Kath and Paul’s Fiji Wedding

Fiji destination wedding

If you ask any destination wedding photographer where their dream locations are to photograph, Fiji is probably at the top.  Last month I had the amazing opportunity to photograph Paul and Kath’s destination wedding at Sheraton Resort and Spa Tokoriki Island in Fiji.  Their beach wedding was a dream and every detail was absolutely perfect.

I have know Kathryn for fifteen years, crazy!  I met her when I was studying abroad in high school and became best friends with her sister, Bec.  I have grown to be close with their whole family and I was so honored to capture her big day.

The first time I heard Paul’s name was when Kath was in the US with her family for my wedding in 2010.  She would mention him randomly and it was so cool to hear her speak so fondly of someone.  When I finally saw Paul and Kath together a few years later on a trip to Sydney, it was clear the two were made for each other.  It has been amazing watching them grow as a couple and build a beautiful family with their two precious girls.

The Sheraton Resort and Spa Tokoriki Island was the perfect Fiji destination wedding location.  The beach wedding was stunning with cobalt blue water as a backdrop and a stunning floral arch.  It was intimate and relaxing and fit Paul and Kath’s personalities perfectly.  The cocktail hour and reception were just as impressive with coconut cocktails and phenomenal food.

Kath and Paul’s wedding at The Sheraton Resort and Spa Tokoriki Island was a dream and I’m excited to share a few photos.

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Denver Senior Photographer at Chatfield State Park

One of my favorite parts to being a Denver photographer is hanging out with awesome soon-to-be seniors for their Senior Photos.  I love being a Denver senior photographer!  It’s so fun meeting these awesome teenagers and hearing what their interests are and what their plans are for the future.   These three lovely ladies were my senior reps last season and I enjoyed them so much!

Jarrah, Kara, and Taylor are all soccer players and that is how they all became friends.  These ladies were so sweet and loved being in front of the camera.  I wish I was as confident as them at 17!  My goal for being a Denver senior photographer is to show off my client’s personality, while helping them look and feel their best.  These ladies made my job so easy!

Another important job of being a Denver senior photographer is to find a great location which will make the senior feel comfortable and show off something that is important to them or something they enjoy.  All three of these girls mentioned they loved nature and hiking so that narrowed down my list right away.  They also wanted to stay close to the Littleton area and wanted to know my suggestion for locations.  I suggested Chatfield State Park for their Denver Senior session since it has beautiful grasses, trees, lakes, and more.  They all loved the idea so that is what we went with.  We went to three different locations to get a variety of landscapes including awesome grasses, beautiful trees, and my favorite, the lake.

Would you like more information about Brick and Willow Photography being your Denver Senior Photographer?  Please visit the investment page http://www.brickandwillowphotography.com/services/.

Senior photo session in Littleton Colorado

Taylor's Denver Senior Photos

Senior Photo session at Chatflield

Senior Photo inspiration

Jarrah's Senior Photos

Denver senior photography session

Littleton Senior Photographer

Senior photography at Chatfield in Littleton

Jarrah's senior photos in Littleton Colorado

Colorado Senior photo by lake
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Denver Wedding Photographer- Littleton Engagement Session

One of my favorite parts to being a Denver wedding photographer is getting to hang out with my couples during their engagement sessions.  The engagement session is such an awesome time where I get to hang out with my couples for around an hour and get to know them a little bit better.  It’s so fun to see how they interact with one another and capture sweet photos for them.

Drew and Heather were seriously one of my favorite couples from last year.  I know I say that about everyone… but this couple was just so amazing.  I loved hanging out with them and felt so lucky they chose me to be their wedding photographer.  They had the cutest story of how they came to be a couple.  They were both raised in California, and both ended up in Colorado before meeting.  Their roommates were dating and they should have met before they moved to Colorado, but it just never happened.  Once they were both in Colorado, their friends suggested they meet and the rest was history.  When you see these two together, it’s so obvious they are meant to be.

This Denver engagement session was just outside Denver, in Littleton at the South Valley Trail and Hildebrand Ranch, which is only a few miles away.  South Valley Trail is one of my favorite spots in the Denver area in which I have been hiking for years!  It was a sunny afternoon and it was hot!  We just walked around the trails a bit and found some great spots.  We ended at the ranch and caught a bit of the beautiful sunset.

They would be married a few months later at The Barn at Raccoon Creek in Littleton, CO which is one of my favorite Denver wedding venues!  That story will be on the blog soon!

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Tags: Denver wedding photographer, Colorado wedding photographer, Littleton wedding photographer, Denver engagement photographer, Colorado engagement photographer, Colorado photographer, engagement inspiration

Engagement Session at Lakewood Heritage Center

I love Denver engagement sessions!  Being a Denver wedding photographer has so many awesome perks, and my favorite part is getting to know my amazing clients!  This sweet couple is getting hitched in September at The Barn at Raccoon Creek in Littleton.  It is such an amazing venue that I’ve had the pleasure of photographing many times.  These two had the best chemistry and I loved the whole engagement session.  They were engaged after a few months of dating, and it is so obvious these two are meant to be.

The afternoon of the engagement session it rained.. and rained… and rained some more.  I was a little nervous we would have to reschedule as it was still lightly sprinkling when I arrived for the engagement session, but it cleared up to one of the prettiest skies I have ever seen.  The lighting was just incredible and we had a great time walking around the grounds at the Lakewood Heritage Center.

We started at the rustic barn at the Heritage Center and I loved the contrast of the distressed brown wood with their white and blue shirts.  We then moved to a bench which turned out a few of my absolute favorite photos.  I love Hannah looking at her soon to be hubby.. so darn adorable!  We found a field above the Lakewood Heritage Center that was perfect to show off the incredible sky.  The field was so gorgeous with the tall green grass swaying in the wind.   I was so happy to be their Denver engagement photographer and I cannot wait to be their Littleton wedding photographer at the Barn at Raccoon Creek in September!

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Estes Park Wedding Photographer

Todd and Zoya held their May first wedding at Della Terra Mountain Chateau in Estes Park, Colorado.  I had so much fun being their wedding photographer and being a part of their big day.  I met Todd and Zoya last summer when they hired me to be their wedding photographer.  I love this couple and enjoyed getting to know them at their Denver engagement session and leading up to the wedding.

Leading up to the wedding day, I was very curious what the weather would be like for a May first Estes Park wedding.  I could see it being perfect, warm weather, or a bitterly cold blizzard.  As it turns out, there would be a snow storm two days before, and it would clear up to be unbelievably gorgeous.  It was cold, however the snow on the trees could not have been any more beautiful.

Zoya was the calmest bride and such a pleasure to work with.  After the girls had their hair and make up done, they got dressed and then Todd, Zoya, and I headed outside for a first look and the couple photos.  Their first look was emotional and so adorable.  We walked around the beautiful Della Terra property and found stunning spots for photos.  Zoya was such a trooper tracking around in the snow with her open toe shoes in the freezing cold.

The ceremony was held inside in the beautiful Della Terra atrium.  The reception was to follow and was filled with delicious food, great drinks, and a lot of dancing.  It was such a joy being this couple’s wedding photographer and I’ll always have fond memories of their Della Terra wedding in Estes Park.

Estes Park Wedding PhotographerWedding dress at Della TerraGroomsmen and bridesmaids at Della Terra Mountain ChateauBride getting readyFirst LookBride and groom in mountainsBride and groom formal photosDella-Terra-Gazebobride and groom at Della Terra groundsGroomsmen at Della Terrabridal-party-denier-professional-photographerdetails-Della-Terra-Estes-Parkinside ceremony at Della TerraJust married at Della Terra mountain chateauJust MarrieBride and Groom at Della TerraMountain wedding photographer at Della Terra Mountain ChateauDella Terra bridal bouquetDance party at Della Terra Mountain Chateau

Denver wedding photographer at Della Terra Mountain Chateau

Bride and groom brave the cold for an outdoor photo in Estes Park
Dance party at Della Terra Mountain Chateau

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Littleton Family Photographer- Sister Love

A few weeks ago I was able to meet up with one of my favorite families for a Littleton family photo session.  This session was all about sisterly love and I was mildly obsessed with it.  I have known these lovely little lady’s dad all my life and I just love their whole family.  These girls are the sweetest and they have the absolute cutest personalities.  They wore their pink Easter dresses and they looked amazing!

We held the session at Chatfield State Park just before sunset and I was so in love with the lighting.  The trees were still bare and casted the coolest shadows in the sand.  The weather was perfect so they were comfortable in their cute little dresses.  We held the entire session near the swimming beach at Chatfield, and it was so gorgeous.  The girls had a good time and were little troopers.  I didn’t even need to bribe them to love on one another. 😉  We took a few breaks so they could play with the sand and draw their names with sticks.

I honestly loved this session.  I love to share my favorite photo (because I pretend like people really enjoy knowing my favorite hahaha) but I’m having a super hard time choosing one.  I love the black and white photo of them standing with the incredible shadows all around them.  But I think my absolute favorites are the ones of them hugging with Emily behind Ainsley with her arms wrapped around her… so darn cute!!!  I’m so glad I’ve been able to photograph these girls over the years, and I can’t wait to continue for years to come.

Sister family photo shoot

Sister family photo shoot

Sister family photo shoot

Family photo session

Family photo session

Denver-Family-Photographer

Brick and Willow Photography family session

Brick and Willow Photography family session

Brick and Willow Photography family session

Brick and Willow Photography family session

Family session at Chatfield State Park

Family session at Chatfield State Park

Littleton family photo session

Littleton family photo session

Sister photo session in Littleton

Sister photo session in Littleton

Family session in Littleton Colorado

Family photo shoot outside of Denver, Colorado

Family photo shoot outside of Denver, Colorado
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How to make a floral crown

Okay… I’m not a florist, not even a little bit.  Although I am not a florist, nor do I have any formal training, I love playing with floral arrangements!  I have been playing with floral arrangements for as long as I remember.  I would always beg my mom to buy stems rather than an arrangement for parties/Thanksgivings/etc, so I could play with the flowers.  I decided to make a floral crown for a styled shoot I did a few months ago.  I had a styled Littleton wedding shoot at The Barn at Raccoon Creek with a bride and groom.  I already had traditional flowers in order from a local florist for my bride and groom, so with my second female model I wanted to do something fun.

Suni was going to wear a gorgeous gold sequin Badgley Mischka dress and I wanted something fun for an accent.  I love floral crowns, and I know they’ve been a little… okay a lot… overdone lately, but I still love them.  I wanted it to be big and beautiful and slightly obnoxious in the best of ways.  I received a few quotes for floral crowns, and it seemed the starting price to be around $150 for what I was looking for.  Since this was for a styled shoot, and not a real wedding, I wanted to give it a go.  I purchased the majority of the flowers at my local super market, and bought the large roses at a local floral shop because I really wanted them to be a wow factor.  A quick trip to Joanne Fabric and I was ready to go.

Shopping List: Flowers (lots of them) 🙂 greenery, florist wire, thick florist wire, and floral tape

Flowers for floral crown

All of this cost approximately $40. The project took me an hour and was incredibly fun.  I started by cutting the thick wire the size I wanted the crown.  I cut about 20 inches accounting for an extra inch and a half on each end.  On each end I made a little loop with the wire, which would allow a sting or wire to go through each loop and keep the floral crown on.

what's needed for a floral head piece

Next I cut the roses and wrapped them with wire and floral tape.  I cut about a 2 1/2 inch stem and wrapped the wire (7 inches) around and around and then went over it with floral tape.  The wire helps give the roses some flexibility without snapping the stem.

Roses for floral crown Roses for floral crown

Next, I started making tons of mini floral arrangements.  I made 15 mini arrangements and they were all different.  Some I did one large rose, a few greens, and baby’s breath, others, three mini garden roses and leaves… just whatever looked good to me.  Seriously so fun to try and not think about it and just let the creativity take over.  When I had the small arrangement grouped together, I cut the stems to the same length (about 2 1/2 inches) and wrapped the grouping with a ton of floral tape. (about a foot each grouping)  Once I had all my mini arrangements laid out I started attaching them to the thick wire crown.  To attach, I used more floral tape (12 inches or so) to attach each grouping to the crown starting with the end of the crown with the blooms facing the loop and work all the way to the other side.  I kept them all facing the same direction so it was easy to attach the next arrangement.   I would positing them to try to make it around the same thickness all the way around and to look very full.  That’s all!!  So easy and fun!

Flowers to make floral head piece Flowers to make floral head piece Floral head piece Littleton wedding photographer Floral head piece in Littleton Colorado Floral head crown Professional wedding photographer floral head piece Professional wedding photographer floral head piece Head crown of roses and flowers

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Ryan and Caroline’s Colorado Mountain Engagement Session

In January I was lucky enough to be Caroline and Ryan’s Denver engagement photographer.  I am so excited to be their wedding photographer in September and it was great spending some time with them and hearing more about their big day.  I have known Caroline for years, as she is the little sister of one of my dearest friends, so I was so honored when she asked me to be her wedding photographer.  I love her family so much!  Her and Ryan are such a beautiful couple and it is so obvious how much these two love one other.

I was super excited when Caroline told me Ryan had a spot in mind to take their engagement photos.  Ryan grew up in Conifer, Colorado, and he took us to an amazing spot not too far from the center of Conifer.  It was just a short drive from Denver, and we took a little hike to some beautiful spots with amazing views.  It was mid January and we could not have asked for more perfect weather.  It was a little bit overcast, but very pretty overall.  They brought Ryan’s two little girls and they were so stinking adorable and helped me pick out the spots to stop for photos.

I adore this couple for a lot of reasons, but I seriously love how they are together.  They are so laid back and have fun in any situation.  Some of my favorite photos from the engagement session are when they were being silly and tickling each other.  I’m so excited to be Ryan and Caroline’s Denver wedding photographer in a few months!

Couple in Conifer taking Engagement photos Winter engagement session by Brick and Willow Photography Winter engagement session by Brick and Willow Photography Engagement session in Conifer, Colorado Engagement session in Conifer, Colorado Soon to be Mr and Mrs taking their engagement photos by Brick and Willow Photography Soon to be Mr and Mrs taking their engagement photos by Brick and Willow Photography Lovely couple taking engagement photos in Conifer Colorado in January Lovely couple taking engagement photos in Conifer Colorado in January

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The Barn at Raccoon Creek Wedding Photographer

In January I had the privilege of photographing a styled wedding at The Barn at Raccoon Creek in Littleton, Colorado.  If you haven’t checked out this venue, it should be added to your list.  It is just outside of Denver and lovely in every way.  I am a preferred wedding photographer at The Barn at Raccoon Creek and have been the wedding photographer at the venue before so it was awesome to be able to have the space all to myself and my bride and groom.  When I picked the date in mid-January I was picturing a snowy winter wonderland with overcast clouds.  We had the exact opposite but I couldn’t have been happier.  It was in the mid-60s and the sun was shining.  I loved how bright and dreamy the lighting was and how a few little pockets of snow were still on the ground.

The Barn at Raccoon Creek is a wedding photographer’s dream with it’s beautiful golf course, lake, and historic barn.  I was a little worried about it being the dead of winter and the grass being brown but I actually loved the way it photographed.  I think the monochromatic colors just added to the beauty of the images with this amazing couple.  Lauren was wearing a dress by Vera and the warm weather allowed for her to rock it without a sweater.

Hawk Flowers in Littleton provided the flowers for this shoot and Azucar Bakery in Denver provided the cute naked cake.  The flowers were so stunning and more amazing then anything we could have dreamed up.  I wanted a wintery bouquet with reds and greens, and their interpretation was so on point.  Jim and Lauren were so great to work with and we had a lot of fun walking around the grounds and finding amazing places to take photos.  Their natural chemistry was so cute and I loved the way it came through in the photos.  I can’t wait to be the wedding photographer for many more weddings at The Barn at Raccoon Creek.

Beautiful bride at the cottage at The Barn at Raccoon Creek Just married on porch swing at the Barn at Raccoon Creek Naked cake from Azucar Bakery in Denver, Colorado Bride at The Barn at Raccoon Creek in winter. Couple at The Barn at Raccoon Creek in Littleton Colorado Couple on the golf course at The Barn at Raccoon Creek Professional wedding photos from a Denver wedding Award winning photo from Brick and Willow Photography at The Barn at Raccoon Creek 20160123 - 9 20160123 - 10 20160123 - 11 20160123 - 12 20160123 - 13 20160123 - 14 20160123 - 15 20160123 - 16 20160123 - 17 20160123 - 18

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Breckenridge, Colorado Couples Session

In mid-January I spent a weekend in my absolute favorite Colorado mountain town- Breckenridge, Colorado.  Not only did I get a ton of work done, I was able to photograph two lovely couples.  I love being a Denver wedding photographer, however more intimate sessions are just as fun.  I love spending time with the couples and getting to know them.  Both of these couples are married and one is expecting their first baby.

It was COLD in Breckenridge.. surprise, surprise 🙂 but both couples were champs and rallied through.  We went to three separate locations and they were all amazing!  I love Breck for so many reasons.  The town is so laid back, the main drag has so much character, and the scenery is amazing.

We started the session at the historic train outside of Downtown Breckenridge.  It was overcast and snowing, but the light was dreamy.  The trains were so cool and made for an awesome backdrop.  After we spent about a half hour there, we headed to downtown.  We found an awesome barn for a backdrop and spent a few minutes there before heading to Lake Dillon half way between Breck and Frisco.  By this time, it was so incredibly cold, but so worth it.  We took a little walk down to the lake and it was so incredible.  The mountains in winter takes beauty to the next level!

I love these photos and had such a great time photographing these couples for a few hours.  It would be really hard for me to choose a favorite photo from this session as I love them.  I love the connection between the couple and how apparent their love is.  My next goal is to be the wedding photographer at a Breckenridge wedding! 🙂

This couple was so sweet at their Breckenridge engagement session This couple was so sweet at their Breckenridge engagement session Colorado mountain engagement session in winter. Loved this styled mountain engagement session Beautiful Breckenridge maternity photos Beautiful Breckenridge maternity photos Beautiful winter couple session Loved this train maternity session in Breckenridge Colorado Loved this train maternity session in Breckenridge Colorado Loved this Breckenridge, CO engagement session Loved this Breckenridge, CO engagement session Barn engagement session in Breck. Barn engagement session in Breck. Lake Dillon couple photography Lake Dillon couple photography Lake Dillon couple photograph Snow fight at Lake Dillon

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