Good morning and happy Saturday!

I am so thrilled to share with you Nina & Aaron’s beautiful, beautiful Willow Ridge Manor wedding.  In Colorado, we love our rustic, mountain, barn/lodge weddings.  But every once in a while we get lucky to do a mansion wedding and let me tell you it is a breath. of. fresh. air.  White columns, grand staircases, ornate decor, white walls, great light.. it’s a dream.

And so what the evolution of Nina & Aaron’s wedding… a dream come true and a beautiful story of redemption. Even though I already knew the backstory, the pastor brought tears to my eyes by starting the ceremony with a question to Aaron: “Did you ever imagine your future bride was out there waiting for you in a Russian orphanage?”

You see, Nina’s mother never married.  But on a father-daughter trip to Hawaii, she was walking along the beach with her father and told him the Lord had laid it on her heart to adopt.  She followed that calling and adopted a 5-year-old girl from Russia: Nina.  Her story is one of redemption – the life she leads now is just such a wonderful testament to the beauty of adoption.  Nina is now grown and a stunning woman of God, who is getting her masters degree in early childhood education.  She and Aaron met several years ago at the University of Northern Colorado and wed this July at the Willow Ridge Manor in Morrison, Colorado.

Their day was just. flawless.  Everything from Nina’s pale pink princess dress to the custom handmade bouquets containing fabric belonging to her grandmother to Aaron’s lavender shirt to the handmade boutonnieres and corsages for every single guest!  Their wedding was just light and airy and a photographer’s paradise.

I hope you enjoy these images! This is definitely one of my favorite weddings and some of the prettiest details we’ve seen this year!

Nina and Aaron, thank you SO much for letting us be the ones to document this incredible day!  God has big things in store for your future and I am so glad I got to see the first day of the next 50 years.

SO much love and joy to you,
René

Venue: Willow Ridge Manor
Dress Shop: Anna bé
Hair: Stephen Hunt
Bouquets & Boutonnieres: Autumn Davidson
Baker: Whipped
Caterer: Fresh Tracks
Photography: René Tate Photography