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Kelly + Evan

Coasting down that final stretch of road into Estes Park, the sun poured through the clouds onto the mountaintops like spotlights on a stage. Mountain weather tends to have a flair for the dramatic: passing storms, ominous thunder and lightning in the distance, plummeting temperature once the sun falls below the earth’s natural curtain. Such are the concerns for couples who choose to stage the ceremony of their love in the heart of nature’s beauty.

Rocky Mountain National Park Wedding

Kelly and Evan are east coasters like us, hailing from Connecticut and most recently Maryland. But having just moved to the Mile High City a month ago, they decided to host their ceremony in Rocky Mountain National Park, one of the (many) natural Crown Jewels of the beautiful state of Colorado. Inviting some of their closest friends and family, we gathered at a trail head, a party of around 20, to listen to their vows with green meadows, chirping birds, and jaw-dropping views all around.

One Couple, Two Locations

A growing trend for our couples is to host an engagement shoot or ceremony in one adventurous destination, and a more accessible reception in another. This allows them to travel to a place they’ve always wanted to visit, or commemorate a certain chapter of their relationship, while also providing a celebration for the larger group of loved ones in their lives. WE ARE ALL ABOUT IT. Truth be told, Heather and I wanted to elope on a mountaintop when we lived in Colorado, but opted to have our wedding on her aunt and uncle’s beautiful farm in northern New Jersey.

Destination Wedding Photographers Based in New York

I’m sure many could see multiple locations for a wedding celebration as too much hassle for Heather, Capa, and I (even if we weren’t expecting!), but that’s not how we see it. We see it as an opportunity to travel to amazing places, document authentic parts of our couple’s relationships, and have fun while doing it. Admittedly, I may get a bit neurotic when packing for the airport and boarding the plane, but once we hop in a rental car, we crank the tunes and we’re on our way!

Connecticut Wedding Photographers

Part two of Kelly and Evan’s wedding celebration will be at Shuttle Meadow Country Club in Kensington, Connecticut. The venue is only 30 minutes from where Heather and Kelly went to high school together at the Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, CT. It’s funny how consistent the overlap of values that Heather has with her former classmates over the years. It seems that everyone we meet or every couple’s wedding we photograph, we unearth a little bit of that bond that they all forged together. Not to mention all of the amazing partners they’ve chosen to marry; Evan being no exception.

National Park Wedding Photographer

So when I closed my eyes and heard Kelly and Evan speak their vows to each other in one of the most serene places I’ve ever been to, I couldn’t help but feel a little bit of something akin to imposter syndrome. Something about all of these beautiful couples in all of these stunning locations makes me question why I deserve it. I’m so lucky to be part of this business, with a partner who could make both a board room and modeling runway bend to her will without saying a word. When speaking to Mercie and Danika—a magical couple whose wedding we photographed last year and coincidentally were in Estes Park and made themselves available to us to take care of Capa while we worked—I said that my heart is so full that I almost need to invent something to reach for. It’s not complacency; it’s marrying ambition with fulfillment and remembering that I deserve it—just like every other human being on this planet.