Last weekend I had an awesome time out in Vail, Colorado for the wedding of Jim and Valerie out at the Vail Golf Club.  One thing that’s important to me when I’m working is that I feel that I could be friends with the wedding couple.  This wedding came by way of referral from long time friend and wedding coordinator extraordinaire, Nicole Mulvany  from RSVP Shindig.  So even though I didn’t get to meet Jim and Valerie before the wedding with the exception of meeting Jim for maybe 5 minutes and knew right away that I was among good people, I ultimately trusted Nicole and they did as well.  And Nicole never fails, so it all worked out great for all of us!

Let’s get started, shall we?  Meet Jim and Valerie.   Needless to say, a great couple to photograph.

 

Now let’s rewind a bit!  As usual the first person I see on a wedding day is usually the bride… or her shoes.  Wow, look at those!

 

This is an antique broche that was watched like a hawk by both the bride and Nicole towards its safekeeping, as it’s a family heirloom passed down at least a couple of generations.

 

The bride is ready!

 

Here are some fun facts about Jim… he has quite the resume:  World Series of Poker Champion, big entrepreneur in Denver, and was on Survivor South Pacific.  I had to tell my mom about this who is pretty much a Survivor addict.  On top of all of that, Jim is a perfectionist when it comes to his hair.

 

Nice view from the house in Vail.

 

Valerie surprised Jim with a little gift…  When she gave it to me she said, “Don’t let him open it in front of his friends.”

 

Whatever it was 😉 he loved it!

 

Jim and his dad.  Love this shot.

 

Back at Valerie’s room, the ring bearer, their 13 month old son, is dressed for business.  This is the second wedding for me this summer where Mom is getting married to Dad.  Makes everything that much more special!

 

Time to do this.

 

Nice shot of the Gore range.  Looks like a nice day for a wedding!

 

Guest are loving the pink champagne and putting on their game faces!  😉

 

Jim and his sisters are all giddy for the big event.

 

Local Vail beer!

 

Jim REALLY had a hard time waiting for the end of the ceremony to kiss his bride!!

 

Believe it or not, Jim was able to successfully sneak away from his own wedding.  Valerie turned around to find him missing…

 

He somehow transported himself over to a bench with guitar in hand.

 

His dedication to Valerie got tears in everyone’s eyes.

 

Let’s seal the deal.

 

Not a bad backdrop for a first kiss.

 

And suddenly their son Logan just appeared on Jim’s shoulders.

 

Wedding decor a’ la RSVP Shindig

 

Now I have to give 2 plugs.  One well-deserving plug for Big Delicious Catering under the direction of owner Marc, and chef, Hunter…  And one shameless plug for myself:  I moonlight as a food photographer, you know:  CiaoFiero

 

Jim’s father gave a great toast.

 

 

Party time.   Show us how it’s done, ladies!

 

And this concludes wedding storytime for today.  Thank you Jim and Valerie for trusting me with your wedding day photos and thanks again Nicole from RSVP Shindig for the referral!