Shane + Barb - The Proposal

Today I had one of the neatest experiences in my life. I do get to travel a lot to photograph weddings, but today was a first for me. A good friend, Shane, had told me he was going to propose to his girlfriend in March and that he wanted me to photograph the proposal. I knew I was going to be home the last week of March and that is actually when he planned on doing it, so it worked out great. Started off this morning at about 5AM to a text message "Want to go get breakfast, I can't sleep" I responded back at about 8AM "Still sleeping....8:30AM I'll meet you at Jacqlyns" We talked a little bit about it there, and asked if he was going to be ready to do it at around 11AM so I could head back home to Hudson. We met at the mall, you could tell he was a little nervous, he was going to do it at her work. All of you know her, she is the cute little short choppy haired lady that is the manager of the Buckle, Barb :)

The excitement to photograph this was awesome and as I walked into the store with this monster camera, I went up to a table, put it down and put a pair of jeans over it (not thinking clearly of covering the strap) so Barb was with a customer and we were walking around and we see her go up to the table where my camera was hidden so we freaked out because she placed a pair of jeans right next to the camera strap and I thought for sure she saw it, but she didnt...

Shane told her to come over by him and she replied back with an "I'm busy..just hold on" No. No. come over here quick I need to talk to you about something......and the rest was history.

Check out the slideshow of his proposal.

Congrats Barb and Shane, I am so happy for you!!

Thanks for stopping by.

Shannon + David - The Aspen Colorado Wedding/Trash the Dress

After a long day of traveling Thursday, a three hour drive from Denver in the snow and rain, we finally arrived at the Silver Tree Hotel just outside of Aspen in Smowmass Village Colorado. I was so excited for an amazing wedding up on the mountain Saturday. Friday was a free day up until about 5PM, so a friend Mike and I hit the slopes around 8:30 in the morning. A fresh 9 inches of powder and a really neat low level bed of clouds overlooking the mountain tops at 11,500 feet was incredible.
I met the wedding party at Cafe Suzzanne for lunch, which was a little cabin up on the mountain. After lunch they wanted to go up to the top of the Elk Camp run because it was a spectacular view of the mountains for a quick group photo.
Rehersal dinner was at the Roaring Forks Mountain Club just down from the hotel. Grilled burgers, chicken, mashed potatoes, and desert was amazing.I started with the girls at the Snowmass Village Salon with hair appointments around 11:30 in the morning, hung out there for awhile and then went up to Shannon's parents room where she was going to be getting into her dress.Shannon was glowing with joy, she was so happy and proud to be getting married. After she finished up getting ready, I set up her and father for a first moment, and then again the same for the groom David after I ran downstairs to grab a quick portrait of him.

The hotel was nice enough to let us into a suite for their first moments on the top floor that was vacant, but we found a hallway that had a little nicer lighting.

The wedding was taking place at the Lynn Britt Cabin, which was a 10 minute snowcat ride up the mountain. Cozy little cabin that held up to about 100 people MAX, however they had 30 people that traveled to their wedding.

It was an amazing experience to be photographing a wedding on a mountain at this little cabin, and the only way to and from it after hours was by snowcat.
Sunday morning around 8am we took off for the hill for a quick trash the dress session with their wedding attire on. David has been skiing for years, even a ski instructor, and has raced as well! Shannon got into skiing about a year ago after falling in love with it during a few ski lessons from David.
What an awesome couple, awesome group of people to be spending 4 days with in Aspen Colorado. Couldn't have asked for better weather, other than -15 mph winds on the actual wedding day for the ceremony. Snowboarding in 9 inches of fresh powder was the neatest thing I've done in the winter.

Thanks Shannon and David for chosing me, and am so excited to start putting your album together.

Their wedding images will be posted within a month at www.JaredLeeLLC.com under "Order Images"

Thanks for stopping by.