Another beautiful summer wedding at Willow Ridge Manor with just the cutest couple ever! Kelly and Matthew bonded over their love of adventure and bicycling which also made for a very cute an adorable wedding theme. Our team had a great time capturing both photo and video for this couple for many years of enjoyment to come.  When couples host their event during the Summer at Willow Ridge they can have a grand affair utilizing the outside deck for seating with still more room inside for all of their guests. This beautiful venue looks great anytime of year, but  it’s especially beautiful when the grass is green and the flowers are in bloom. Just perfect with the black and white color scheme with green accent colors! Enjoy the highlight video above and some of my favorite photos below!

Vendors who made this day possible:

Venue – Willow Ridge Manor

Caterer – Rocky Mountain Catering 

Disc Jockey – Digital DJ

Photography & Video – Crystaline Photography & Video

Whether you love all the group photos taken at a wedding with friends and family or would prefer to spend more time smoozing with your guests the reality is that the only way to guarantee a photo with grandma is to plan to take one. These type of photos are the formal portraits at a wedding and I’m going to chat a little bit about how to do them quickly and efficiently so you can get on to the partying!

There’s been a trend in the last couple decades of couples wanting to have more of a photo-journalistic style of wedding coverage. A true photo-journalist should never stage a photo as they are there mainly to document the event. While this can often times capture some of the most emotional and memorable moments at a wedding, choosing a photographer who only offers this type of photography can often mean you miss getting photos with a lot of the people who are important to you that a traditional portrait photographer will take.  You can have both styles of photography and the best wedding photographers will offer both!

I started out assisting my mother with weddings back in the nineties during the days of film when each wedding you photographed had a limited amount of film to shoot for each event. Photographers had to choose their frames very deliberately. In those days you took maybe 2-3 frames of each group shot and just hoped someone didn’t blink. You took one shot of the cake and maybe 2-3 of the cake cutting. Delivering 300-500 images back then was considered a lot! I’m thankful to have learned photography during that time period because not only does it make me appreciate the ability to take as many photos as I want at an event, but also it did teach me a lot of skills that I still use today to help with facilitating the formal portrait session quickly.  Here are some tips for couples planning a wedding:

1.) First, if at all possible find a photographer that has a portfolio that includes group portraits and speaks about the importance of taking these types of photos at a wedding. This will ensure that you get a photographer that will be proactive in making sure the photos you want with others get completed and not missed.

2.) Ask the photographer to walk you through their process of doing group portraits. Each photographer will probably have a way of doing things that works the best for them. This way you can hear about any potential “red flags” they may state like “I really hate taking group photos, so I do the bare minimum” or “I’ll do group photos if you really want me to” or my favorite “Just grab me whenever you want a photo” That last statement is fine in conjunction with a well laid out plan for how and when you will be doing the bulk of the portrait photos and should be in addition to those photos not in lieu of a planned group formal photography time. The last thing you want to be doing on your wedding day is being in charge of grabbing all the people you want to take photos with, this is the photographer’s job.

3.) Most couples utilize the cocktail hour immediately following the ceremony for the time period to take these group photos. I am starting to hear more often that couples would prefer to enjoy some of that time-frame to meet and greet guests and are opting to do some if not all of the group formals before the wedding. If you are planning on doing this it’s imperative that everyone you’d like to be in these photos knows the time-frame that you will be starting the photos. I also suggest telling them a start time 30 minutes prior to the actual start time to make time for late comers (especially if you know you will have a few of these). Even if you plan to do all of the group photos before the ceremony leave some time directly following the ceremony to do just a few more in case someone doesn’t get the memo or you run out of time before the ceremony. If you don’t need the time it will just give you some extra moments with your new spouse and maybe some extra time for more relaxed photos of just the two of you which really are the most important photos you’ll want from the day!

4.)  Utilize your wedding officiant or DJ/MC to make announcements for photos. Simply stated, if you plan to have the officiant tell the guests where they are supposed to go following the ceremony recessional, it’s a great idea to also have him/her mention that the couple has requested that immediate or all of the family of the couple should stay behind for a few moments for some family photos. This tells Uncle John that he can’t make a B-line to the bar just yet! And saves a lot of time looking for the family members needed for the group photos. Less time taking photos means more time to hang out with friends after wards. Family photos can be done as quickly as 15-20 minutes if everyone is present. The overtime comes when a photographer or another person has to go and look for someone who is missing.

5.) Start with the largest family first or with the side that has the most jobs to still do if they are helping out with the reception set-up or meal. Do the extended family photos first if you are doing them and whittle them down to smaller groupings and complete one side (if at all possible) before moving on to the other spouse’s family. If you have any specific groupings you’d like to have photographed give a list to your photographer. Every photographer should have a basic list of what they usually cover to show or tell you about (if you’ve been doing this for 20 years like me then your list can be in your head, but they should easily be able to tell you what their normal groupings are) and then you can decide if there are special groupings you want that are not on that list for instance: generation groupings, just cousins, just aunts and uncles, etc. This will ensure that the photographer knows what’s important to you.

6.) A loud boisterous photographer who is willing to direct people will get things done a lot quicker than a timid person waiting for groups to arrange themselves. If you get the feeling that your photographer is not going to be good at this, but still really like their work then utilizing a family member who can help with this is really recommended. A loud Aunt or Uncle who knows all the key family members and that wants to help is a great person for this role! You can also ask them to keep an eye on your dress and/or other things as the photos are being taken. A detail orientated photographer is great, but an extra pair of eyes is also helpful.

7.) Put the kibosh to others wanting to take  photos while the photographer is doing formal portraits. I can’t stress this enough! I know the urge for the mother of the bride to want to take a duplicate photo of every photo the photographer is taking, I really do, but every time the photographer has to stop in the middle of their group arrangements to allow someone else to take photos it adds on to how long it takes to do the group photos. This also results in photos with people looking everywhere, but at the paid photographer’s camera. The couple is going to get a high quality large resolution digital images back from the photographer that they can share with everyone so why would they want a dark, crooked underexposed low quality cellphone picture of the exact same thing? The shocking answer is they won’t want them. Half the time they won’t even see those images as they will get forgotten about and never downloaded from the person’s phone. The best thing a couple can do is set expectations before the wedding by telling everyone that they think will want to take photos that it’s best to let the photographer do their job so that they can get through the photos quickly. This always sounds better coming from the couple rather than the photographer.

Sometimes there’s a real shutter bug in the family as well that likes to bring his/her DSLR which is great, but can also sometimes become an issue. For example if they are taking key members of the wedding party away to do photos of their own while the contracted photographer is trying to get their shots. This has happened to me on more than one occasion and it’s really not helpful and again makes the portrait session take longer. I think it’s great when another photographer comes up and introduces themselves to the photographer and asks permission to take photos. When this occasionally happens I can tell them exactly what they should and should not do. The most beneficial way to take additional photos is to get photos of things the contracted photographer can’t take. Examples of this would be photos of the guests at cocktail hour and dinner or even covering the rehearsal the day before. If someone in your family has expressed interest in taking photos at your wedding it’s imperative to chat with the photographer you have hired beforehand to discuss what this might look like. Most photographers have clauses in their contracts that won’t allow a second professional unless they are hired by them and this is to ensure another photographer is not impeding their job. Having an extra person covering stuff that contracted photographer can’t cover is a great way to utilize someone else with a camera.

8.) Overall, if you really feel like group portraits are not for you, at least consider doing photos with your immediate family with you and your new spouse in them immediately following the ceremony.  A few frames of each side of the family should at least be enough to appease mom and dad. These can take as little as ten minutes. If you are worried about it turning into a long session tell the photographer up front that you only want “X” photos. This will let them take control of the situation should more group photo requests come up on the day and allow you an easy way to escape the multiple groupings if you don’t want to do them.

The last wedding we photographed  in the fall of 2020 was Alyssa & Zakery’s chilly but beautiful wedding at Willow Ridge Manor. With a bit of chill in the air today; I thought about them and their one year anniversary coming up next month. I realized  that I never did a blog post with photos from their event. I guess I was busy making albums and then the 2021 wedding season took off. I’ve just been behind on blog posts ever since. So without further adieu here is their amazing event held on the mountainside in Morrison, Colorado! It was the perfect end to a rough season with re-bookings, cancellations and more. It was great that we were still able to service so many weddings in 2020 and most of the couples that had to re-booked their events in 2021 as we heard that not everyone in the wedding industry fared as well. As we pass into Winter I often reflect on how lucky we are to do what we love and spend some of the happiest days with our clients! The 2021 wedding season has been the busiest year we have ever had with us covering a wedding or two almost every single weekend and we’re not done yet! So bare with us as we update the blog over the coming Winter months!

Vendors who made this day possible:

Ceremony & Reception Venue – Willow Ridge Manor

Disc Jockey – Digital DJ

Caterer – Rocky Mountain Catering

Hair & Make-Up – LesliesArts

Photography – Crystaline Photography & Video

I’m going to start off by saying that I am not a wedding planner, but as a wedding photographer who has been covering weddings and events for over 23 years I have a unique perspective on planning weddings… what works and what doesn’t. I’m also going to say that a wedding planner is almost always worth the investment even if you can only afford the “day of coordination” services. I always remember the story about a mother of the bride that came up to me after the event. I told her it was an amazing day and she had done such a good job setting everything up and coordinating with all of the vendors and then she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said “I feel like I missed my daughter’s wedding because all I was doing was taking care of everything so that she could have a perfect day!” After that day I started looking at wedding planners as more of a necessity than a luxury, especially if you want your friends and family to enjoy the event instead of spending all their time working.

We still do work with tons of couples who decide to do it all them selves whether that’s because they don’t have a budget for a coordinator or because they really, really enjoy the planning aspects of party planning. Sometimes it’s because the venue or the caterer also offers some sort of set-up and/or breakdown service for the event. And when this happens we often run into no concrete plan on how things for the day are going to go and I find myself helping the couple come up with a timeline that not only makes sure there’s enough time planned for all the special events, but also enough time to get all those posed photos that they want too! Because of this background I thought I would share some helpful tips for planning your wedding timeline especially if you are going to host an event in Colorado. Because of our beautiful scenery a lot of Colorado weddings are held outdoors (at least for a portion of the event). Outdoors can bring a whole extra set of challenges that you need to consider such as time of year, weather, location and guests’ comfort. I’ve seen it all – Winter weddings held outside with a snowy landscape to Church weddings on one side of town and a reception over an hour away. All of these things can effect a timeline. So here are some things to consider when you start planning out your timeline.

1.) Are you hosting the ceremony and reception at the same location?

If your ceremony and reception are being held at completely different locations then you have to remember to include drive time between the two venues in your timing. Make sure to leave in extra time for things like traffic problems and construction. If you are having a shuttle bus take guests between the two locations or from accommodations to the venues make sure you find out if they need multiple trips or if a large bus can be used to take all the guests who would be using it. Again make sure you have extra time planned in the timeline for things that come up.

2.) What time of the year are you getting married?

Sure there are savings to be had for couple willing to brave hosting a wedding in the middle of Winter, but it’s also not without risk. Colorado ski towns are notorious for getting blocked in with snow that close down roads in the Wintertime. If you are having a mountain wedding in November-March you should prepare for all scenarios with the worst being yourself, guests and vendors unable to make it to your venue. I highly suggest that you plan an extra day for arrivals prior to the wedding to ensure that yourself, vendors and others can at least be able to get to town prior to the wedding date. We covered a wedding in Silverthorne in 2019 where the bride mentioned frequent tunnel closures and ski traffic in her invitations. She suggested that guests give themselves an extra hour to get to the venue and because of that all of her guests were able to make it just before the ceremony started because the Eisenhower Tunnel had a closure. It’s a good idea to see if there are any festivals, planned road closures, or other travel issues in the area during your planned wedding date and take all of that into consideration when planning a timeline. And offer up alternate routes than what the map on your phone will give or suggestions for time management.

Next, the time of year can most definitely effect when you should plan an outdoor ceremony. The sun starts to go down earlier in the Fall and because of the mountains you may loose light for photos even sooner than other locations. If you are planning a sunset ceremony than you should plan to do the bulk of your formal portraits prior to the ceremony because once it’s dark out a photographer can use flash, but no amount of flash will bring those beautiful backgrounds back into the light and all that money you spent on a venue with views is wasted for your photos.

3.) Start your timeline early… from when you are planning on getting ready.

When you choose hair and make-up artists tell them the time that every person in your wedding party must be done for photos starting plus half an hour to an hour. The artists should know how long it takes for themselves and/or a team of stylists to complete the job and they will tell you what time you need to start getting ready. I’ve been to many weddings where someone from a stylist’s team doesn’t show which puts everyone behind or one of the bridesmaids hates their hair and they have to start over. Having that extra wiggle room for time will either be needed or it will give you some time to just relax.

If you are planning on doing any of the decorating yourself utilizing family and wedding party members then I highly suggest doing all of this either the day before your event (if at all possible) or plan on it being completed by the time you need to get ready as you can’t do both at the same time. Couples often forget that a lot of the wedding portraits can be done before the wedding as well and if you are too busy setting up instead of taking photos then you are just paying your photographer to stand around until you are ready. Also you probably don’t need the photographer there for all of the 3-4 hours of the wedding party is getting ready. One to two hours before the ceremony should be sufficient to capture the last minute touch ups and getting dressed. The photographer and videographer’s start time will depend on whether or not you are doing a “First Look” and how many portraits you plan on doing before the ceremony.

4.) Utilize the experts in the industry.

Talk to the owner or coordinator of the venue and ask them what timelines work the best for the time of year you are getting married. Chat with the caterer to find out what order for service works the best for them because if they have a way that they normally do things sometimes if you change anything up it can also affect the level of service they can provide you. Take into consideration time for things like “room flipping” which is when the same room the ceremony is held in is switched during the cocktail hour to a reception set-up. If you have to do this at the venue you have chosen then plan a little bit extra time for your cocktail hour in case things take longer to do. Of course talk to your photographer and videographer about the important things you want to make sure are covered from your day so that you can utilize their coverage time the best.

5.) Distribute your written timeline widely.

You should have a nicely typed out timeline that is given out to all of your vendors, as well as anyone in the bridal party and important family members. This way everyone knows where they are supposed to be and when. Having to look for a missing groomsmen or waiting on a family member to arrive can not always be prevented, but it’s a lot less likely to happen when everyone knows when and and where they are supposed to be. It can also take some of the stress off of everyone involved.  Make sure your venue and/or a trusted wedding party member has a copy of it so they can help keep you on track if you are not using a wedding planner.

Again I am a bit behind on my blog posting for 2020. The end of the year was a whirlwind… wedding date changes, venue changes and more kept us quite busy! Hailey and Andrew’s wedding was supposed to take place at Boettcher Mansion in September, but because that venue is ran by the county when Covid hit it was also one of the last venues to open back up. Couples with plans at any government ran facility were the hardest hit due to mandates that regulated the amount of guests that could be had at smaller venues.  I was willing to change things around for them, but they really wanted to host their event on their planned date and because I knew Willow Ridge Manor had been able to stay open I sent them over to Gregory and Lawrence. Luckily, there had been another couple that canceled on their date and they were able to move their event one town over to this facility. It ended up being a beautiful day with special touches that really personalized the event. The couple’s grandparents were musicians so they provided a song during the ceremony and also performed during the cocktail hour. The couple even rented a classic white Ford Mustang for the day which was a great addition to their wedding photos and a lot of fun! Having the car all day also made it easier to do more photos with the vehicle throughout the day instead of just at the end during the send off. It was a pleasure working with you both! Best wishes. ~Jamie

Vendors who made this day possible:

Venue – Willow Ridge Manor

Caterer – Colorado Catering Company

Alcohol Provider – Applejack Liquor

Ceremony Music – Pianist – Jimmy West

Reception Music – Guitarist – Jeff Matchette

Photography – Crystaline Photography & Video

Video –  Miranda Adame Productions

Beautiful early Fall wedding at Willow Ridge Manor with Kayla & Devin’s friends and family. Another event that we were so lucky to have happen before the Covid cases started to go up again. The weather was amazing; so a lot of time was spent outdoors just enjoying the warm amazing day. Lots of love and joy for these two! It was a pleasure capturing your special day!

I also have to give props to the amazing job Rocky Mountain Catering has been doing all Summer with the pandemic concerns. They showed up to every event with their masks on and got the job done! Their food was still amazing in the middle of all of this what an awesome company!

I’ve been a bit behind on my blog posts again due to a crazy end of Summer and Fall wedding season. A lot of couples from the 2020 early season had to push their events back to this time period this year due to Covid… so busy, busy, busy and now finally getting caught up on the little things like blog posting. Charlotte & Drew planned their whole event from out of state so they booked me just from a few emails and a couple phone conversations. Covering a wedding at Copper Leaf Event Center after having it been numerous years since I’ve been here was a real treat. I started out my career taking photos at this venue over 20 years ago and to see how much it has changed under new ownership was awesome. A lot of work has gone into making this venue a great little venue in a city location with amazing food. The owners who also own The Gourmet Kitchen Catering for many years prior to purchasing this venue have done a lot of work to update the getting ready rooms, the gardens and more! So not only are you getting a beautiful and affordable venue to host your event, but you are also getting their award winning food and service as well! I can’t say enough great things about this place!

And what to say about this amazing day! This couple was what I’m calling the quintessential millennium couple! They were low fuss, simple and just wanted to have fun with friends and family. They incorporated their quirky favorite music, had a lovely personalized ceremony Because of their good nature and ability to just go with the flow they had a wonderful heart felt event that incorporated some of the most important people in their lives. You could just feel the love oozing out of everyone for this event which is just easy to capture in photographs!

Again, thank you for having me document your special day! I highly recommend this venue for the food, service and beautiful surroundings! What a special day!

Vendors who made this day possible:

Venue: Copper Leaf Event Center

Caterer: The Gourmet Kitchen

Photographer: Crystaline Photography & Video

We were so grateful to be able to cover the amount of weddings that we could this year with the Covid pandemic going on. The cases were really down over the Summer and with all of Colorado’s beautiful outdoor venues we had a great time capturing the day of many happy couples! Since a bunch of Spring/Early Summer weddings were postponed the past few months have been a whirlwind for me… lots of events and lots of editing. I guess I will be busy updating my blog over the late Fall and Winter months for your enjoyment!

Ashlyn and Zach were able to still have a pretty great shindig! They came all the way from Nebraska to host their destination wedding. Beautiful pastel pinks were a great choice for this venue and their carnation flower curtain hung on the arch was over the top! I understand it was a labor of love created by Ashlyn’s mother! What an amazing day for an amazing couple! Check out their getaway vehicle! Awesome!

Vendors Who Made This Day Possible:

Venue: Willow Ridge Manor

Caterer: Rocky Mountain Catering

Disc Jockey: Digital DJ

Officiant: Jane’s Personalized Weddings

Florist: Sara Mica Design

Bakery: Das Meyer

Dress: Blue Bridal Boutique

Make-Up: Faced by Ariel

Hair: Michael Jay Hair

Photography: Crystaline Photography & Video

Here’s our first and now our only Spring wedding of 2020! Mandy & Kaleb were so lucky to be able to have their Willow Ridge Manor event in March before all of the Corona Virus Social Distancing Orders starting coming down. It was the best and amazing day for it as well! It was close to 70 degrees on their big day, but still snow peaking through on the mountain backdrops behind them. We had a few firsts for this wedding as well… first time the groomsmen got in a little fun by giving the bride a prop “ball & chain” to pin on her husband after they said their vows and also the first time I’ve ever seen a man in a bunny suit give a toast! You can tell this couple both have a very light hear-ted attitude about life and it was just a great environment to be in! Thanks again for having us be such an important part of your day! A lot of love was shared and captured for years to come!

For all of you folks out there worried about your upcoming 2020 event or  those already planning a post-postponement we feel your pain. This is going to be hard for all of us! We had two events in March cancel, four events in April cancel and so far four weddings altogether postpone with May events in jeopardy as well. The canceled events will not be re-booked so we’re out all the income that those would’ve generated for our business. The saving grace has been the fact that people still want to get married and don’t want to lose all of the money they have already invested in their big events. There are still options to postpone until a later date in 2020 and postponements instead of cancellations are what’s going to save a lot of small businesses. The talk about this lingering on for quite a while has people concerned about their Summer plans as well. We are encouraging all couples to take a wait and see attitude with all Summer dates with the hopes that our self isolation measures will kill this virus off before June.  Stay safe Colorado and the rest of the world, we’re all counting on all of you to become couch potatoes for the next couple months! We’ll be back soon and better than ever!

Vendors Who Made This Day Possible:

Venue: Willow Ridge Manor

Caterer: Rocky Mountain Catering

Disc Jockey: Digital DJ

Officiant: CoCreative Journeys – Paul Paiva

Photography & Video: Crystaline Photography & Video

I know Amanda, Alec and their families have been waiting patiently for me to finish their wedding video! And the time has come to release their highlight clip and get their photos and images back to them! This was an amazing wedding with a lot of moving parts to it and also not without it’s challenges, which makes me even happier to see the final results of their photos and video. Having a Winter event is always a bit of gamble especially if you are planning it the mountains of Colorado. Taking a chance on this Silverthorne Pavilion wedding was well worth it for them and even though the Eisenhower tunnel closed for a period of time on this day, almost all of the guests were able to make it to the ceremony on time! The couple notified their guests through their personalized website that due to the ski traffic and unforeseen weather issues that people should allow extra time for travel. That warning seemed to pay off for them! I would highly recommend that any couple planning an event do a little research on the area they plan on getting married at for what’s going on around the time of year they schedule it. Many times I’ve seen couples run into things like a festival being scheduled in the town at the same time as their event so accommodations for rooms being scarce, or unforeseen road closures due to construction or weather. If you know about these types of issues beforehand and let your guests know this can help them prepare for traveling and an on-time arrival for your event as much as as they can!

This venue boasts beautiful mountain and creek-side views, but because the sun goes down quicker in the Winter months we had to plan to do all of their formal portraits prior to the ceremony. This lead to a decision to do a “first look “between the bride and groom so that we could get their formal portraits out of the way before the ceremony. It ended up being a really touching intimate moment that they shared on the bridge. It was completely magical which fits in with their magical Disney themed wedding! Loved the romantic photos in the snow. And all of the children that participated in the ceremony singing songs was adorable!

The reception had a lot of unique elements as well. First, the bridesmaids did double duty as bartenders for the cocktail hour where the couple served their guests “Mocktails” which were non-alcoholic fun fruity drinks. This is a great idea for someone either looking to save money on their bar tab or for couples with religious or other reasons for not drinking. In Amanda and Alec’s situation they still served alcoholic drinks they just opted to wait to open the liquor bar until after dinner when the paid bar staff took over.  It was so cute seeing all the bridesmaids wearing rain smocks over their beautiful dresses to prevent them from getting dirty and I think it also gave another level of entertainment to the many young guests both attending and in their wedding.

Amanda’s brother was the DJ/MC for their event. In most cases I would also try to dissuade couples from using a family member for this important service, but in this case her brother had a background in entertainment having worked for a company that hosts parties and provides games and more for their clients. He did an amazing job not only running games that were entertaining for both the kids and adults, but also keeping the dance floor full.  The reception was also very unique in having a line up of different performers that were chosen from their friends and family who sang at different points in the evening. Amanda and her dad even chose to do a duet instead of a typical father and daughter dance. It really put a personal stamp on the event by including guests that were near and dear to them in the festivities.

We had a ton of fun doing the photography and video for this fairy tale event! I hope it will be a moment that they cherish forever!

Vendors who made this day possible:

Venue: Silverthorne Pavilion

Caterer: A Perfect Bite

Photography & Video: Crystaline Photography & Video