Megan & Kris: A Mountain Chateau Wedding in Colorado

When Megan contacted me over a year ago to discuss wedding photography, I knew I was about to meet a seriously organized bride. When we got together in person, I realized that Megan was a bride with as much warmth and enthusiasm as vision and foresight.

Clipboards, post-it notes, and  highlighters can sometimes become more of a burden than benefit when planning a big celebration. Not in this case. Megan and Kris were simply planning the wedding of their dreams. In an attempt to do justice to the thought, care and inspiration behind Megan and Kris’ Colorado wedding, I’m handing the mic over to Megan…

WHERE WAS IT?

We decided on Della Terra Mountain Chateau in Estes Park, CO because of the rustic feel. We also loved that it was in Rocky Mountain National Forest so we could get the great pictures with the Rockies as our back drop.

THEME OR STYLE:

I wanted everyone to enjoy the beautiful views of Colorado, so we tried to keep with a forest or mountain theme.

BRIDE’S DRESS:

I wanted a spanish style dress with a romantic feel. It took about three shopping trips before I found the one and I fell in love with the designer Paloma Blanca and found my dream dress in their collection.

BRIDE’S SHOES:

I wanted my something blue to be in my shoes (I was inspired by Carrie Bradshaw’s Manolo Blahnik’s) I searched everywhere and finally found a sparkly pair at DSW made by one of my favorite shoe designers Poetic License.

JEWELERY/ACCESSORIES:

I never wear much jewelry so I wanted to keep the look simple on the wedding day wearing only what my groom had purchased for me. My diamond studs were the first jewelry he had given me along with my engagement ring and wedding band.

HAIR & MAKEUP:

I found a great hair and makeup team out of Denver called Aphrodite Affairs. They were so kind and even fixed my botched manicure for me.

GROOMSMEN:

Our groomsmen are our closest friends and family. They have known the groom since elementary school or younger and the bride since middle school. Needless to say we are blessed to have met our best friends young in life.

WEDDING FAVORS:

We decided instead of doing a physical favor that we would donate to a cause near to our hearts. My brother is a marine who has served our country for 8 years now. His multiple deployments leave his family to continue life without his support at home. We wanted to give to a charity that would help both the soldiers and their families during these deployments. The charity we chose was Operation Home Front.

THE FLOWERS AND CAKE:

I found my florist through craigslist funny enough…I wanted a fall look and nothing that would take away from me or my girls. CG Blume did our cake and flowers and I loved the rustic look of my cake! Our flowers had just enough purple and orange to pull all my colors together at the wedding. Another great bonus with this company is the more you order through them the bigger discount they give you! I ended up paying less for my dj, cake and flowers than I would have for just flowers had I gone to a local florist.

INVITATIONS & STATIONERY:

I found my invitations and save the dates online at magnetstreet.com, they sent me a package of samples and they were reasonably priced. For our day of stationary I love to craft so I made all the stationery from the programs to the place cards. I spent many hours and dollars at Hobby Lobby.

FOOD & DRINK:

We love to eat and drink so we wanted our guests to be taken care of and feel at home. Jubilations Catering catered the wedding. Their food was delicious and they put a spin on everyday food. Jubilations is only a few minutes from the venue so they brought everything up fresh and hot. Our drinks were provided by Della Terra and their staff did a great job of keeping everyone’s glasses full!

THE HONEYMOON:

We took our dream trip to Hawaii. First we started on Oahu where we stayed in the oldest resort on Waikiki Beach called the Moana Surfrider. There we enjoyed the beach and ocean front dinning at the Beach House. We also toured Pearl Harbor and soaked in the history. After Oahu we flew over to Kauai. On Kauai we hiked, kayaked, snorkeled and toured the island by helicopter. It was the best trip to date for both of us and we are already planning a trip back to the islands!

A MEMORABLE MOMENT:

Our most memorable moment of the day was toward the end of the night. Our friends had started to make a circle while guests showed off their moves in the middle. When we busted into the middle of the circle to dance together we got a glimpse of each of our friends smiling and celebrating the new life we have begun…It was a priceless moment and we felt all the love in the room!

 

 

Photo below by Mallory Olenius

Photo below by Mallory Olenius

Photo below by Mallory Olenius

Photo below by Mallory Olenius

Photo below by Mallory Olenius

 

Chris Werner is a Lake Tahoe Wedding photographer who specializes in Lake Tahoe weddings, weddings in South Lake Tahoe, Mammoth Lakes weddings and outdoor mountain wedding photography.