A month in the life: Another mountaintop wedding

Keystone, Colorado //

Today’s workday entails providing ten hours of photography coverage for the wedding of Hayden & Joe.  Our morning is dedicated to getting ourselves ready, triple-checking that all of our gear is ready to go, and reviewing the day’s timeline and notes.  Being as prepared and organized as possible is always a priority for us so that we may provide our couples with the best possible product and service.  There’s no half-assing our job.  We only get one shot at it.  Even though we’ve photographed over 400 weddings at this point, we try to always remember that this is our couple’s one and only.

I am scheduled to begin the day at the bride’s parents’ home in Breckenridge before we all transport to Keystone for the ceremony and reception.  The plan is for Mark to drop me off before he heads downtown to meet the groom at his hotel.  The bride’s parents reside in an upscale neighborhood made up of multi-million-dollar homes, of which many are rarely occupied.  These are second homes, if not third or fourth, and some are Airbnbs that go for upwards of $2k per night.  As we approach the driveway to our destination, I silently hope that Mark will pull over on the road past the driveway.  From there, I could get out and not be in view of the massive home perched on the hillside.  I remain silent though, not wanting Mark to know that I’m embarrassed to be seen in the truck, and he proceeds to pull into the driveway.  I grab my bag, hop out as quickly as possible, shut the door, and wave goodbye.

It must be said that at no other time am I embarrassed by our truck.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  I love our home on wheels and 99.9% of the time have a lot of pride for it.  The problem is, I like to blend in.  And our truck, in this neighborhood, is the furthest thing from blending in.  We would need something like a shiny new Rivian or Audi to do that.  When I’m welcomed inside, I’m relieved that no questions are asked about where I’m from, and I’m able to get right to work.

After a short time in Breck, I make my way to Keystone with the bride and bridesmaids.  From River Run Village, we board the River Run gondola that takes us to the top of Dercum Mountain.  A short walk then takes us to the Outpost gondola, and after 25 minutes of gondola rides, we arrive at Keystone’s North Peak.  

North Peak is home to Timber Ridge, a ski lodge in the winter and wedding venue in the summer.  It sits at 11,444’ above sea level with incredible views of Mt. Guyot and Baldy Mountain to the south and distant views of the ski runs at Breckenridge to the southwest.  Thanks to the two gondola rides it takes to get there, Timber Ridge is one of the most unique wedding venues in all of Colorado.  It’s also a place we’ve been fortunate enough to work at many times over the last twenty years.  We can’t help but chuckle when wedding guests, typically in awe at the surroundings, ask if we’ve ever worked here before.  I have no idea just how many weddings we’ve photographed at Timber Ridge, but it’s likely somewhere around 30-40.  (Fun fact: It was a brutally cold and stormy winter wedding here in 2017 that I declared I was done photographing winter weddings.  That’s precisely when our dreams to mold our business into a seasonal venture took hold.)

Hayden & Joe’s wedding went off without a hitch.  At 11 p.m., after ten hours of photography coverage, we took the last shot of the night as the happy couple loaded the gondola.  We followed in the cabin behind them and sat in quiet exhaustion while we watched the moonlit forest go by beneath our feet.  Twenty-five minutes and two gondola rides later, we were back at the truck.  Our commute from there was an easy two-minute drive to our Airbnb.  In a zombie-like state, we sauntered inside and called it a night.  Another successful wedding in the books.  Another 7,000 photos to edit starting Monday.