Photography By Dain

OK…so I haven’t been as disciplined as I should have been when blogging my recent weddings. For that I am truly sorry and do plan on making up for it with some past weddings of some amazing couples. However, I couldn’t think of a better couple to break my silence with than with Lauren and Ryan. We were blessed with an amazing day of weather and of course an amazing venue of Dunafon Castle in Idledale, CO. I enlisted my right hand man, Mark Hayes, to help me cover this spectacular venue and even more fantastic couple.

Below are some of the images from Lauren and Ryan’s most special day. Lauren & Ryan, Thank you SOOO much for the honor of capturing these moments in your life as you became husband and wife. I hope you had an incredible time in Bali and look forward to hearing all about your adventures!

The day started downtown as the girls got ready at The Curtis Hotel

Let the hair-do begin!

Lauren’s Hair was AMAZING!

Even Mom couldn’t resist touching it!

Gorgeous!

Meanwhile…on the other side of town…the guys decided to break the ironing board!

Didn’t stop the groom from looking dapper, though!

The Dress…

…On!

This is why I shoot with Mark. His captures of the groom are top notch. I LOVE this of Ryan seeing Lauren for the first time.

Here comes the bride!

She was ear to ear grinning glowing in her love for him. He was quiet and confident in his love for her. As excited as they were for their wedding day they were more excited that they had found each other. Of everyone on the planet…they managed to find their way to one another. The importance of family was palpable every time I had the opportunity to be in the presence of these wonderful people. Pride, passion, and love surrounded them on their most special day and I was fortunate enough to capture it. Blessed was I to say the least.

Of course, people like this and a wedding like this at the Dunafon Castle cannot be done justice without some amazing help. My right hand man Mark Hayes of Mark Hayes Photography was kind enough to lend his services and absolutely knocked it out of the park. An AMAZING photographer and an even better friend I couldn’t have done it without him! The hair and makeup at The Look Salon was AMAZING and the flowers from Denver Blooms were absolutely gorgeous. Kyle from A Music Plus rocked the party with his DJ skills and  Walter Mathew from Creative Mountain Images was a true professional videographer and a pleasure to work alongside. Last but certainly not least were the wedding coordinators at the Dunafon Castle, Annie and Annette. If you want an amazing venue and a stellar supporting cast for your wedding definitely give them a call!

Nick and Nikki…I cannot adequately express my gratitude to you both in words. Your love for one another is truly wonderful and I am so excited for what your lives together will bring. Your families were so gracious, kind and welcoming that photographing your most special day was a total joy. Thank you both for just being you and letting me in to document the beginning of your lives together. Here are the first of many more pictures to come. Enjoy! For more images from this AMAZING wedding click on the Slide Show.

All my best,

D

For more images from this wedding click on the Slide Show!

She was wearing jeans and a white hoody with Sexy Little Bride on the back of it. Her hair was elegant and up and she was all smiles. She had been waiting for this day. It almost didn’t come. A month prior to the wedding Sarah was in a serious car accident. It was a miracle she survived. Someone was watching over her.

He was just waking up and was speaking on the phone to his soon to be wife. He was out late the night before, boys will be boys, and he was running late. He too had been waiting for this day and was in no way worried about being late. I mean really, how long does it take a guy to get ready. The toughest challenge we have is figuring out where the silver looking buttons that come with the rented tuxedo go.

This day couldn’t have been more perfect for Sam and Sarah. They were truly the king and queen of the day. And what does every King and Queen have? Yep…a CASTLE! Dunafon Castle to be exact. A beautiful couple, and a beautiful venue. What more could a photographer ask for? How about another photographer. I enlisted the help of a great photographer and even better friend, Mark Hayes. There was waaaaay too much opportunity for just one photographer and I knew Mark was the man for the job.

Sam & Sarah, THANK YOU for allowing me to photograph your most special day. The love you have for one another is only equaled by the love each of your families have for the two of you. Sam, I recognize the look in your eye that you have for your new wife. It’s the look a man has when he has found the woman of his dreams and realizes he gets to spend the rest of his life with her. Congratulations to the both of you!

Below are just a FEW of my favorites. I’m still going through all of the photos but couldn’t wait to share some of them. For even more check out the slide show.

A beautiful dress for a beautiful bride!

Sexy Little Bride!

Your castle awaits…

I call dibs on her wedding!

Mother & Daughter…

Where’s Sam?

Eloquent Bouquet…

Father and son…this was a real moment…I SWEAR!

Cool…

The Groomsmen…

A Castle and her Queen…

Beautiful girls…

First look…

What love looks like…

First kiss…

King & Queen… If you liked these Click on the play button below for the slide show! Be patient while it loads there’s quite a few images…and I’ve just scratched the surface!

She was up on the second floor of the St. Julien Hotel in downtown Boulder getting ready for her most special day. He was waiting for her up at Chautauqua Park. Her sister was putting on her makeup for her. He was nervous, anxious and excited all at the same time to see his beautiful bride. Her mom was busy keeping everything in order and beaming with pride as her oldest daughter was about to be married. It was all he could do to maintain his composure when he finally saw her.

Erica and Bryan are the type of people you love to photograph. Good looks aside, they are genuine people who’s love for one another radiates. They are so easy going and conscientious of others that even on their wedding day they put their guests before themselves. It was wonderful capturing their real moments because their moments were just that, REAL. This was not about the show that a wedding can often become but, about the genuine love between two people who were humbled and honored at their guests willingness to share in their love for one another. 

Erica and Bryan, thank you SO much for entrusting me to photograph your most special day. It was a true honor to be a part of your wedding day. Below are some of my favorites from the day. To see more click on the slide show link after the photographs.

Erica’s Gown was simple and elegant.

Erica’s sister did a wonderful job on her makeup.

One of my personal favorites

A bouquet so gorgeous my own wife was jealous!

The anxious groom

Love at first sight!

Spectacular venue!

First dance

To see more from their wedding click on the slide show!

I’ve got to tell you how great Animoto is. Obviously, their slideshows are awesome and they’re getting a lot of exposure around the photography blog world, but I was really bummed that I wasn’t able to show these slideshows with my blog software (Word Press) when played in Internet Explorer. Although I love Firefox and think it is a much better browser, IE still has a majority of users so, many of you couldn’t experience the shows. I contacted Animoto last week and asked them about it and they weren’t sure what was the problem but assured me they’d look into it. I was impressed that I heard back from them but honestly thought I was on my own on this and wouldn’t hear back. Just last night I got an email back from Jason, the gentlemen who had been helping me originally, and he had a work around for me. For those of you who have Word Press Blogs the the application to embed the video is at http://vodpod.com/wordpress. It works beautifully and now my Internet Explorer friends can see these videos!

Here’s a remix of the wedding I shot a couple of weeks ago.

 Enjoy! (Click on the play button twice)