Taylor & Jordan
Taylor and Jordan’s destination wedding in the mountains near Salida, Colorado was one of the most emotional wedding days I’ve ever photographed. There was so much love in the air--love between Taylor and Jordan, love between them and their families, and love for their friends who traveled across multiple state lines to be there with them.
Taylor and Jordan are artists themselves–Taylor is a photographer and Jordan is a musician–and so a lot of care went into the details of the day. A few of my favorite details were their wedding shoes, the reception table, and the place they chose to get married.
For their wedding shoes, they both wore matching Blundstone boots. These shoes were the perfect choice for being able to hike around without worrying about twisting an ankle or slipping on the trail.
For the reception, they had a long, family-style dinner table with romantic candlesticks and baby’s breath. With views of the mountains, the setting sun, and deer wandering the property, it was one of the most special wedding dinners I’ve ever photographed.
Taylor and Jordan chose Salida as the town they wanted to get married in and Cottonwood Pass as the location for their ceremony because this was the place that their love really blossomed. During a summer a few years ago, Taylor was working at Noah’s Ark summer camp in Buena Vista and Jordan had visited the area to see friends. Their paths crossed and the rest is history.
Pretty much the entire wedding was DIY, from the baby’s breath to the reception details, and the simple (but beautiful) ceremony. The focus of the day really was on spending time with their loved ones and celebrating their next best adventure.
My favorite moment of the day happened during our sunset portraits. We were up on Cottonwood Pass and watching as a big storm rolled in. I wanted to make sure we didn’t get caught up in the storm just in case there was lightning, so we considered heading back down. Thankfully, the main part of the storm was moving away from us so we were able to keep shooting and then—to our surprise—with the sun shining and not a cloud above us, it started raining! It was so magical watching the rain drops fall and catch the sunlight as they fell.
One of Taylor & Jordan’s goals for the day was to allow all of their guests to mingle and relax— a backyard wedding kind of feel. Once we returned to the Airbnb and rejoined the guests after their sunset portraits on Cottonwood Pass, we did just that. Dinner arrived (pizza from a beloved local pizza joint: Moonlight Pizza). Everyone sat at their spot along the single long table and laughed and ate as the sun set behind the mountains.
After the sun set and everyone’s bellies were filled with pizza and wine, we moved towards the main house for cake cutting just in time for it to start raining outside. A quick group effort allowed the table to get cleared before anything got soaked, returning inside buzzing with the energy that sudden rainfall brings.
The remainder of the night passed in a blur—belly laughs so deep they led to tears, champagne bottles and group photos. It was a celebration of life and love and spending time with people T & J hold dear.
When it came time for the night to end, Taylor & Jordan ran down the front steps of the house in a send-off-of-sorts while their friends and family waved their iPhone flashlights, giving hugs and shouting ‘love yous’ at the couple before they climbed into their getaway truck and drove off to their honeymoon stay.
Photographer - Anna Claire Beasley
Catering - Moonlight Pizza & Brewpub (Salida, Colorado)
Venue - Timber Creek Ranch Airbnb in Salida, Co
Dress - Sarah Seven
Suit - Indochino
Ceremony - Cottonwood Pass
Super 8 Film Add-OnAnna Claire Beasley is an adventurous wedding, elopement, + portrait photographer based out of Texas. She travels for the majority of all of her sessions, from across Texas to locations like Big Bend National Park, to New Mexico, California, Oregon, Arizona, Utah, Hawaii, and anywhere else there’s a story to document. Her work is grounded in the belief that photographs are about remembering moments + experiences and she makes it her goal is to capture how it felt so those memories can stay fresh for years to come.