever been there, but I’ve always imagined Michigan to be really pretty.
Thanks, Adrian! Their flower girls and ringbearer worked so hard to walk down the aisle just the right way. I don’t usually see it work out so well with such young kids!
How funny! Dead animal heads remind me of my childhood in Germany. It seemed that every restaurant tried to outdo each other with the number of heads on the wall. As a future vegetarian, I remember frequently losing my appetite. 😉
I don’t know how you and Mike do it, but you both always capture such amazing moments and get gorgeous photos – and not just because of the gorgeous backgrounds – I love looking at your photos. I hope that one day I can be as good.
That first shot is interesting. Instinctively I would have tried to pose them looking downstream, not up. However this works, and quite well.
You are right about it having been a very busy wedding weekend. I shot one myself on Sunday the 8th, but just for fun. I typically do not do people at all, but, since one of the brides was my own daughter…….
He looks so in love with her.
Esp. in the last pic and the pic with him kissing her forehead.
I wish my hypothetical and yet unknown future husband would look at me that way on our wedding day.
These were so heartwarming.
Wow, what a great place to get married!!! I love the way you circled their names with their rings. What a great and unique idea!!!!
I always love your water shots. The stream and bolders look great with them on the bridge.
I figured it out Charlotte… not only is it the great lighting that you suggested to me earlier… but its also the fact that Colorado just has some really great looking scenery enhancements.
Maybe Michigan just sucks 🙂
Great work AGAIN!!!
Wonderful as usual.
My favorite is the one of the little girl with the couple walking down the aisle… a timeless shot with just enough DOF.
Nice stuff as usual.
I had to laugh at the one with all the animal heads. When we were looking for a location for our wedding in Colorado, we made it a goal to find a place with the fewest dead animals possible. The lodge we ended up at (Chief Hosa Lodge in the mountains just off I-70) had only one animal head that I remember. However, the cabin that Jeff and I rented in Morrison featured a dead fox spread out across a table. Eeek. heehee