St Regis Aspen Wedding | Aspen, CO | Sarah + Tanner

When Sarah and Tanner got engaged and started planning their St Regis Aspen wedding, the first thing they wanted to do was to find a photographer that would fit their vision of their day, which included very little formal photos, no posing, incredible food, a relaxed atmosphere, and their buddy’s rock’n’roll band from college.  WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR?

At that point in all of our lives, I had recently photographed a wedding in Central Texas for one of Sarah’s coworkers.  They fell in love with my work and my attitude.  I fell in love with them and their entire family.  They invited me to Napa to go wine tasting for their engagement session.  They introduced me to Tanner’s brother, who manages the tasting room at Ashes & Diamonds.  They bought me tickets to see Gary Clark JR after their rehearsal dinner.  The invited me to come stay with them in at home in Houston whenever I wanted. It was like having the best first dates EVER.

Sarah and Tanner didn’t want a lot of pomp and circumstance at their St Regis Aspen wedding.  The details were sparse but specific.  The food was INCREDIBLE (lobster rolls!).  The dance floor was non-stop.  The laughter was abundant.  Not that there weren’t hiccups: it poured rain on their wedding day.  As we galavanted in the mountains and meadows outside Aspen, CO, we were chased from each location back towards town by impending raindrops.  By the time we returned to the hotel, we weren’t totally sure if the ceremony was going to get to be held outside. We delayed everything for a break in the weather and photographed all the family formals in a basement hallway adjacent to the convention halls of the St. Regis Aspen Resort.  Throughout the entire thing, Sarah and Tanner were completely chill and nonplussed.  They had already gotten what they wanted: an amazing weekend with the people they love in a place that they loved.  Everything felt exactly as it should be, even when it wasn’t.

In the end, we had a perfect break in the weather, gorgeous contrast in the skies, and the wedding ceremony of their dreams.