Courtney and Erik just recently moved to Colorado. We had a wonderful time walking around Mt Falcon and celebrating their engagement.

Courtney shares, “Erik and I first met while we were attending college at West Virginia University. Erik and my older brother Ryan were fast friends, and luckily that led to Erik and I having a great friendship as well. The three of us all shared a love for online computer games and spent countless hours together online during our college years. Even after college when we all went our separate directions to start our post-college lives, we stayed connected.

Erik and I both admit to having short lived crushes on each other during our college years together, but timing was never in our favor. It wasn’t until nearly 10 years after we first met that Erik made a move, and our time had finally come. One of Erik’s favorite bands, Brand New, was having a concert in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and I happened to be living in Milwaukee at the time, so he took the opportunity for us to meet up. That concert ended up being our first date of many more to come, and when my career led me to Charlotte, North Carolina, Erik moved with me so that we could end our long-distance dating and be together again.

Erik proposed to me over Memorial Day weekend in 2019. He planned an amazing trip to Sausalito, California just outside of San Francisco. The morning after we arrived, Erik was up bright and early at 6am ready to start the day. This should have been my first clue something was going on because neither of us would ever choose to wake up that early on a weekend. Turns out his phone didn’t update from EST to PST, so he thought it was already 9am and he had big plans for the day. Erik and I got breakfast at a local diner overlooking the bay and then headed up to the Redwood Forest for a mid-morning hike. On our hike, Erik found a quiet area overlooking the park and after getting down on one knee, he asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes. We spent the rest of the weekend celebrating. I still can’t help but smile thinking back on that day one year ago.”

Courtney continues, “We were all set to be married at a neighborhood yacht club on Lake Norman in North Carolina on March 21, 2020 when covid-19 changed the world around us in a matter of 24 hours. It was the Friday before our wedding weekend when the U.S. officially closed the borders to tourists, and governors leapt into action implementing various restrictions on public gatherings. That weekend, with the health and safety of our family and friends in mind, we made the decision to post-pone our wedding to September of this year. We truly hope our friends and family will be able to gather and celebrate our marriage in September, but even if it ends up being a bit smaller than we had planned, it will be perfect.  

My career brought us to Colorado at the very beginning of March 2020, and even though we couldn’t get married at the end of March as originally planned, I wanted to do something special to celebrate us and our new life in Colorado. I am so glad I found Jessica to shoot our engagement session re-take! Being new to the area, trying to pick a location for a photo shoot was a bit overwhelming, but Jessica suggested so many beautiful locations to choose from. I was drawn towards Mt. Falcon Park because it reminded me of our proposal weekend and the hike where it all began. With our one-year engagement anniversary right around the corner, it was the perfect setting to bring back all those memories of a truly joyous time in our lives.

Courtney and Erik were so natural in front of the camera and you could tell they were so happy together.

Courtney adds, “My favorite moments from our photo session were when our poses left us laughing until we cried. Jessica assured us our laughing fits would make for the best pictures, and from our sneak peak I’d say she was right. Erik and I left the session feeling so light hearted and excited for wedding day to finally come.”

Happy engagement Courtney and Erik!

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Julie and Justin planed a special elopement in the Colorado foothills after their travel plans changed due to COVID. They found a wonderful way to celebrate their marriage by reading their vows to each other, popping champagne and watching the sunset over the mountains.

Julie shares, “We went back and forth for awhile over whether to have a wedding or elope in Italy. Our families supported both options, but encouraged us to make sure we were doing this for us. So we settled on both – we had a trip booked to Italy leaving May 7th. We were planning to elope at a castle winery in Tuscany, where we would stay for two days and have the ceremony, photos, wine tasting, cooking class, fancy dinner, etc. We were also planning to hit Rome, Florence, and Venice as part of our honeymoon.

We were so bummed to cancel, but plan to still do our honeymoon in Italy at some point later this year (hopefully!). We were equally looking forward to the 50-person park party we had planned for family and close friends in June to celebrate our marriage.

When we realized that COVID was likely going to create issues for our plans, we went to the courthouse on March 10th and got legally married. This was right before the world basically shut down and days before quarantine started.

We are so happy we made things official before everything closed down. After our events subsequently got cancelled, we wanted to do something to celebrate our marriage and read our vows. One of our friends suggested we get a photographer to document the occasion, and the rest is history! We ended up having such a special day and even though it was low key, it ended up being much more special and meaningful than we could’ve imagined.”

Julie continues, “Our highlights from the day included reading our vows to each other, making funny faces and whispering funny things to make each other laugh during the photos (can’t wait to see these!), and then having a picnic and watching the sunset in such a beautiful location.

Some touches that made it feel more like an actual wedding were having a bouquet, flower crown, and boutonniere from Amore Fiori and getting a mini cake and champagne glasses to toast with.

To celebrate with some of our friends, we ended up decorating our bikes with “just married” decorations and streamers, and doing a bike crawl visiting all of our friends in Denver and sharing a beverage with them outside at a social distance.”

Julie shares the story of their proposal, “It was December 8th, one of the last nice, sunny days of the year. We had just had our holiday party the night before so we were a bit groggy in the morning. Justin suggested we go for a walk to get some fresh air (luckily my hair and nails were done because of the party, as I definitely was not expecting a proposal that day).

We ended up at the botanic gardens and did an impromptu visit since we hadn’t been all year. While I was in the restroom, Justin told a stranger what he was about to do and asked if she could film it. We started walking into the gardens and before I knew it, he was down on one knee, reading the most beautiful letter he wrote and we got the whole thing on video! Afterwards we FaceTimed all of our family and friends and then went to dinner at Acorn.”

Congratulations Julie and Justin!

Special thanks to the team:
Location: Mt Falcon
Florist: Amore Fiori
Photographer: Jessica Schmitt

Golden, Colorado, engagement photography, clear creek

The charming town of Golden, Colorado, is a former gold rush area at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Clear Creek runs through it and it is a special place to Kate and Bill, who actually live nearby! We walked along Clear Creek and through the preserved area of Golden History Park with buildings from a late 1800s mountain ranch.

Golden, Colorado, engagement photography, denver
Golden, Colorado, engagement photography, clear creek
Golden, Colorado, engagement photography, clear creek
Golden, Colorado, engagement photography, clear creek

Kate shares, “Bill and I had hung with the same friend group for a number of years. He and I always got along really well. One New Year’s Eve, we shared our first kiss. Bill and I began spending a lot more time together, away from the rest of the group. I started having a few girlfriends (and my mother) ask me how I felt about Yates, as he is known to our friends.

I was very nervous about coming between our well-established friendship and tried to ignore that he was doing his best to “woo” me for the better part of a year. I finally took the leap and everything else is history. We dove right in, moving in together almost immediately. We spent a lot of time talking about what a positive and happy relationship meant to us and were incredibly honest with each other. We have a huge amount of respect for each other as individuals and as a couple. I think that is what makes us so strong together. I only want the best for Bill and our future together and, because of that, he pushes me to be the best version of myself more than I ever thought was possible.”

Golden, Colorado, engagement photography, denver

Bill proposed on New Year’s Eve. Kate continues, “We decided to go out to eat as a break from packing boxes (we were in the process of moving). After some tasty Mexican and a couple margaritas, we headed home to continue the packing process. I was putting on pajamas when Bill called me into the kitchen. When I got to the kitchen, he pointed me towards this adorable little box on the counter and told me to open it. Still completely oblivious as to what was going on, I opened the box and I’m pretty sure I said something very profound like, “Um, this is a ring…” Bill asked me if I would be his wife. I said yes through lots of happy tears. Half-packed boxes, messy hair, pajamas, in the kitchen, completely unaware of his intentions…It couldn’t have been more perfect.

Bill and I couldn’t be happier. I consider him my best friend and am incredibly thankful for the unique and wonderful relationship we share.”

Golden, Colorado, engagement photography, denver
Golden history park, Colorado, engagement photography
Golden, Colorado, engagement photography, denver
Golden, Colorado, engagement photography, denver

These two will be getting married in September of 2020. Happy engagement Kate and Bill!

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Caitlin and Alex love the mountains and Alex actually proposed to Caitlin on top of a mountain! We enjoyed the beautiful snowy mountain scenery for their engagement session.

Lookout Mountain, Colorado, Engagement photography, Golden
Lookout Mountain, Colorado, Engagement photography, Golden
Lookout Mountain, Colorado, Engagement photography, Golden
Lookout Mountain, Colorado, Engagement photography, Golden
Lookout Mountain, Colorado, Engagement photography, Golden
Lookout Mountain, Colorado, Engagement photography, Golden

After college, I moved back home and was living with a mutual friend. Alex, living in Colorado for nearly a decade at that point, was home visiting for Christmas and came to visit our mutual friend.

They say to find true love you need to get out there and meet people. I was lucky enough to have it walk into my own living room.

We hit it off, but figured we lived too far apart to do anything about it. Six months later I asked if I could come visit – he didn’t need to entertain me, I just needed a couch to crash on. His response – “we’re going to have so much fun.” And we did!

He really stacked the deck – a Rockies game, a Red Rocks show, whitewater rafting, and some of the best restaurants in the area. By the time he took me to the airport to fly home, I was in love with more than just Colorado.

Six months later I moved across the country and the rest, as they say, is history.”

Lookout Mountain, Colorado, Engagement photography, Golden
Lookout Mountain, Colorado, Engagement photography, Golden
Lookout Mountain, Colorado, Engagement photography, Golden
Lookout Mountain, Colorado, Engagement photography, Golden
Lookout Mountain, Colorado, Engagement photography, Golden
Lookout Mountain, Colorado, Engagement photography, Golden
super moon

Driving home from the session we saw a super moon!

The couple will be getting married in November in Estes Park. Happy engagement Caitlin and Alex!

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I met Nichole and David in Central Park for a mini-engagement session. It was a beautiful spring day and all the cherry blossoms had floated down off the trees and made the grounds pink!

central park engagement central park engagement central park engagement
central park engagement
central park engagement

Nichole shares, “Our first date was at a french wine bar in Chelsea, nearly 4 years later, Dave proposed on top of the Whitney Museum. We will be getting married at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens in September and looking forward to sharing our special day with all their friends and family.”

central park engagement   central parkcentral park engagement central park engagement

Happy Engagement Nichole and Dave!

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