I’m so excited to shoot Zak & Melissa’s wedding next year ( she has an awesome multi-colored dress, and they’re launching the bouquet with a large catapult).  I was just as excited to shoot their nerd-themed engagement session!  They met in the engineering department of the School of Mines, so the nerd theme was pretty appropriate.  I was stoked, and as soon as we met up for the shoot, I was even more stoked to see that Melissa had brought nerdy glasses, a bow tie, and that Zak had graphed a heart for her on her calculator :)  We wandered around the Mines campus, through golden light and piles of crunchy leaves, and the headed to Red Rocks for a few less-nerdy shots.  These guys are SO MUCH FUN and I’m anxiously awaiting their wedding next year!

They picked up the wrong books at first, and opened them up.

“Eew, I hate your major!” Melissa said.

“Yeah, I hate your major too,” said Zak.  “Let’s switch.”

Love these color-coded books!

One of my favorites:

From nerdy to James Bond hotness in no time flat:

Zak & Lis- thank you guys so much!  I had such a blast & I can’t wait for the big day! :)

. comments .

Melissa November 13th, 2011

These are AMAZING! Turned out better than I imagined. Thank you so much!

Kat November 13th, 2011

I think this is my favorite session you’ve done!! Gorgeous!!

Holly November 15th, 2011

Great session! Such an adorable couple!

femmer November 16th, 2011

absolutely beautiful. i love the “nerd” from Mines touch!!!

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I was out to dinner with my parents for my birthday in March, when my mom got a call from my grandfather, saying he was engaged.

“And, of course,” he told my mom, “Molly will shoot the wedding.”

I was definitely a little mind-blown.  This wasn’t exactly something I thought I would do in my lifetime.

“Of course I will,” I told her, still kind of shocked.

Over the next few weeks, his wedding was on my mind a lot.  My grandfather has meant so much to me – he’s an amazing, successful businessperson, and he’s taken me seriously and stood behind me 100% since starting my own business.  When he was in his 20′s and 30′s, he was very interested in photography, and collected several cameras, which he gave to me when I was starting to get into photography in high school.  He showed me the photos he had taken while on his honeymoon with my grandmother in Acapulco back in the day, which he later sold as postcards in some of the shops nearby for spending money.

I always thought of those cameras as fun relics, novelties that look nice on the shelf…. and they sat on my shelves forever.  They were all caked in dust, the lenses clouded over with age.  As soon I realized I’d be shooting his wedding (!), I started thinking about those cameras.  I dusted them off,  swabbed out the crevices with Q-tips, and ran some test film through two of them: the Argus and the Ciro-flex.  Surprisingly, both of them worked (mostly).  So, obviously I was going to use my grandpa’s old cameras to shoot his wedding.

This was so different from the weddings I normally shoot, and it really made me look at weddings, and my job, in a completely different light.  It wasn’t about the trends, or the details – it was a day spent with family, celebrating the people closest to us.  We didn’t have really any time at all set aside for photos, and Jackie was surprised to hear that she might get several hundred pictures from the day.  I learned that church regulations prohibited me from using flash indoors, or stepping on the carpet, or moving around during the ceremony, even if I stayed behind the guests.  Or wearing anything other than all solid black, otherwise I WOULD BE KICKED OUT.  So pretty much, I went into this wedding rethinking my entire style and approaching the day completely differently.  This, in and of itself, was honestly such an amazing experience for me.   A few days earlier, my grandfather went in for some tests, because his doctors were concerned he might have liver cancer.  Needless to say, all of us were pretty emotionally overwhelmed, in so many ways.  This day was so sweet and very raw, and I got to share it with my amazing family.  I’m lucky to be so close to all of them.

Shooting this wedding changed me.

The rehearsal (and location of the reception), the LA Country Club:

One from the Ciro-Flex:

Fair warning: if you’re not in the mood to see me & my siblings making a lot of stupid faces, you can probably stop now.  That’s just what we do.

My little bro & his girlfriend:

Checking out the gorgeous sunset:

My youngest bro:

And now, the wedding day:

My sweetheart grandfather:

My wonderful, sweet parents:

My grandpa is the COOLEST.  These next few are AWESOME!

Then me & my seester & my cousin get tired of being fancy, and head to the bathroom of this church on Rodeo Drive, where the reeeallly classy shots happen:

Beret & Jaime were the “greeters”.  This was an official title, which was kind of funny to us, because the vast majority of the 30 or so guests were family, and about half of those were in the wedding party. However, they took their job quite seriously, and greeted every.single.person. with… enthusiasm.

Two shots from the Argus:

Another Argus shot.

One from the Ciro-Flex.

The LACC:

The decorations were so classic and elegant:

My sweet grandpa with the Ciro-Flex:

Phew.  I don’t know what else to say.  I love you all.

. comments .

Larkin November 6th, 2011

You made me cry, how pure and sweet this was……XO

Heather Barron November 6th, 2011

Just precious, Molly! What a gift to your grandfather and to YOU! :)

zach November 6th, 2011

Amazing. Loved every one of them. They capture your family perfectly.

boo boo November 7th, 2011

yaaaaaaaay!!!! phew. hearts.

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Andrea and Clay are wonderful, wonderful people.  I was especially honored (and a little nervous!) to shoot their wedding at Midnight Ranch outside of Steamboat Springs because Andrea is a fellow wedding photographer… no pressure there :)  You can check out her amazing work here.

Their wedding was so sweet and mellow, and full of thoughtful, fun details and moments.  When I left the wedding, rather than being as tired as I normally am, I was surprisingly relaxed and content.  Both Andrea and Clay are so kind and thoughtful, and I’m flattered to be included in such an amazing event :)

Andrea rode this red truck up to the ceremony site, which overlooked a lake:

And the guys canoed across the lake to the ceremony site!

Love this amazing mountain light!

One of my favorites from the day:

I loved everything about Midnight Ranch:

So, they had a photo area with a ton of fun props… during dinner, the kids took over, and these next dinosaur / fedora / pink parasol / pumpkin / red truck shots are totally unplanned and some of my all-time favorites:

We also had such a lovely sunset, full of rich, deep colors:

Andrea & Clay – everything about this day was wonderful.  Thank you for being so amazing and so much fun to work with! Congrats to you both :)

. comments .

Brandon October 28th, 2011

You absolutely blow my mind.

Aubrey Taylor October 29th, 2011

Wonderful wonderful job. Clay and Andrea definitely made the right choice. I think you captured the day perfectly. ^_^

Eric Rudeen October 30th, 2011

These are incredible. Such good work!

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I’ve been looking forward to Casidy & Tyler’s weekend wedding at Devil’s Thumb Ranch for the last year!  Casidy has put SO MUCH work, love & effort into this wedding, which showed through so clearly.  This wedding, on a gorgeous fall day, with beautiful weather, was EPIC.  She even designed all of their print materials, in addition to the lovely details!  I was so thankful to be able to work with a rockstar team of vendors, who pulled it all together and made this wedding flawless.

Gigantic shout-outs to:

My new wedding vendor BFFs: the ladies at PeeKay Soirees and I hit it off immediately, and aside from the fact that they’re super cool people, I can’t recommend their work highly enough.

Sweet Pea Flowers

Teacup Bakery

Moment’s Notice (musicians at the ceremony & reception)

And, of course, Devil’s Thumb Ranch, and Casidy, herself, for the amazing design elements!

The bridesmaids watching Casidy open a gift from Tyler : a printed, bound copy of all of the messages they exchanged on Facebook while they were dating:

Casidy, just… OMG.  You are stunning!

I love when couples decide to do a First Look – then we get sweet moments like this:

Devil’s Thumb Ranch is full of amazingness – EVERYWHERE.

Love this shot that Janella, my second shooter, got as Cas walked down the aisle:

Instead of birdseed or flower petals, Casidy made all of these fabric flags, and the joyful shots of everyone dancing back down the aisle are some of my favorites from the day!

High-fiving the minister after making it all official…

Peekay Soirees is AMAZING!  

I’m such a sucker for succulents.  Love them!

Another of my favorites… I love the look of dreaminess on this little flower girl’s face during Casidy & Tyler’s first dance.  She’s mesmerized!

Cas & Ty -

Thank you SO MUCH for such a fun experience!  Every single thing was amazing, and I was honored to be a part of your big day.  Congratulations on continuing your lives together!

. comments .

Maggie October 25th, 2011

Love. Love. LOVE. What an amazing wedding! The photos captured everything so perfectly, too – well done all around!

Dana October 25th, 2011

OMGosh.. I love EVERYTHING about this wedding! Love the details, love the bridal attire, love it all!!

Kristen October 25th, 2011

Wish we could do it all over again. It truly was a perfect wedding. Cas, you are such a talented wedding designer/planner!

Kristin October 25th, 2011

These pictures are absolutely stunning and need to be published!

Margo Dunbar October 25th, 2011

Loved the pics!! Thanks for sharing……………..margo

Lindsey G October 25th, 2011

So fab!!!! I love it! We had a blast thank you so much for including us on your special day!!

xoxox
Linds and Brad

Kira October 26th, 2011

Absolutely gorgeous pics of a beautiful day!

Aunt Debbie October 27th, 2011

Great Pics Casi! Really captured the beauty of everything. :)

Holly November 15th, 2011

So pretty! Lots of great details. Amazing photos, as always! :)

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Tres & Emily are pretty much the sweetest people I have ever had the pleasure of working with.  They, and anyone who I spoke to, from the bridal party to their families,  was kind, relaxed, and eager to help each other – almost fighting over helping each other!  I loved it.  ”Can I get you a glass of water?”  ”No, but can I get YOU a glass of water?”

I LOVED this wedding.  The whole day was just lovely.  Emily has the grace and beauty of an old school movie star, and Tres is so warm and friendly, and I instantly was treated like one of the family.  What a wonderful day!

One of the readings during the ceremony was from Emily’s grandmother’s copy of The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran (one of my favorite texts, BTW) – with her grandmother’s old, old pressed flowers still inside!  If you aren’t familiar with Gibran’s work, please, please check it out.  It’s lovely:

“You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of heavens dance between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.”

Em – your beauty is overwhelming.  Seriously.

Love this handmade arch!

Em & Tres – you guys are amazing!  Hope to hang out soon :)