Estes is the Bestest!!

Happy New Year and all that jazz. Now that it is nearly February, I suppose it is time to start a New Years resolution of blogging weekly. Yes, I have already broken that resolution but so be it.... add it to the list of resolutions that went down the drain on January 2nd.

So we had the privilege of doing the St. Louis Best Bridal show on January 4th (also my sister's birthday, Happy Birthday Theresa). It was a very busy show with tons of fresh faced brides, recently engaged after the holidays. Near the end of a very busy day we got to meet Zach and Rachel. They were looking to book a fantastically fun photographer to cover their wedding reception in the fall and we immediately hit it off (they are cool, we're cool... match made in heaven.. Actually, they are way more cool than we could ever hope to be but I am hoping to resolve to be cooler this year...... damn... another resolution shot in the foot, no offense to Plaxico Burress of course, in the event he is keeping up on my blogging).

We had to ask them "why just the reception coverage" and they mentioned that they would be running off to Colorado to get married in a couple of weeks then having a reception this fall. After some tough interrogation -arm twisting and bright light in the face is my favorite- we discovered they were getting married in Estes Park. After rattling off a couple worthless facts about Estes Park (one of my favorite places in the world) Sam told them they should pack us up and drag us along. We laughed, joked and set up a consultation. Low and behold we were able to work out a deal to get us to Colorado and for Zach and Rachel to get a kick ass package that included Colorado and their reception back here in the fall. I am fairly certain that it was the other 1001 worthless facts about Estes Park that I knew that convinced them they would just have to have us in the mountains with them. Did I mention that Zach and Rachel are both REALLY good looking and we were practically begging them to stuff us in their luggage so we could work with them? Oh, I forgot that part? Resolution number 18- inform the public of the whole story, strike-through that one on the old New Years list as well.

To make a long story now terminally long, Zach and Rachel got married at the Black Canyon Inn near the base of the Rocky Mountain National Park (under the shadow of Longs’ Peak, the highest point in RMNP at an elevation of 14,259 ft., depending on who you ask, and yes, I am a dork for knowing that) It was breathtaking. It had long been a dream of mine to shoot a mountain wedding and I finally got that opportunity so many thanks to Rachel, Zach and both of their families for putting up with my Estes trivia. The weather in Estes, as the locals put it, had been "sucky" for a month straight. Clouds, cold, grey, and gross. But the day we arrived the sun came out, the Hallelujah chorus wafted down from the mountains as if being sung by angels, and the thermometer settled in at a glorious 50 degrees during the entire wedding weekend. This was made all that sweeter by the fact that it was 4 degrees when we left Saint Louis. The weather afforded them the luxury of having their ceremony on the deck overlooking the mountains. Stunning, that is about all you can say. It leaves you kind of speechless when you see it.

The morning of the wedding set the bar pretty high for the rest of the day. Our groom decided to go snowshoeing up in the mountains while the girls did hair and makeup at the historic (and very haunted) Stanley Hotel, . This is the same place where Stephen King had the inspiration for and began writing "The Shining" while staying in room #217. Samantha jumped at the opportunity to go shoot with the guys while they adventured into the great unknown (or a well marked and highly traveled hiking trail in this case), and I was more than happy to hang out with the girls for hair and makeup at the Parlour Spa in the Stanley. Fortunately for the girls, I would be brave and strong and able to protect them. Fortunately for me, the spa was nowhere near room 217 or the haunted area of the hotel.

Sam kept up with the guys during the entire hike. I guess all of those years of backpacking the Swiss Alps finally paid off. (Cross off #8, stop making up stories about other people) Sam called it one of the best experiences of her life. She took some amazing photos of the guys up in the mountains. Very hard and exhausting work, but the benefits are going to be well worth it. We cannot wait for our next bridal show in February so we can display some of our favorite shots from this destination wedding. You should stop by and see us. Even if you are not getting married, the shots are that cool. We are going to be at the Coronodo Ballroom on February 8th for the Saint Louis Best Bridal's Best of the Best Show (is it me or is that a lot of BESTs'?). It should be a great time and I'm sure we will be in rare form that day. Probably giving away the farm like we tend to do at bridal shows. So please, come up, say hello, and talk us out of some free photography stuff for your wedding. If that event is not your "cup of tea" then try to visit us at some other upcoming shows this year. I will be blogging about additional upcoming dates in the near future.

All that being said, the wedding was great, the dinner/reception afterwards was awesome, and the entire trip was a huge success. I am not sure how to thank Zach and Rachel other than providing them with some of their best memories captured in pictures. I am not even sure if that is a fair trade but we truly tried our best to give them everything we could. I know I will have memories that I will never forget. I hope you enjoy some of our favorite pics from the weekend and check back often because I am going to be a bloggin' SOB this year. Oh wait, I already broke that resolution... Maybe I will start with monthly and try to improve from there.

Keep Smiling...

Zach, his father and father-in-law (about 5 hours later) snowshoeing in Rocky Mountain National Park.


Bear Lake, one of the stops along the snowshoe hiking trail.


Longs Peak as viewed from the trail. Nice work Sam!


Our bride, Rachel on the deck where the wedding ceremony was held.


Rachel and Zach, up in the mountains of RMNP.


Looking gorgeous as we trespassed on the porch of a cabin in Glacier Basin.


Welcome to the Gateway of Rocky Mountain National Park (per their website, not just some title that I decided to bestow upon the town).


The road was closed about 100 yards behind us due to the snow in the upper elevations. This was about as high as we could get without getting arrested by Park Rangers.


Once the sun went down the temp dropped quickly. It was probably only 25 degrees in this shot but you could not tell it from Zach and Rachel. They were real troopers..... speaking of Troopers, remind me some day to tell you about Rachel's dad. HaHa, lol, Maybe I should keep that one to myself.