There is something to be said about having your wedding photographer be someone that you have met, laughed with, and worked with before. It eases all the nerves of the unexpected, makes being natural in front of the camera, and helps your wedding day go by that much smoother.

So when these two reached out to me a year after I photographed their surprise proposal at Rifle Falls State Park, I could not wait to get to work to start helping plan their mountainside elopement! Fun fact, we had originally planned to do their surprise proposal at a waterfall in the San Juans but a fire the year prior closed down access to the area so we moved it to Rifle (and everything worked out perfectly!).

So when July came around and monsoon season was in full swing, imagine all of our surprise when we had clear skies for the entire day. They got ready in separate rooms of their cabin, had a first look amongst the foliage, K played a song on her guitar for J, and after they cut their (tasty AF) cake, we all headed to one of my favorite lake side locations in the mountains.

When we got there, they said their vows on the shoreline while the sun set on the mountains behind them, ran around with their bubble gun (uhm, gonna make these mandatory from now on because they were so much fun haha), signed their marriage license under candlelight, and roamed around with lanterns exploring while we waited for the stars to come out.

Oh yeah, there was cup o’ noodles too. Heck yes.

When the milkyway finally made it’s incredible appearance just over the mountains a couple of hours later, we stared up at the stars before heading back up the road where we saw literally 10,000 deer.

So in love with days that are genuine and intentional and full of fun activities that are true to who you are and what you like to do as a couple.

Best. Day. Ever.