MT. ASHLAND FESTIVAL-INSPIRED WEDDING
MT. ASHLAND FESTIVAL-INSPIRED WEDDING
Hannah and Kevin’s festival-inspired wedding at the Mt. Ashland Ski Resort was EPIC to say the least. The only thing that could have made a wedding in the mountains more incredible was a SURPRISE SNOWSTORM the week of the wedding - it caught everyone by surprise and made it all more magical than we imagined! We started the day in a darling Airbnb in Medford, where Hannah got ready with her gals. This wedding was a great example of why I love to keep things SIMPLE + EASY when it comes to first-looks. Originally, I was scouting for locations around town and around Emigrant Lake for their first look before we headed up the mountain for the ceremony. But once I saw the Airbnb, I KNEW I wanted to do it right outside the front door. Doing the first look where you get ready makes everything so much easier - it saves time so we aren’t trying to coordinate an alternative location and making sure you don’t run into each other before it’s ‘set up’, and sometimes all that production feels sooooo contrived to me. It felt so much more natural to have Kevin arrive to the airbnb to meet Hannah, and then we could all travel to Emigrant Lake together for more photos! It just saves so much time to be able to travel around together and makes everything so much simpler and fun. If there are lots of locations we are moving between on a wedding day, I will almost always recommend doing the first-look at the getting ready location if there are good spots for it and it’s so worth it! They also exchanged personal and private vows during their first look which was so sweet and wonderful, something else I can’t recommend enough during first looks. OK tangent over - after the first look we headed to Emigrant Lake for some dreeeeamy portraits, and then up the mountain we went for their party! I have shot in snow before, but this was the most incredible snow I’ve ever gotten to shoot in. The kind of snow where it felt like we were in a snow globe - sooooo much was falling all around us and it felt like a dream. Looking out into the crowd seeing everyone huddled up watching and getting cozy was so special. After the quick+cold ceremony, we all headed into the ski lodge for their festival-inspired party! The Brothers Reed played all-night, and it was the perfect music to set the vibe along with festival snacks and even a caricature artist! It was such a unique celebration, absolutely perfect for them.
This wedding was deeply personal for me - Hannah is one of my greatest friends! Five and a half years ago, I got an internship in San Diego and needed a place to stay for a few months. Not knowing anyone, I turned to the internet and found a listing for a room with a group of girls. Unfortunately the room was already taken, but without checking with the rest of her roommates, Hannah offered that I could crash IN HER ROOM with her. It was insane on both our parts but I agreed and that roommate turned out to be one of my lifelong best friends. Sharing a room with a stranger for three months is bonding, and the adventures we went on together is a huge part of why I fell in love with San Diego so deeply. I love this girl SO MUCH. Seeing her thriving in such an amazing partnership is incredible to see and it was *such a gift* to get to photograph their dream wedding celebration. It was pure MAGIC.
