Lakefront Wedding Reception for Denver Couple

Jessica and Dan’s intimate wedding reception was elegant yet casual and full of love and laughter. Jessica and Dan met once they moved to Denver from Chicago and New York. I was thrilled to travel to gorgeous Saugatuck, Michigan, where Dan’s family has a family summer home. Saugatuck looks like it’s straight out of New England. Beautiful lakefront homes and lush gardens everywhere. The morning started overcast and rainy, but amazingly, the weather cleared up and greeted us with a gorgeous golden hour and beautiful sunset. The waterfront was stunning, as was capturing these beautiful souls’ love. They had their intimate ceremony in Denver, with just the two of them and I was thrilled to document their family reception to celebrate their love.

I’ve always been drawn to flowers and love incorporating nature and flowers into my wedding and event photography. I started dabbling in floral arranging while quarantining in 2020, and I was beyond thrilled and honored that the couple entrusted me to create the tablescapes and floral arrangements for their wedding. It was an absolute blast making the arrangements the morning of the wedding, setting up the venue, and then photographing it. For micro weddings and elopements, it’s wonderful to work so closely with couples and to simplify the planning by essentially being the only vendor besides venue, catering, and bakery.

Top Tips for Sustainable and Zero-Waste Weddings

Weddings can transport us to beautiful places—whether a micro wedding in a backyard, on the beach, in a local garden, at a modern magnificent ballroom, a farm, or at a gorgeous chateau. Yet, regardless of your wedding style, location, and number of guests, the unfortunate reality is events and weddings can produce a lot of waste. The good news is there are many ways to reduce waste!

I was thrilled to have one of my favorite wedding images published in Top Tips for Throwing Zero-Waste Weddings in St. Louis in St. Louis Best Bridal. They shared fabulous tips including:

• Choose a mindful caterer that values local, seasonal, and sustainable ingredients and creates farm-to-table menus.

• Pick locally grown flowers and request that your florist doesn’t use flower foam. This lovely couple cared deeply about using local vendors for their St. Louis, MO wedding. They hired the fabulous Urban Buds: City Grown Flowers who grows their beautiful blooms locally in greenhouses.

• Find an earth-friendly event space. “Sustainability-focused venues and caterers will have built best practices into the core of their mission statements and train their staff accordingly”.

  • For NYC couples, check out Ecocult’s list of 15 Coolest Sustainable Wedding Venues for Brooklyn Couples.

• Hold your wedding in one place—this cuts down on travel and fuel emissions.

For more guidance, journalist and sustainable fashion expert, Alden Wicker, shares fabulous tips on throwing a sustainable event in NYC (I photographed this event for Alden—it was SO much fun!) and how she made her Brooklyn wedding eco-friendly.

Alden points out that while electronic invitations are often a popular option, digital invites and RSVPs can get lost in cyberspace. She used Bella Figura who” uses vegetable-oil based and low-Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) inks, and low-VOC and citrus-based solvents. They recycle and compost their waste, and use recycled packaging materials. The papers themselves are made of reclaimed cotton fibers from the garment industry, and colored papers are FSC-certified. They are entirely powered by wind through the purchase of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs).”

Alden also highlights sustainable fashion, non-toxic makeup, reusable or biodegradable favors, non-disposable decor, and hiring a compost company. Read her full article here.

Featured here are photos of Urban Buds’ stunning creations at the elegant wedding of Boston-based couple, Natalie & Brice. Locations include Missouri Botanical Garden and The Caramel Room in St. Louis, Missouri (Brice’s hometown).

Do you have sustainable or eco-friendly practices in your daily life that you’re passionate about? Share in comments below!