Rustic chic wedding photography by Denver photographer

You could tell a lot of thought and preparation went into Becca and Kade’s wedding day – a wedding photographer’s dream with all the little rustic chic details and emotional moments. Since they are both outdoorsy people, they wanted their wedding to reflect that so they chose the perfect ceremony site, a hilltop on family land overlooking a beautiful valley. It was sure to be picturesque on their October 6th wedding day since it is the peak time for fall color in Iowa. With the help of family members they cut down a small section of the tall grass to create the ceremony site, constructed a platform to house the handcrafted rustic chic alter complete with curtain drapes, and even installed a set of double doors to serve as the entrance to the grand affair.

Since Becca loves beautiful things, her wardrobe details were to die for! She had picked the perfect dress with lace details and a beautiful button closure back. Her earrings, silver shoes, bracelet and garter added just the perfect amount of sparkle to her look. She got ready in her family’s nearby cabin with the help of her sister, Jen, who, by the way is the world’s fastest buttoner! She had Becca into her dress before you knew it!

The couple decided to take the more traditional route and not see each other before the ceremony. So once Becca was in her dress and we had captured a few images of her, I packed up and headed over to the ceremony site. I grabbed a couple detail shots of Kade and then started the hike up to the ceremony location. With outdoor weddings, you have to be prepared, you never know what is going to happen with the weather. For instance, the last week in September was gorgeous and had above normal temperatures. On this day, however, it was overcast and bitterly cold on the breezy hilltop. But these guys were prepared! Along with programs, they were also handing out hand warmers to help their guests stay a little bit warm.

Becca arrived at the ceremony by a beautiful horse drawn carriage and was lead down the aisle by her father, right behind two of her adorable nephews who were carrying a “Here Comes the Bride” sign. It was a very emotional couple of moments for Becca and Kade as they were seeing each other for the first time that day. You can just feel their excitement in the images that I captured. Kade’s brother was the officiant which really made the ceremony personalized for them. Despite the cold and wind, this ceremony and it’s location was just beautiful!

After the ceremony, we had to do creatives with the couple as well as all the family and wedding party pictures. The couple knew that this would take some time, so they had arranged for a pre-reception happy hour at the bottom of the hill for their guests. This way they could mingle for awhile while we whisked the couple away for their photos. Since it was so bitterly cold, and Becca was chilled to the bone, we worked fast to get her back into somewhere warm. I am just thankful that it wasn’t as windy at the base of the hill, and that we were able to utilize the amazing old barn for some of our images (it also provided a nice wind break too!). The fall color was just gorgeous and we made sure to make the most of it!

Their reception was held at the Five Sullivan Brother’s Center in Waterloo, which was decorated beautifully. The couple had continued their rustic chic decor into the reception by pairing burlap with hydrangeas and woodsy candelabras for their table center pieces. They opted to not have a bridal cake to cut, and instead went with beautiful and delicious cupcakes from a local bakery, Scratch Cupcakery.

One of the best parts of the day (other than the ceremony of course!) came when it was time for the toasts and speeches. Jen, the bride’s sister and also a previous client of mine, had given me the heads up that her speech was going to be somewhat different and that I might want to have my camera ready. Now I have heard my fair share of emotional speeches, funny speeches and, of course, the occasional bad speeches, so I was intrigued as to what was going to happen. A few sentences into her speech, Jen turned to the DJ and said “hit it!”. She had taken her entire speech and rapped it to Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby! It was crazy and impressive all at the same time, I had never seen anything like that before! Jen even made sure someone got it on tape, and you can view it here if you’d like.

I’d like to thank Becca and Kade for allowing me to be a part of your special day. And also a HUGE thank you to Becca who was a trooper and allowed me to create some beautiful images of them, even though it was super cold outside 🙂