I’m going to ease into this slowly. Everyone has always made the comments to me, “It must be really easy being in the wedding industry to plan your own wedding!” Well… yes, but also no. And probably more of a no. Being around so many weddings, I see about a hundred-and-one styles I love. How did I chose? I just PICKED one. [laugh to myself] The details weren’t quite the hardest part. My goal was to stick with the things that meant something to Philip and I. I wanted our wedding to scream US. And it very much did. And I wanted it SIMPLE. Simple was key. Let nature be our decor. And it was a success. The key to a stress free weekend for sure. Less to do….. just be present!

The problem? The problem is that I’m a photographer, i’m obsessed with nature, my friends and family and our Heavenly Father. All things of which, made HUGE appearances at our wedding. So the problem is a good one to have. The fact that we went out to Colorado a week early to just relax, prep and enjoy nature together before our guests arrive, the fact that one of our bridesmaid’s Molly, is a killer photographer herself, the fact that our amazingly sweet friend Laura with Lark Photos who we hired to shoot our wedding, is one of the best photographers on the planet, and the fact that Laura’s assistant/second shooter Todd Davidson who was also a great friend who runs his own photography business also…. well these facts mean that we have THOUSANDS of photos to thumb through. Don’t forget Philip and I went to Maui in Hawaii for the first time, for our honeymoon, so I too have thousands of photos from that. So as you can see, i’m a bit overwhelmed by the organization and how to show everyone our images that everyones been dying to see.

We have enough images just from our Rehearsal and dinner that i’ve decided to ease into this. We are going to start here. One event at a time. [smiles]

To look back at these, seems like it went ever faster than it flew by when we were actually there. We really took the time while in Grand Lake, Colorado to stop and look around and really soak in the moments. We didn’t want it to fly by. WHAT an adventure.  There was no greater feeling. As I sit her, I REALLY wish for my life to be like this every day. EVERYONE I love and adore in on place at the same time. Everyone without a care in the world. No real schedule or work to tend to. Hardly any phone service and no internet or tv. Just mountains, moose, friends and God’s country.

When people say that their wedding was the best day of their life…… well they meant it. But we extended ours… we had the best wedding WEEK of our lives!

Thank you all so much for being there. We hiked to some breathtaking waterfalls, everyone became friends with Rocky and Bullwinkle (that might have been everyones favorite part), we had intense and competitive scavenger hunts throughout the town of Grand Lake, Colorado all weekend long, we swam, we traveled, we ate, we bonfired, we relaxed, we bunked together, sat in traffic together, ate at restaurants for HOURS together. We did everything Philip and I love to do, all cram packed into one weekend. I’m so blessed to have this life. To have been blessed to be born into the family I did, into the city I did was a gift from God. But to have made the conscious choices for ourselves to be around the friends we did growing up, to have the stories and the friendships and the experiences we had, yes we are blessed, but I’m grateful for wise decisions on our parts as well. All recognizable. Philip and I have had nothing short of a beautiful life. Both being lucky, both working hard for it, and both choosing wisely.

What a life!

I’m so thankful for the Enloes and my own family for trucking it all the way out here with us. It was very much what we wanted, and our wish was granted. Unwillingly at first, but everyone had so much fun, it was quickly realized how worth it it was. If you can’t see by the joy on everyone’s faces below, then just stand in awe at the natural world we were surrounded by in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Because there was love radiating in just about every Earthly and Heavenly way possible.

A huge kudos and thank you from us all for the entire Enloe family cooking for us at our dinner on rehearsal night. The food was simply outstanding, and way better than even our wedding food! They worked so hard and Pattie and Chloe spent the whole evening while we tended to the bonfire, washing the dishes until the wee hours of the night. You didn’t have to do that, but we appreciate every bit of effort put into it.

I hope you enjoy our first preview of our own wedding extravaganza. If you have your own images you’d like to post to social media, make sure to hashtag #enloewedding We’d love to see more of everyones scavenger hunt images too, [haha]

To see the full gallery of Rehearsal Dinner images, visit my PASS gallery here.  ( http://janamariephotos.pass.us/enloe-rehearsal-dinner/ ) *They are uploading now fyi. It might take awhile*

Photo credits to: Lark Photos (our hired photographer) and Molly C Photography (our fabulous friend and professional photographer)