Evergreen Lake House Wedding Photographers
Pat & Sierra's Mountain Wedding | Evergreen Lake House | Apollo Fields Wedding Photography
Hand in hand,
Pat and Sierra walked along Evergreen Lake,
Carrying the greens and blues of the Rockies in their palms.
A few feet away,
Hina playing in the mud
Put Sierra’s white dress at the mercy of unpredictable paws.
When they called to her
Hina came barreling forward,
Love leaping from her eyes
Unbeknownst to the spirit of the day.
This was just another walk for her,
Another chance to play beneath the sun—
But for Pat and Sierra:
These were the first steps of their new partnership.
Strolling back to the celebration,
Hina’s muddy paws
Never caused any concern.
Pat and Sierra knew
That they were just another hue
To add to the greens and blues
In the palms of their hands.
Destination Wedding for this fun Hawaiian Couple
I loved working with this beautiful and energetic couple! Sierra’s family is originally from Colorado and they ended up moving out to Hawaii so she wanted to return to her roots for her wedding. It felt sort of ironic to have a “destination wedding” where the couple LEAVES Hawaii — a popular destination wedding spot — to come to the states to get married. But Colorado is so beautiful and iconic that is totally made sense for this awesome couple.
Pat is a doctor and so easy to get along with. He was laid back and a lot of fun. You could tell that he cares a lot about his core group of friends and they had so much fun with their whole wedding party. Sierra is bubbly and outgoing and unbelievably active. They rock climb, snowboard, surf, and sail and hike and just about every other cool sport together. This couple is super inspiring because they just have such a zest for life. Sierra lived on a boat and has explored much of the East by water. They also love their pup and had so much fun celebrating their wedding with her.
I first met up with them when they were visiting to get all of their wedding planning done. I could tell how organized they were from the beginning which made working with this couple that much easier. All of the parts of the day were well thought out, organized, and so much fun!
Mountain Photography: Apollo Photo
Wedding Writing: Apollo Journalism
Colorado Wedding Venue: Evergreen Lake House
Wedding Coordinating: Lauren “Lo” Wiltshire with The Gardner Effect “TGE”
Alex & Rae's International Wedding in New York State
Alex & Ragnhild's New York State Wedding | International Weddings | NYC Wedding Photography | Norwegian Dancers | Apollo Photojournlism
I met Alex on the Upper West Side in NYC at a restaurant. We got to chatting at the bar and I told him that I was a photographer, and as it turned out, he was engaged to his fiancé Ragnhild and looking for a wedding photographer. After talking a while longer, we realized that we had quite a few mutual friends from the neighborhood, and it all fell into place right after that.
Alex is a personal trainer and a former professional basketball player. He met Rae on the court, when her professional dancing career took her to one of his games. Rae and her daughter, Denise, were from Norway and literally packed up their lives to live in New York City with Alex. They have such a loving and playful relationship that made my job so easy!
Their wedding day kicked off with the guys hitting the basketball court, which was a fun alternative to traditional wedding mornings. Terrence was out there playing with the groomsmen, and it really reminded me of how much fun we have on our wedding days! The ceremony was officiated by a friend, who spoke of them so eloquently that it made me cry behind the camera. Yes, I still get emotional when I shoot!
The reception was one of my favorites to date. Rae's bridesmaids were all on her dancing squad and had planned a secret dance special for the couple. A room full of professional Norwegian dancers is just as much fun as it sounds. Oh my god they were talented! It was such a great party.
The importance of memories:
When you’re in a particular industry long enough, it’s easy to forget the importance of your job. You wake up on Monday, meet deadlines, schedule future goals, work through the drudgery, finish the week, and if you’re lucky, do it all over again on the following Monday. Wedding photojournalism is no exception.
Then, once in a while something happens, something that jars you out of your automatic work setting and you take a step back. Sometimes it’s good news like a family member is having a baby and other times it’s something tragic like someone has passed away. Whatever the case may be your life is drastically different than what it was just a few days before.
One of the defining things about wedding photojournalism is that we capture particular moments in our client’s lives where happiness and celebration are center stage. We have the luxury to see people at their best, laughing among their family and friends, assuming the roles they’ve carved out their who lives by sharing the stories that have made them into the persons they’ve become. When things inevitably change in their lives in the months or years that follow, we watch their stories unfold through the photos we’ve taken and we’re drawn right back to the happiness of that day.
Each story we relive is a jarring reminder of the unpredictability of life and the importance that weddings hold in bringing people together, rekindling relationships, and the celebration of love and happiness. From budding romances to lost love ones, our photos travel across time, telling our present selves the story of our past, hugging our hearts with tangible memories and familiar feelings. It’s borderline wizardry how our inanimate pens and lenses can animate our past so vividly.
As wedding photojournalists we professionally tell love stories, but it’s as friends that we remember our client’s personally. Connecting with you all is what makes us remember that our jobs are important and our happiness immemorial. Thank you for your love.
New York State Wedding Photographer: Apollo Photojournalism | Erny Photo CO