Kelli and Mike ( Moss, Denver)

What a fun wedding to be a part of! Kelli and Mike are such a perfect couple together, not only are they best friends but they have such true love and respect for each other. I love photographing couples like these two because they just radiate happiness and Mike literally couldn’t take his eyes off his bride. The two did a first look and photos at Cheesman Park (with their puppy) before heading to Moss to say I do. It was such a fun evening filled with laughter and happiness. I asked Kelli a few questions about her day.

In your words, how did you and Mike meet?

Mike and I met in 2011 in college at a mutual friend’s birthday party, which was hosted at Mike’s fraternity house. I knew most everyone at the party until Mike walked in. I was immediately drawn to him because I thought he was really cute, and I walked up to him and said bluntly, “Who are you? How come I don’t know you?” Although he was taken aback by my accusatory tone, we hit it off. We met up several times that week at a football game and some other parties, and I asked him to be my date to a dance. A little over a month later we officially started dating, and less than three months in, I told him that I could see us getting married in the future. Luckily he stuck around and eight years later, we tied the knot 🙂

What was your favorite moment of your wedding day?

My favorite moment about the wedding day… how am I supposed to choose!? One of my absolute favorite moments of the day was taking about 20 minutes right after the ceremony to just spend some time with my new husband alone. The day is a whirlwind, and it makes it hard at times to really just enjoy each other, especially since there are so many family and friends you want to stop and talk with. Those few moments alone made us stop and think about all that we had accomplished in our relationship, and how far we have come. It gave us a chance to remind each other to take in every second of the day. We took some silly selfies, embraced, and toasted to the start of our lives as a married couple.

Were there any funny moments to be remembered forever about your day? Where there any mishaps?

      Every time I talk to one of our guests about the wedding, the first thing they mention is Mila, our dog, howling right in the middle of our vows. It was really important for us to have our little fur baby apart of our day, as she is such a big part of our lives. It was met with some skepticism from our parents, but we wanted her to walk down the aisle and be apart of the ceremony. She is pretty well behaved so I wasn’t too worried about her, and she had been doing really well right up until we were saying our vows where she let out a loud howl, probably to let us know to not forget about her during this big moment. It was unexpected, hilarious, and adorable and no one can stop talking about it!!! Oh, and me accidentally mouthing the words “mother f***er” in front of all of our guests when I couldn’t get my match to light during our unity candle ceremony (something my mother was not very happy about)!

Do you have any advice for a future bride to be/or groom before their wedding?

In terms of planning, I would suggest hiring a wedding planner and getting started on things as soon as possible! I think a planner throughout the entire process would have helped us stay in budget and put our minds at ease. If nothing else, a day of/month of a planner is essential! Advice for a bride and groom on their wedding day would be to just enjoy it and have as much fun as possible, and don’t sweat the small stuff. Things might not go exactly to plan, flowers might be in the wrong places, the DJ might play the wrong song, but it will still be the most amazing day of your life. Take a day or two off before the wedding to get things in order and to spend time with family and friends. And don’t stress too much!

Venue: Moss Denver

Wedding Planner: The Gardner Effect

Catering/Dessert: Three Tomatoes Catering

Florist: Inspired Designs

DJ: DJ Guy