Breckenridge Sunrise Engagement

Mallory and Sean came to me through a client referral but from our first phone call and Zoom chats, I instantly felt like I’d known them for years. They live in St. Louis, MI, but are holding their wedding in Beaver Creek, Colorado, in September 2024. Mallory’s grandmother has a home there, and it’s a special place for her family.

Sean and Mallory were warriors and braved an early morning wakeup on Labor Day weekend to meet me at 6:15am at Officer’s Gulch, between Frisco and Breckenridge. Nothing beats magic hour photos (the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset), especially in the mountains!

Little did I know that the morning before Mallory and Sean’s engagement shoot, my boyfriend, now fiancé, would propose the day prior. With that, when I introduced Mallory and Sean to my fiancé, they were over the moon to hear about how he proposed and our love story. That is the type of people Mallory and Sean are—they only recently met me and hardly knew Mitch, yet they couldn’t wait to hear about our love and love story. They are such loving, generous, sweet people! I can’t wait to photograph their wedding next year and celebrate their love!

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!

Introduction

Enchanté, it’s lovely to meet you!

Hello! I am so happy and excited to welcome you to my blog! My name is Rachael and I am a Denver-based freelance lifestyle portrait and destination wedding photographer. I work predominantly in Colorado, NYC, and New England and I absolutely LOVE to travel and enjoy photographing weddings all over the U.S. and overseas. I spent my childhood painting and in ballet class—these two influences are strongly represented in my work as I ”paint with” and manipulate light. My images have been described as “beautiful, emotional, creative, and authentic” (full testimonials here).

In addition to photographing hundreds of events and weddings, I’ve also worked as an event planner for a decade which has allowed me to work with a vast amount of incredibly talented florists, wedding venues, event designers, wedding planners, and other wedding vendors in Denver, Boulder, NYC, Boston, St. Louis, France, and more. This blog will highlight interviews and features with my favorite wedding vendors to share insider tips and guidance for couples planning their special day.

I will also share preparation guides on how to get ready for different types of photography sessions and for photo inspiration. Lastly, because I am a francophile, bookworm, plantlady, feminist with a serious sweet tooth and severe wanderlust, I will also share city guides to some of my favorite places, highlight other female creators, and post-baking photos because no excuse is needed to photograph cakes.

If there are other topics you’re interested in reading about, please write in comments below or contact me! I’d love to hear from you!

To get to know me a little better, here are 10 fun facts:

1. I’m from Buffalo, New York which means you should ask me about the deliciousness of “sponge candy”. Aléthea’s has the best.

2. My favorite flowers are ranunculus, English garden roses, peonies, and lilacs.

3. I wrote my senior thesis on “magical realism” in literature and my favorite authors are Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende, and Pete Hamill.

4. I’ve been to France five times and plan to return as soon as possible. I absolutely love Paris but want to retire in Provence and possibly live in Lyon at some point in time.

5. I’m borderline obsessed with Target and Home Goods.

6. I’m extremely passionate about environmental sustainability. My latest favorite “green swap” is disposable cotton rounds for bamboo reusable cosmetic rounds. These washable ones from Credo Beauty are wonderful!

7. I love to bake! The last thing I made that made me really go “wow” is this Peach Sesame Crumble from Bon Appetit. It’s seriously out of this world.

8. The New York City Ballet is my favorite ballet company. Specifically their 2019 “New Combinations”—beyond incredible!

9. I believe strongly in the mind-body connection and prioritize health and wellness—yoga and pilates keeps my mind and body strong.

10. I wrote for The Buffalo News’ “NeXT” (weekly insert written by teens) during high school.