Boulder Colorado Wedding Photographer | Summer Lyons Farmette Wedding | Raphael + Sarah

Boulder Colorado Wedding Photographer | Summer Lyons Farmette Wedding | Raphael + Sarah

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Sarah + Raph held their Colorado wedding at the Lyons Farmette in August and because she did such a beautiful job recounting the day I  am including the beautiful (genius kindest lovely) Bride’s first hand account of her wedding experience from their incredible wedding. She featured an eight part story on Instagram with photos and stories of her favorite parts of the day- all the planning and details that went into it. I’ve never been more impressed with a human being – this was my absolute favorite thing.

part one: getting ready

hair and makeup started bright and early, which was fine because I was up at 4am anyway 🙂 the anticipation of wedding day is like Christmas morning x10000. the girls and I jammed to my “getting ready” playlist, got gorg thanks to @alchemy_creative (she does photos AND beauty, y’all! she is magic!), and then made our way to the venue separate from the boys. I felt way more calm on the 30 minute drive than I expected! I mostly just felt so so excited to get in my dress and finally see Raph.

my favorite thing about the morning of the wedding day was that I carved out about a half hour of time to myself when we got to the venue. even the photographer and videographer left me alone 😉 in the quiet of the airstream I meditated, put on some soft music (Disney instrumentals, obvi), and just grounded myself before the craziness of the day began. that time meant a lot to me and helped me go into the day feeling totally present, peaceful, and full of gratitude.

my mom and maid of honor helped me get dressed, and that’s when the (happy) butterflies reallyy set in. I just couldn’t wait to see Raph!!

part two: the first looks

I wanted special moments with my girls, my dad, and Raph, so I had our coordinator schedule three different first looks. the girls got to see me first, and their reactions made me so happy! only my sisters and maid of honor had seen the dress in person, so it was a joyful, magical moment with the rest of the gang.

the first look with my dad was the most I cried all day, haha. I definitely got alllll of my tears out. seeing him break down at the sight of me… well, the photos speak for themselves. the first man I ever loved, who showed me the kind of love I deserved.

finally, I got to see Raphael!! it was obviously one of the best moments of the whole day. I knew I wanted to do our first look under the big tree because trees just make me feel all sorts of lovely and magical. I hope I never forget exactly how that moment felt when he turned around and saw me as a bride for the first time. it felt soo good to finally be together on the big day.

 part three: the ceremony

our ceremony was intimate, intentional, and overflowing with love. having our closest friends and family bear witness to our commitment to each other was so important to us. my grandfather officiated, which was incredibly special partly because his dad (my dad’s grandfather) married my parents 35 years ago. being married 60+ years himself, Gramps had plenty of wisdom (and charisma!) to share. he made it all so memorable.

we wrote our own vows and people said it was one of their favorite parts of the whole day (mine too). it began to rain ever so lightly while we read them to each other, and stopped shortly after, creating a seriously romantic ambiance. my sister read 1 Cor. 13 and my aunt read “On Marriage” from Khalil Gibran’s ‘The Prophet.’ we included our mothers in our flower unity ceremony that symbolized the joining of our families and our lives. we even got a lovely little surprise from a sweet deer who walked near the altar and down into the stream behind us. magic.

I know lots of people want to get straight to the party, but for us, the ceremony was the most important reason to gather with our closest loved ones. we were so grateful for their presence.

ceremony music:

* parents/grandparents processional:
“A Married Life (from Up)”
by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra

* wedding party processional:
“A Whole New World (Aladdin)”
by Midnite String Quartet

* bride processional:
“I See the Light – from Tangled” (instrumental)
by Gregory Bevill

* recessional:
“You Make My Dreams (Come True)”
by Daryl Hall & John Oates

part 4: our favorite people

Raph and I couldn’t imagine our wedding day without our best friends. they are there for us every single day in life and this day was no different, except that they went above and beyond to support us. we truly could not have done it without their help, humor, and love. Alex and Melissa, you especially exceeded your duties as best man and maid of honor and we are so so grateful to you both for helping to make the day perfect. well, almost perfect – we missed @matlee2 and @lowkus__ terribly ????

Raph and I constantly feel like the luckiest people alive to have such extraordinary close friends. we love you all and could never thank you enough!! also, having you all in one photo together is overwhelmingly wonderful ????

part five: cocktail hour

intimate, relaxed, romantic, and elegant were our guiding words when conceptualizing the wedding. the ceremony flowed seamlessly into cocktail hour, with my playlist of mostly Disney jazz covers setting the mood ???? my amazing mother-in-law worked in tandem with @wallflower_rentals_decor to design the lounge, which became a stunning focal point and was home to many conversations throughout the night. the team at @sugarpinecatering helped us create our dream custom cocktails – his, El Buceador, a spicy margarita with cilantro infused agave; and mine, The Glass Slipper, with vodka, champagne, mint and edible flowers from the garden – and served the most gorgeous seasonal hors d’oeuvres.

we took most of our photos before the ceremony to make sure we had time during cocktail hour to mingle with our loved ones and just enjoy the day. looking through the photos, my favorite thing is to see so many conversations happening amongst people who didn’t even know each other before the wedding day. our guests told us that it really felt like everyone was one big family – no his side or her side – and that was honestly our wedding dream come true.

part 6: dinner, toasts & dances

we wanted the wedding to feel like an ethereal backyard dinner party with our closest friends and family. I always envisioned long farmhouse tables to encourage that communal vibe, and we opted for a family style meal (and a bit of a non-traditional seating chart) to really make it feel like a dinner party more than a stuffy event. Raph and I always wanted a farm to table meal that highlighted local and seasonal ingredients, and damn did @sugarpinecatering deliver. the farmer’s market salads were even topped with flowers from the garden! and in classic Colorado summer style, it rained some big ol’ raindrops for about 5 minutes when salads were served, but everyone threw their napkins over their heads and laughed it off. I loved it 🙂

we and the wedding party danced into the reception to “You’re the One That I Want” from Grease, which is a song that just makes me frickin’ happy to dance to. we went right into our first dance on the lawn instead of under the tent because I wanted those treeeeees. our first dance was Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me,” from one of our favorite vinyls to listen to at home. it was romantic and sweet and the rain starting sprinkling again just the littlest bit towards the end. ambiance.

my dad’s toast left few dry eyes in the place; even Raph got uncharacteristically emotional. it was so good. and @acon812 and @melissawoodward unsurprisingly nailed their best man and maid of honor toasts. they were funny, sentimental, and shared just the right amount of personal stories. we felt so blessed to have them toast to our marriage. then Raph twirled his mom around on the dance floor to “Days Like This” by Van Morrison, and my dad chose “My Little Girl” by Tim McGraw for our father daughter dance. we danced and cried and ate and toasted to love, as the sun setting behind the mountains gave us a pink and orange sky. it was all just perfect.

part 7: the details

lots of people will tell you that no one cares about the details at a wedding; but Raph and I are meticulous and intentional people, so every detail was painstakingly chosen and crafted by us. (and I’m happy to say that our guests noticed and appreciated them all!)

it’s impossible to narrow it down to just ten, but these are a few of my favorites. we wanted the details to be elegant and simple with some fairytale touches. I incorporated as much Disney as I could without veering kitschy and really loved how it all came together. peep the Paradise Falls jar at the ice cream sandwich station and the grape soda pin on Raph’s boutonnière. I also loved having our family’s happily ever after wedding photos on display. ????

for the dinner details we went with loose greenery – the tables themselves were so gorgeous they didn’t need much – with some hurricane candles and gold votives. we chose simple place settings but a beautiful light grey napkin tied in a very particular knot (I told you we’re meticulous). my special touch was the blush pink water goblets; I had to have them. and our table numbers featured corresponding photos of us at that age. a time consuming but worthwhile project – I loved how they turned out.

we put a lot of time and love into each of these details ❤️ special shout-out to @etsy who helped make most of them possible!

part 8: dance party & dessert

the grand finale of the wedding series! dessert was a DIY ice cream sandwich bar for guests by @sugarpinecatering, plus my ~dream~ sweetheart wedding cake, made and decorated by @chefln ???? gluten free amaretto soaked walnut cake layers with blackberry buttercream, topped with sugar flower recreations of the magic golden flower from Tangled and every flower that Rapunzel wears in her hair. @chefln your talent is truly unmatched and you made my Disney princess wedding dreams come true!! ????

the dance party under the tent was an absolute blast. my mother-in-law and florist made the tent even more beautiful with Chinese lanterns, hanging greenery, and fairy lights. the best best part was seeing all of our guests on the dance floor. I did my best to curate a cross-generational playlist and it seemed to be a huge success! our DJ was awesome and made it all so fun and energetic. I only wish we could have danced with our friends and family all night long. it went by way too fast.

thank you for letting me share some of the highlights from our wedding day ???? it’s been a joy to relive it all.

v

colorado wedding venue: the lyons farmette | colorado wedding photographers : alchemy creative | floral magiciary : plume + furrow | hair + makeup : alchemy creative | dj : mountain sound | planning: lance with dahlia events  | catering: sugar pine catering | cake : lance laverne cakes | decor/rentals : wallflower rentals | brides dress : wander atelier | grooms suit : cole haan |