DEAN + DELANEY CROOKED WILLOW FARMS WEDDING
LARKSPUR, COLORADO
COLORADO MOUNTAIN WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER - PART ONE -
From the very beginning of our planning process, it was completely evident how invested both Dean and Delaney were in their wedding day and each other. While Delaney worked to make sure she chose the prefect vendors, location and dress... Dean also was planning his own little details to show his love for his new wife. From the the letters to the Moms and his bride right down to the tips of Delaney's boots, Dean went to his own lengths to make their wedding day perfect. This isn't something I see from every groom. So many brides expect tears and romantic notes and something right out of a novel. Don't get me wrong, those grooms absolutely love their brides too... no question about it and typically it's an issue of privacy for a lot of these guys. BUT the level of devotion and thoughtfulness that Dean put into their wedding day was just rare. They both declared their love for each other on this day. Not just in words but in their actions with their efforts to making the day what the other person dreamed of.
July 20th threw a lot at us. I've seen some crazy weather on wedding days. I've done a wedding during a tropical storm in Florida, I've slipped and fallen in flooded grass in the mountains, I even did a wedding the day after the Manitou Flood in all of it's muddy glory.... but I have never seen such insane lightning and wind. If you look at the first photo, that's the little gap between the area where the Bride was getting ready and the building across is where Dean was getting ready. Surrounded by metal roofs, it was a sketchy little dash in the pouring rain to go back and forth. Typically I take the dress outside to be photographed... well that definently was not an option.
While the storm raged on outside, the ladies toasted their champagne and Dean and Delaney's moms and Delaney read their letters from Dean.
About 5 seconds after the photo above, the power went out.
Thankfully, Crooked Willow is prepared for this sort of thing and
their generators kicked on shortly after.
OUR STORY
by the Bride
Dean and I met in a Calculus course offered at Front Range Community College in Fort Collins. I was attending CSU and Dean was finishing his last class at FRCC before entering CSU's College of Business. We met May 26, a few days before Dean's 25th birthday.
I immediately noticed him, not only did I think he was quite handsome but I also noticed how freakishly tall he was. He sat in front of me, then asked if I worked at the local feed store (my hat said the name). I said yes, and he told me that's where he bought chicken food. I remember thinking, well that's weird for a single guy in his mid-20s to have pet chickens. Dean tells this story differently, thinking his redneck chicken comment swept me off my feet. It secretly did, but I'll never tell him that.
We became friends over the next month, and fell for each other quickly after. The final step for me was how quickly my dog, Lucky, fell in love with Dean. I had adopted her only a few weeks before, and she already was a bigger fan of Dean than she was of me. We settled into our family quickly, and that was okay with me.
On July 4th, 2015 Dean and I went to Greeley Stampede (a country concert). I was introduced to some of Dean's friends (one who later became one of my bridesmaids) and we all drove to the concert together. After some liquid courage in the form of whiskey cokes, Dean told me he loved me and I said it back. One of his friends made fun of him for saying I love you to someone he had only known for a little over a month. Turns out, that love was meant to last.
One of my favorite parts of the day was when Dean sent Lucky over to Delaney. See Dean knew by looking outside that Delaney would be a little stress... and since he couldn't embrace her himself, he sent the next best in Delaney's life. Their pup Lucky. Their wedding coordinator Samantha walked in and said something along the lines of 'Dean was worried about you, he thought you needed your dog'.
THE CEREMONY
(I wrote this on our social media sneak peek, so bear with me if you've already read this part!)
This wasn’t the plan.
The weather threw a lot at us. The power went out a few times. The buses with the guests were delayed. The outdoor ceremony wasn’t allowed to happen because of the crazy lightning.
You can tell a lot about a couple on this kind of a wedding day. You can tell which people bring the couple the most comfort. Dean even sent in their precious pup to try and bring her comfort from afar... and Dean and Delaney were absolutely surrounded by wonderful people on their wedding day, but the moments immediately AFTER the first kiss told me everything.
Dean kissed Delaney... not once, but twice. And then Delaney just fell into his chest. Her home, her rest, her comfort and with her husband’s embrace she got everything she needed in that moment. Everything and everyone else just couldn’t compare.
THE PROPOSAL
by the Bride
Flash forward 2.5 years later, on December 24th, 2017 Dean and I went down to Coronado, California to ice skate on the beach. I was excited to show him Hotel Del Coronado, a place I fondly remembered from vacations with my grandmother. My mom and stepdad, Jim, drove down to meet us there and so did my best friend and maid of honor, Kendal, and her boyfriend and the rest of her family. After 20 minutes of ice skating, we exited the rink for the zamboni to come on. After the zamboni was done, the MC announced one person would win 5 minutes of skating with one guest. My name was read aloud (pronounced 100% incorrectly-and on purpose I later found out so I didn't get suspicious) and I, embarrassingly, got on the rink with Dean. Our ice skating skills were not as good as we thought they were. After two laps around the rink, Dean pretended to fall so I turned around to find him down on one knee. He asked me to be his wife, and before he could get the sentence out I screamed yes. I was so excited! Looking back now, I should have seen the proposal was coming. The night was too romantic and too perfect. After I calmed down, I looked up to see my dad and brother standing by the rink as well. I knew I had made the right choice with Dean, solely because he made such an effort to have all my family there when he proposed. He is an amazing man, and ever since January 1, 2018 we have been anxiously planning the wedding!
Check out this fun before and after. Everything was wet and her veil would not stay in place... so that's what assistants are for!
The Finished Product
The double rainbow was only visible for a second!
