This wedding.  Where do I start?  This wedding was a bride and groom’s dream.  It was a guest’s dream.  It was a photographer’s dream!  Steffen and Alyssa first shared their vision for this special day with us in our home shortly after we welcomed our little one into the world.  But as the months went on, the vision became even more beautiful.  Picture this….

A beautiful family estate with a backyard transformed into something akin to Bilbo Baggin’s 111th birthday party.  (If you know what I’m talking about, you’re going to appreciate this wedding all the more)!  A garden estate filled with hand-crafted details, art, memories, and love.  An outdoor ceremony overlooking a bluff that drops off into rich blue skies with clouds so perfectly stamped across them, that they looked like well-placed sheep.  A choir and live instruments to celebrate the day.  A rose bush added to the wedding garden to commemorate a new start.

Ice buckets of Jones Soda and sparkling water were set out in wooden caskets for guests to refresh themselves while lunch was served but a couple hundred feet away under an airy white tent.  Speeches and delicious food were followed by mid-day portraits for the couple, but a relaxing afternoon for their guests.  Siesta rooms were opened in the main house for those with young children and a lifeguard was provided for the backyard pool.  In the meantime, we headed off to a local park to enjoy some time with the couple.

However, what makes this wedding truly unique happened after the mid-day shoot.  Around 6:00pm, all the guests came back to the fairy-tale yard where a quaint wooden stage had been set up with twinkly lights draping from it out into the apple trees, and chandeliers and lanterns illuminated the darkening eve.  Chairs, couches, blankets, and even a fire pit were laid out around the stage as the evening’s entertainment unfolded.  Skits, poetry, narratives, and music rang out into the dusk as a 2-hour show commenced.  Appetizers were served at the beginning, and delicious, old-fashioned pizzas were brought out as the night wore on.

This night did not culminate in a dance party so lively that almost every single guest was on their feet, dancing arm in arm with a spirit akin to something from Narnia.  This night did not culminate in a cedar lined path illuminated with sparklers held high that the couple danced through to their vehicle to drive off into the night.  Instead, this night was finished off with a surprise fireworks show that the groom had arranged without his bride knowing that rivalled even local celebratory fireworks and nodded a head to the spirit of Gandalf.

Now that I’ve done my best to describe it to you, I will leave you with way too many photos as it was just too hard to pick only a few to sum up THE best wedding we have ever shot, attended, or seen!