Downtown Denver Wedding – Space Gallery & Denver Botanic Gardens

Nora and Andrew are two of the most energetic, kind and fun people that I have ever met. Brittany and I had the most incredible day following these two around and probably photographed double what we normally do. As a downtown Denver wedding photographer who loves the city, I was ecstatic to get to spend the whole day in my favorite city. This beautiful Denver wedding began with getting ready photos at a Denver AirBnB, then onward to the first look and couple’s portraits at the Denver Botanic Gardens. From there we went to the Cherry Creek trail for some photos with the colorful murals and then to Space Gallery Denver for their wedding ceremony. The day was full of so much energy, radiating from both Nora and Andrew as they were so excited to get married.

For getting ready photos, I had the pleasure of spending time with Andrew, his bestman and his dad. Andrew’s attire included a navy striped suit, tan wing-tip shoes and of course, dinosaur socks that complimented those of his bestman. The dinosaur theme came up a few more times through the evening. Once on their wedding cake, and the second time being the best of them all! Andrew’s sister dressed up in a dinosaur costume during the reception. (Keep reading to see why!)

After everyone was ready, we all headed to the Denver Botanic Gardens for the first look. We set out for the beautiful green glass house that Nora had requested for their first look. We were met with caution tape and construction workers but thanks to our persuasion, we were finally allowed in! People tend to make exceptions for couples on their wedding day, and we were so happy they did so we could make Nora’s dreams come true! The added bonus was we had the greenhouse all to ourselves and didn’t have to worry about Photoshopping out people.

After the first look and some portraits at the greenhouse, we started out into the garden to find more spots. Nora and Andrew were dancing between locations, laughing between poses and joking around constantly. If it weren’t for time, we would probably still be there shooting!

One of my favorite spots. that we found was the indoor tropical exhibit. Even though it was an already steamy day, Nora and Andrew entered the humid tropical paradise with no problems. These two wanted to get lots of portraits and were eager to spend the day together, no matter where we went.

Before we left the Denver Botanic Gardens, Nora’s sister and Andrew’s brother joined us for a few photos at the gardens. They too joined in on the fun and had a fun time joking around in the pictures. We all got in our cars and headed to the Cherry Creek trail for some last minute photos in front of the colorful Denver murals.

In true Nora & Andrew spirit, they quickly hopped up onto the mural wall and started dancing. Andrew turned on some music from his phone and Nora was swinging Andrew’s jacket over her head. As bikers whizzed by, we captured some awesome candids and then packed up to head to the ceremony at Space Gallery Denver.

Upon arrival, Nora and Andrew hid away from the guests starting to take their seats. The ceremony was beautiful and included some elements I had never seen before. Nora and Andrew had a flower crown station, as well as a flower ceremony during their wedding where friends and family assembled a bouquet with flowers that reminded them of the couple. The two wrote their own vows which showcased their love story and the relationship that had grown between them.

After the ceremony ended, everyone was ushered out onto the patio for cocktail hour. We took some quick family portraits and then Nora and Andrew joined their guests for cocktail hour. That’s one of the benefits of photographing all of the portraits before the ceremony, the couple gets to mingle with their guests during this time!

Cocktail hour ended and the couple was announced. Nora and Andrew took this time to dance around their guests on the main and top floor before they came down to their table to say a thank you message to all of their guests. Afterward, dinner began. After dinner were toasts and cake cutting, but of course, there was one last surprise!

During Nora’s sister toast, all of a sudden everyone from the top level starting running down to the dance floor. Once everyone was there, the DJ started a song and everyone started dancing. Nora’s sister had coordinated a flash mob! Needless to say Nora and Andrew were shocked and loved every minute of this surprise. (Andrew’s sister even put on a dinosaur costume and did the WHOLE flash mob in it! Now that is talent!)

It was so fun to be a part of this day. Not only did I love being able to do it all in Denver, as a downtown Denver wedding photographer and Denver lover, but I loved being around these two. Nora and Andrew exuded so much love, positivity and fun energy which everyone, including myself, picked up on. These two were so excited to be getting married and wanted the whole day to be a celebration where everyone had a good time and didn’t take life too seriously.

If you’d like to see more portraits from the Denver Botanic Gardens, click here!