July, 2011 | Real Photography

The Pinery and Air Force Academy Chapel Wedding

Jul 29, 2011

Jennifer and John were married on the 2nd of July at the USAFA Chapel with their wedding reception at The Pinery in Black Forest. You know how we love our Air Force couples!! As I told Nic on the drive home from the wedding, they sure do like each other. It’s always super sweet to photograph a couple so in love.

Wedding Details: Ceremony – United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel Reception/Catering/DJ/Florist – The Pinery

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I love this angle of the Cadet Chapel that Nic caught from the balcony. It really emphasizes the long walk the bride must make to her waiting groom!

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The colors of the stained glass in the Academy Chapel are just awe inspiring!

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The sabre arch is the highlight of any military wedding. The bride gets a decent smack on the behind after passing through, but Jen was protected by enough padding that she didn’t even react when she got smacked and I’d guess she didn’t even feel it! (So note to Air Force brides–skip the bias cut gowns and always go for the underskirt!) ;)

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The wedding party outside the USAFA Chapel. We had some ominous skies!

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Told you they like each other. ;) (Wedding portraits outside the USAFA Cadet Chapel)

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Such gorgeous skin!!

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While I captured the above shot, Nic accidentally shot this out-of-focus portrait that I ended up loving. Such a great happy accident–the mood is perfect.

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Head table details at the wedding reception at The Pinery

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I love all of the hands helping to bustle. Jen’s dad was the first father-of-the-bride that I’ve ever seen in charge of bustling!

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Toasts. Nic really worked the blue uplighting for these shots–I love it!

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The first dance

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Father-daughter dance with tears. I can’t help it–I love dance floor tears. It gets me every time.

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The last dance of the evening. And then out for…

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Their sparkler grand exit. Since they were married on 4th of July weekend, I think they had a much better sparkler selection than usual, because their sparklers were twice as large as any I’ve ever seen at weddings! The guests had fun keeping them burning long after the bride and groom drove away!

Posted in Wedding Photographer

The Inn at Palmer Divide Wedding – Palmer Lake Colorado

Jul 20, 2011

Warning–this is a long one! Emmy Jo and Garrett were married earlier this month at The Inn at Palmer Divide in Palmer Lake. They had beautiful weather, beautiful details, and beautiful moments. A perfect wedding day!

Venue/Catering: The Inn at Palmer Divide Florist: Beautiful Expressions Cupcakes: Mya Bella Cupcakes

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Check out the shoes!!

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These two are ridiculously cute.

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After their first look they took a moment for prayer.

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The Inn at Palmer Divide was wonderful to work at–I hope we get to shoot another wedding there soon!

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Their getaway car made the perfect photo prop–it couldn’t have been more perfect for their aqua and red wedding colors!

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I’ve always loved the ‘kiss in the rearview mirror’ shot!

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Their wedding party was huge and fun and had not one but two celebrity look alikes (I’ll let you decide who.) :)

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The last kiddo wedding attendant I saw RUN down the aisle was my Willie (at 18 months), so it made my heart happy to see the flower girl take a similar approach to her big walk.

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The ceremony set-up was a little different than usual, so I was able to get some really great angles on Emmy’s walk down the aisle. I love these moments with her dad!

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I normally don’t blog family formals, but this one is just too cute!

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I can’t see a cupcake without wanting to stick a ring in it!

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Get ready, DIY brides–one of the cutest place card and dessert table ideas I’ve ever seen. The place cards were strung in front of a framed engagement portrait, so as they were removed, you could see more of the photo. The dessert table had a quilt as the backdrop with a window in front of it to act as a frame, vintage linens as a table cloth, and beautiful cupcake stands!

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The best man’s toast had everyone alternating between laughter and tears.

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The bride’s parents watching the first dance. So sweet.

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Whenever the DJ has colored lights like the ones in this shot, I’m a very happy photographer. I know the reception photos will be fun and awesome when we have great lights to play with!

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You know I love a good garter/bouquet toss shot. At this wedding I got dozens. So. Much. FUN!

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Here’s the reach for the garter…

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…but even in the moments before Garrett actually tossed the garter the guys were hysterical!

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Here’s Nic’s shot of the bouquet toss win…

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…but my favorite is mine from seconds earlier. Bridesmaids are only united in friendship until the bouquet toss. ;)

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Back to the party!

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Everyone started to gather at one end of the dance floor and I could see the groomsmen getting into some kind of formation. Having no idea what was going on, I was just trying to be ready for whatever it was they were about to do, when I heard Garrett say politely “excuse me, I’m going to jump” as he angled me out of the way.

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And then we had this.

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We felt so lucky to photograph this wedding. As you can tell from the pictures, we had a LOT of fun!

Emmy Jo and Garrett’s Wedding Details Venue/Catering: The Inn at Palmer Divide Florist: Beautiful Expressions Cupcakes: Mya Bella Cupcakes

Posted in Wedding Photographer