Weston + Karl || Confluence Park, Colorado

It's hard for me to write about the weddings we do and keep it short. The love that I have for our couples makes me want to go on and on about them, so I'll tryyyyyy not to make this into a novel.

Weston and Karl are two very special people who I met through friends, and after a crazy Tour de Fat last year together, chatting wedding plans over drinks in downtown Denver earlier this year, and photographing their joy-filled wedding, I can say that they are no longer friends of friends, they are now OUR friends. I love it when that happens!

Weston and Karl have the cutest engagement story - after deciding they were going to get engaged to each other, they each picked out a ring, and then got to choose how to propose with it. Weston's ring for Karl arrived just before a three week trip to France, and here's the recount in their own words:

"We had three days in Paris, and didn't want to waste any time. We planned to go to Versailles the Monday we were there, so we took the metro in that direction, only to learn that Versailles was closed on Monday. Merde! So we decided to try another place on our list, the Musée d'Orsay. As we walked up to the old train station-turned-museum, we realized that it too was "fermé". Double merde!!!! The logical next step was to go to the Eiffel Tower, since it was a few metro stops away. However, that had been planned a different day, and Weston didn't have the ring.

"Let's do the Eiffel Tower," Karl suggested.

"Um….I'm not feeling that today."

"Why not?! We might not see it otherwise!"

"I dunno, I would just rather do it a different day."

"But…..well…..why? Let's just go!"

Karl was becoming frustrated, wondering why the hemming and hawing. Then it dawned on him that Weston might have more planned than just seeing the famous landmark. Magically, after going to the apartment for lunch, Weston was fine going to the Tour Eiffel that afternoon. At the top of the tower, Weston knelt down and asked Karl to be his, and Karl said "OUI!"

A week later, back in Denver, Karl returned the favor up at Red Rocks Park, overlooking our beautiful home city of Denver."

I cried when I read that for the first time on their wedding website, and I cried again on the day they got married (pretty much the whole day). Their family and friends are some of the sweetest, most welcoming people we've had the pleasure of meeting, and the whole experience was truly magical. They got ready at their downtown Denver loft, walking with their closest family and friends to their ceremony site at Confluence Park, stopping along the way for sweet photo ops, meeting up with more friends and family, and stealing kisses from each other. The ceremony was deeply meaningful, with the honoring of ancestors, a candle-lighting, handfasting, broom-jumping, and beautiful words from the Life-Cycle Celebrants Jennifer and Tim Bailey of Celebrating Times of Change. Everyone in attendance was moved by the love shared between these two, and Karl and Weston reciprocated that love right back. (again, cue me crying)

The classy reception was a 5 minute walk from the ceremony park, held at the blooming Centennial Gardens along the Platte River. Friends had brewed special beer as a gift for Karl and Weston's wedding, delicious food was served by Heirloom Catering, and the dancing went long into the night. The hashtag for their wedding was #standtallandproudforlove, representing the journey they are on together, where they both came from, and where they are going. I am thankful they can legally be married in this country, and that we can all stand tall and be proud of their love.

Celebrating honest love like theirs is why I do what I do. Photographing two people who love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together, celebrating in an intimate and meaningful ceremony with their closest friends and family is one of the greatest honors, and I'm so thankful to have people like Karl and Weston in my life. Thank you for sharing your day with us, and for sharing your love with the world.

To see all the photos from this awesome day click HERE.