evergreen lakehouse colorado wedding | austin + melissa
let me paint this wedding scene a little for you :)deep in the heart of evergreen colorado is a small-ish lake...there is mist all around, but it's not cold...low-hanging clouds lazily move through the mountains that are only slightly off in the distance...the air smells sweet, you can hear lake birds talking to each other as they dart across the top of the water...and then, at just the right moment...the clouds over the mountains break juuuuust a little,allowing beautiful "jesus light" (as I call it) stream through the edges of the clouds...john denver's "annie's song" starts to gently play as melissa and her dad gracefully walk down the wooden walkwayto where austin is eagerly smiling, waiting for his almost ethereal bride.RIGHT?!how does this happen in real life?that was elizabeth's and my sentiment exactly...it was literally something straight out of a Nicholas Sparks movie for how poetic and perfect it was!and to be honest, to the most deserving couple.the kindness of this couple, in particular from the bride was overwhelmingly sweet.from the moment elizabeth + I arrived, she and her mother were nothing but kind, thoughtful + encouraging.and it wasn't artificial or forced...it just was how they were.and then the people that they were surrounded by even furthered that genuineness + kindness.the last thing I will tell you about this wedding, actually has nothing to do with the bride + groom at all...but rather is about my sister.I often wonder what I will be like at eighty years old...morbid, I know. ;)BUT, growing up, I remember spending a little time with my great aunts one summer in vermont...they lived together in a giant victorian home that overlooked the mountains, spending out their last days together.and I remember listening to some of their stories that they would tell...they had this charm bracelet that I was enamored with...and it must have had sixty unique charms on it.and not like the charms you find in a cheap costume jewelry store...no, these charms were all hand made, mostly out of metal, but some had glass and other things they were made out of.each charm on the bracelet had a story attached to it from their travels as younger women together...there was a small chinese counting charm with little glass beads as the counters...from when they traveled through china.there was another eiffel tower charm from when they traveled through paris...and so many other charms...with the stories to go with them.that memory often has me wondering what I will be like at their age and what stories I will have to tell.which brings me to elizabeth. :)so here's the deal...I know that it is super rare to get to do what we do.and even more so, I know that it is even more rare to get to do what we do as sisters.I'm semi in the process of writing a book of our stories just so I don't forget them...some moments in doing this have me laughing until I cry, some are actually scary (let's just say zombies are real in CO) ;)throughout all of this wedding journey,I've kept a collection of photo booth film strips from when elizabeth and I are at weddings...they're goofy and tell a funny side to us...but on the flipside of the funny moments,I've also started to remember to take a few photos in moments that seem poignant to me.the below one is just that...she will always be my little sister no matter how infamous she becomes as the elizabeth from elizabeth ann photography.and this moment,watching her fully in love with living her life with the talent she has in THE absolute perfect weather with an amazing couple.that's a story I'm going to want to retell to her grandkids when I'm 80.congratulations, austin + melissa...and yess? I'm so thankful to get to do this with you. :)p.s. to see more of austin's + melissa's gorgeous wedding day, head over to elizabeth's facebook page!elizabeth ann photography | kreatid photographyvenue | Evergreen Lake Houseflorals | Selena Lungstrumcake | Kneadersbridal gown | The Bridal Collectiongrooms attire | Jos. A. Banksvideographer | Luke Metzger