November 6th, 2010 – the weather raising to a balmy 77 degrees for a beautiful outdoor wedding ceremony for Devyn and Joey.  Every has to admit, you are taking your chances when you plan an outdoor ceremony from October on… but it was an amazing day!  The bridal party all arrived… and then in high heals, the girls proceeded to hike down to behind the stage for some portraits.  The kind and loving words from their friends and family at the reception had many faces drawn to tears, and smiles on the entire crowd.  With a very proud sister looking on as her little sister exchanged vows, and Joey’s brothers just as happy.  I’m sure there were some sore calves the day after, from the hike up and down – and a few looks at me after the ceremony hoping I wouldn’t make them do the hike again… we finished up at the top after the wedding and then a super fun reception and dance. The flowers were beautiful fall colors provided by Statice flowers, and they had an amazingly beautiful cake too!

I had geared myself up for this to be a “SUPER WEDDING” over the past 8 months since Emily booked her wedding with me.   It was truly amazing to say the least… and I just love brides that want so many photos!    We started our day at The Brown Palace in Denver for getting ready shots.  Drew Fritchel was my 2nd shooter for the day and he hung out with the men and I got the pleasure of photographing the ladies while they were getting all dressed up.  Jennifer York did Emily’s make up and it turned out perfect – and then off to the very beautiful St. Johns Cathedral.  Myself, coming from the midwest where we had so many gothic and grand old church buildings around – it is more of a rarity in Denver.  I get so excited to photograph at St. John’s as it is one of the few really grand cathedrals in Colorado.  Newberry Brothers decked out this wedding with all the beautiful flowers… but honestly – those table centerpieces at the reception were sooooo amazing!

Super thoughtful of their guests – Emily & David had a bus that transported all of us and guests from the cathedral to the reception while they whisked away in a horse drawn carriage from St. Johns to The Denver Art Museum.  We make a little pit stop across the street at Civic Center Park for some fun wedding party photos before heading in for the reception.

After heading down from cocktail hour there was a toast, and a beautiful speech about the “Fallen Soldiers Table” that they had set at the reception.  Then a really beautiful night of dancing and fun for all the guests.  Emily had a smile on her face every second from the time I first saw her face that day…. and right until the nights end.

Congratulations to Emily & Berm and their families.  They deserve a happy life together!

C

Stonebrook Manor

Crazy in love with this couple – starting back when we had an amazing engagement session.  I couldn’t help but look forward to their amazing wedding day.  I started out at The Parlour salon with the girls before the wedding to get some of the last hair & make up details and have some fun toasts.

Then off to the beautiful Stonebrook Manor for the wedding outside on the west lawn, and reception in the west ballroom.  Everyone was rushing around to make sure that every detail was in place, and it all came together for a beautiful ceremony.  Unlike the rain the previous evening…. the sun came out for the ceremony and temperatures were warm but comfortable.

The boys were more than ready for some fun photos with Tara too!  Another perfect 2010 wedding – and wishing the best to the newlyweds in their new home in Chicago!

Stonebrook Manor - west lawn

July Sunset. Photographer: Jeanine Thurston

They come and go…  when I first started out in professional photography 21+ years ago – bridal sessions were just something every bride did.  A little different then, as most bridal sessions were done in the studio before the actual wedding.  Well, they are becoming a standard again – with a little different flare calling them “love the dress” or “trash the dress” sessions – and they are much more fun than ever before.  You spend so much time and money picking out the perfect dress – I can’t help but encourage my brides to put those beautiful gowns on one more time for a fashion shoot.  Best part is… leaving it dirty after the wedding and then taking your bridal session to some where fun downtown… or finding a beautiful location to do all those amazing shots you really wanted to do the wedding day… but weren’t willing to get the dress dirty!

"Love the dress" Photographer: Jeanine Thurston

Phipps Mansion Pavilion

Susan and Patrick were married on Saturday, July 17th at Saint Frances Cabrini Church – 2010 with a beautiful reception at the Historic Phipps Mansion.   A few things made the day beautiful, and unique – one of which were the lovely couple with their beaming smiles the entire day and evening.  The happy family and friends came regardless of the record breaking triple digits for the wedding day.  The clouds finally did roll in toward the end of the evening to relieve us a bit from the heat.

Lots of mixed feelings for me that day.  I was so happy for Susan and Patrick, and Phipps Mansion just happens to be one of my favorite locations to photograph weddings in Denver; however, somewhat bitter sweet as it will be my last wedding there – so I was a bit sad too. Gill, who founded the desktop-publishing company Quark in 1981 purchased the mansion from the University and I believe he and his husband are moving in at the end of the year.  The up-side… is they purchased the property especially because it was a historic icon and for the beautiful gardens/grounds.   While photographing there this past weekend, it was a bit of a let-down when I had seen the gardens so overgrown and looking so poorly – so I have high hopes that the new owners will whip it back into shape to be the amazing area it use to be.  The back pit area use to be my favorite place to photograph and it wasn’t suitable for even one photograph this time with all of the weeds taking over the area.  However, there was still plenty of places to shoot that still looked great.  You can read more about the purchase & plans via The Denver Post

Bella Fiori

Bella Fiori

Florals:Bella Fiori  – Alicia  info@bellafiori-events.com

Limousine: Excursions  –  Charles c.grillo@juno.com

Cake:  A Matter of Taste –  Tama  cakelady@amatteroftaste.com

Caterer:  Food Guy Catering – Karen karen@foodguy.net

Wedding coordinator:   Norie Hamilton
Accredited Bridal Consultant�
Weddings by Norie
303-452-4802
www.weddingsbynorie.com
Member of the Association of Bridal Consultants

A Matter of Taste

City Park

We had a beautiful day – but not without challenging high winds for Mary & Joe’s wedding.  Their ceremony started out at Christ the King in Denver with around 200 family & friends attending.  Starting right on time… which is rare for any wedding.  Then a few quick shots at the church before heading off to City Park in Denver for some fun photos for the wedding party and the beaming bride and groom.  The winds were gusting so hard that there was no room for anything but motion shots, but it didn’t seem to bother any of them in the least.  We still had a great time getting some images before heading off to JW Marriott in Cherry Creek. They had their dinner set up into stations – which everyone absolutely loved, and it kept everyone mingling until the dancing started!  Even better, they had a fantastic band that really knew how to keep the party rolling.  Newberry Brothers did a wonderful display as their florist from the church to bouquets, and Mulberries Cake Shop created an amazing masterpiece for their cake, and although I didn’t get a taste… you know it’s good when it is there and gone almost immediately.

Mother of God Church at Speer & 5th in Denver

April 11th, 2010 Barbara & Kiernan were married in Denver at Mother of God Church.  Very fortunate to have such a beautiful day for a spring wedding followed by a beautiful reception at the Grant Humphrey Mansion just a few blocks away from the church.  It was a very nice Catholic ceremony with family and friends – and everyone had a smile on their face for the beautiful couple.   Perfect Petal did a beautiful job on the flowers – bright but soft colors, and Happy Cakes came through with an outstanding design for their cake!  And really, what better place than the historic Grant Humphrey Mansion for portraits.  Wishing them all the best… I’m looking forward to designing their album – it was a beautiful wedding.

Grant Humphrey Mansion - Denver, CO

Perfect Petal - Florist

Always super excited to have a wedding in January. Starts off the year so nice to see a happy couple together – Ben & Sara’s wedding was fantastic. Ok… time to back up a little. The morning started off with me driving down to the studio to pick up some albums and then head to Grant Humphrey’s Mansion in Denver to set up for a wedding show. Driving South on I-25, looking to my right was a full moon sitting just above the mountain skyline and to my left was a brilliant orange/pink sunrise and I had to smile. So, set up at the Mansion starting at 8am… I was out the door by 8:40am and off to The Omni Interlocken Resort in Broomfield, Colorado for Ben and Sara’s wedding. It was super chilly this morning, but an indoor wedding so it didn’t matter. I spent some time with the ladies getting ready, and I was super impressed with the beautiful hairdos on all of the girls. Sara’s two beautiful daughters were no exception – for being 2 and 4 years old, they were such little ladies. With a couple of zipper casualties easily fixed or covered up, and a quick diaper change we headed down for a beautiful ceremony that included the girls, and it was nothing short of perfect. It is always nice to have a morning wedding once in awhile – lots of beautiful daylight and not so back to get home before midnight once in awhile. 🙂 Congratulations to Ben and Sara, and a big congratulations out to all of the couples that stopped in at the Quality Hill Bridal Show at Grant Humphrey’s Mansion in Denver – I hope you all have a beautiful wedding day!

What a fun, fantastic… and exhausting day.  Sunday, January 10th, 2010 started at 6:30am heading out the door to pick up a few things and then head down to the studio for a bridal fashion photo shoot.  A few weeks prior I had done a shout out to a few of my girls/women to see who would be willing to put a wedding dress on and hang out at the studio for a little hair, make-up and allow me to direct them for a few shots.   We had some fantastic make-up done by Sarah Cohara, flowers by Julia Kaaren of http://mulberriesllc.com ,jewelry by Intrepid River Design http://www.intrepidriver.com , jewelry also by June Shin on Etsy,  and head pieces by Bonnie Harper from www.one-world-designs.com ,wedding gowns from Blushing Bride in Windsor Colorado http://blushingbridecolorado.com , and Carlin on hair.  All of the women & children that participated were wonderful and I was so excited to photograph many of them “again” as I had photographed them in the past for their weddings, family portraits… etc.   It did turn into a very long day and all of their patience waiting for hair and make-up and then trying different dresses and jewelry… it was a semi-controlled chaos – but it was still a blast.

Barr Lake

Another warm Colorado day for Tina & Jake’s wedding on June 26th, 2010 – and smartly they decided to do all of the formal photos before the wedding… as, just as we were finishing up the clouds started rolling in and just as the ceremony at Chapel Hills of the Nazarene was ending the rain started dumping down.  But, by the time we made the trip over to Stonebrook Manor in Thornton, Colorado for the reception – again the sky cleared.

I started out that morning before I met up with the bride for getting ready photos scoping out locations near the church for outdoor photos of the wedding party… and took a nice 20 minute walk around the boardwalk at BarrLake and then off to the church.  Just a few images at the church of formal groups before the wedding and then the wedding party followed us out to Barr Lake for some “swamp” photos.  The mosquitos were relentless, but with just a little squirming and swatting – we made it through with just a few bites and lots of great photos!  The boardwalk there is great to photograph and the moss in the swamp area just happened to match the wedding colors very nicely! The flowers arrived right on time at the church – and looked beautiful – and I was very happy that Tina’s bouquet held up for the outdoor photos so well in the heat.  Vickies Flowers took very good care of all the floral details.

Cake by: Stonebrook Manor

Barr Lake

Once we made it to the reception at Stonebrook Manor – everything was taken care of as usual – the ballroom looked amazing right down to the amazing cake they provided.

And the wedding day wasn’t the end…. I had such an amazing bridal session with Tina a few weeks after the wedding.  With some images at the studio and then some at Cheeseman Park in Denver – it is always a treat to see one of my brides put their beautiful gown on one more time for a love the dress session.

Photographer: Jeanine Thurston

Photographer: Jeanine Thurston

Photographer: Jeanine Thurston