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STRAWBERRY CREEK RANCH WEDDING PHOTOS | LYNN + DOUG | HALEY ALLEN PHOTOGRAPHY | GRANBY COLORADO WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER | COLORADO MOUNTAIN WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY
When I first met with Doug & Lynn, one of the things they emphasized to me is they wanted their guests to come away from their Strawberry Creek Ranch wedding with a “let me tell you about this wedding I went to” story. I don’t think either of them had in mind how that became a reality….
Lynn & Doug met through Tinder – check out the account of their first date at the bottom of this post. Generally speaking though, as it goes with dating, both had come across non-contenders leading up to meeting each other. They both have families to consider – Lynn with a teenage daughter and Doug with four grown children & an adorable 2 year old granddaughter. Nevertheless, fate placed these two strangers to cross paths from essentially opposite sides of Kansas.
As I was leaving an event the night before their wedding some time in the 10pm hour, I saw a text message from Lynn. Her daughter Kadyn was admitted to the hospital in Denver for an emergency appendectomy. We would still have the wedding but the timeline & plans may be changed. Upon reading it, my heart just sank for all of them going this during a time they should be celebrating! I knew I would do everything in my power still make this day special for Lynn & Doug.
Morning broke & we headed to Granby, beating Lynn & Doug to the house in Fraser where they were to be getting ready. Kadyn had not been released yet from the hospital so Lynn had to leave her with her mom to come get ready. The parent in me could not imagine how that felt.
VENDOR LIST
Venue – Strawberry Creek Ranch in Granby Colorado
Dress Designer/Shop – Pronovias from Bridal Extraordinaire in Kansas City
Makeup – Brooklynn Langham
Hair – Erin from Jaded Beauty
Florist – Jayme Tomlin & Sue Lawson
Cake – Truly Yours Cupcake
Caterer – Wild Horse
SCR Coordinator – Rami Carter
DJ – Rick Franz
Photography – Haley Allen Photography
Inscribed on the backs of the his & hers watches Lynn gifted Doug on the wedding day “All this time we were waiting for each other.”
Originally we planned to have a few hours pre ceremony for a first look & family photos. Instead circumstances caused Lynn to arrive on site about 20 minutes before the original ceremony time. A woman on a mission & it was all hands on deck. We even momentarily put our cameras down to get Lynn’s buttons on the back of her dress hooked quickly.
The news of Kadyn’s release was fantastic, but the entire room let out a huge collective sigh of relief when she & Lynn’s mom Sue walked through the door. We still needed to speed through the process of getting Lynn dressed, but a calm washed over as everyone was finally present and the day could move forward. Lynn joked that Kadyn is always making her late & now they can say she even made her late to her own wedding!
What is your favorite memory of your wedding day?
Lynn:
Our unplanned first look.
Although we had planned to do a “first look” before the wedding, many things did not quite go as planned with all of the medical craziness we experienced the 24 hours leading up to the wedding!
As I finally entered the barn dressed and ready to get married, I still was in stress mode, but I recall doing a mental headcount and my eyes started watering from a new sense of relief that we had actually all made it there!
I always knew I would cry during my vows, but why now? I kept thinking “control them”, but they could not be controlled and they rebelliously watered more with each step I took! As I continued looking into the eyes of each family member waiting for their cue to walk out to the ceremony, I thought I had gained control, but suddenly I got stuck in a pair of eyes that I had never seen before. These eyes were on a familiar face, but I had never seen this look in them before, nor was I expecting to see him then. I’m not sure if it was fear or nervousness, but I felt my eyes mirroring whatever he was feeling and like a nervous teenager, I had to immediately look away. Before I could second-guess looking away, he was promptly escorted out. That would be one of the last times I look into my fiancé’s eyes and a moment that I will forever remember!
Doug:
Yeah, that is a moment that I will forever remember as well. Lynn walking down the isle escorted by her fathers is the memory that I chose. I had to have pictured that moment hundreds of times, and she was stunning, smiling and waving hello to some of our favorite people in the world. The moment had finally arrived and I was overflowing with so many emotions. I started to notice heads turning to me then back to Lynn. Some of Lynn’s family and friends have occasionally seemed to have this (ok you little shit, what are you trying to pull here) look when I am around. In this moment I saw only smiles and tears, and looks of satisfaction as if they had only just seen who I really am, a man so full of love for this woman I was about to marry. Then the fathers took their seats, and everyone just kind of faded away, and it was just Lynn and I surrounded by the most beautiful scenery. It was perfect.
Having just had a long night & surgery, we knew we’d have limited time with Kadyn, but I still felt she should be a part of the bridal party photos & was thrilled for Lynn she felt up to it.
Not sure who won this but I decided their cake fight was GIF worthy (pardon the lower quality)!
One of my favorite things about photographing Lynn & Doug is how effortless their chemistry was. They made each other smile & melt upon site. I think anyone would be lucky to have someone look at them the way they look at each other.
As a wedding photographer, it’s easy to become numb to what’s happening before you because your focused on your job. Even though it’s the biggest day in your couple’s life. But I can’t tell you how many times I teared up during their wedding. As a parent myself, I was in awe of how Lynn & Doug handled everything. Thankfully everything worked out & their Strawberry Creek Ranch wedding was perfect, even when it wasn’t.
Tell me the story – how did you guys meet?
Lynn: Tinder…we both swiped right! I (Lynn) do believe that timing is everything and fate was definitely pulling us together! Doug was visiting his kids in KC for Thanksgiving and although I live in KC, I was back home for the holiday. I was originally heading back to KC for a date with someone else, but that guy turned out to be a jerk, so I dove back into browsing new blood on Tinder. Doug popped up and we instantly hit it off, but learning that we lived 6 hours away from each other put a damper on things. He asked me out that night, but that was too much of a time commitment for someone I’d never see again, right? J So, I offered breakfast (he paid!) before he was leaving town… I never would’ve believed that breakfast could last 3 hours, but it can!
Doug: Tinder in southwest Kansas is quite different… there was only a handful of people on it, so useless. In Kansas City though, there were so many people on it I couldn’t keep up, so I swiped right on everyone, most without even looking at the profile, or even the picture. Then I would just look through my matches, and there is where I first saw Lynn. Being all cute, cleaver and fun, of course I wanted to meet her. She likes to give me shit, and often does about swiping right on so many girls, but she is my first and only tinder date. After that 3 hour breakfast, I was hooked, and strategized with my buddy Dragan on how to win this girls heart. We decided that I needed to see her again within two weeks, or she would move on, and then Dragan told me the story of the purple cow… it goes like this… as you drive through the country, you will see lots of cows, brown ones, black ones, white ones. Eventually they all just turn into cows, but if you were to ever see a purple cow, now that would catch your attention, you might even stop to take a closer look, you would always remember that purple cow. Within two weeks I made up a reason to be in KC again (really only to see Lynn). Two weeks later, I arranged a New Years Eve getaway for us in Colorado Springs to try and separate myself from the herd, as a purple cow. It was good advice. Oh, and that (he paid!) is directed at me too… LOL
Will/Did you take a honeymoon? If so, where?
Lynn: We did not have an immediate plan to take a honeymoon, but Kadyn’s father recently moved to Singapore and we are traveling there the end of July to take her to visit him and spend some “honeymoon time” while in Asia somewhere…like Phuket in Thailand or Philippines.
Doug: I used the last of my vacation days for the wedding, but I just booked tickets to Phuket Thailand for the end of this month. As soon as my vacations reset.
What advice do you have for other couples planning their wedding?
Lynn: The #1 piece of advice (definitely for a destination wedding) is to invest in some good folks to make sure your vision comes true even if you aren’t present to guide them the day of! Don’t skimp on your wedding coordinator, photographers and hair & makeup artists! Also, make sure you have “get to know you talks” before picking someone. It makes your day that much more fun!
Thank you Lynn & Doug for having me!
And thank you to my talented second photographer Shelli Quattlebaum!
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