Courtney + Evan | Colorado Barn Wedding | Chatfield Botanic Gardens Wedding

March 28, 2014

Courtney and Evan had a beautiful, rustic Chatfield Botanic Gardens wedding…full of love, family and faith!  I have known the Hirt family for a long time and I just love them.  I have been so honored to photograph the milestones in their lives, and hope to continue to do so, for many years to come 🙂

Courtney and Evan’s wedding day started out very rainy…we were all a bit worried.  Then, about 30 minutes before the ceremony, the clouds parted and the weather was perfect!  Thankfully, the rain didn’t come back, but the dramatic, gorgeous skies remained for our portrait time.  Chatfield Botanic Gardens is a really beautiful spot for a wedding.  It has everything from a rustic barn and silo, to mountain views and open fields, and lots of gorgeous gardens.  The staff was nice enough to drive us around in a golf cart so that we could take advantage of several backdrops in a short amount of time.  Courtney & Evan had a lot of sweet, personal, DIY details.  Guests thoroughly enjoyed their evening of delicious BBQ and homemade baked goods, board games, a “fauxtobooth”, and dancing under the stars!

picture of dress hanging from cottagepicture of wedding dress hangingpicture of wedding dress hanging on mirror
Courtney rocked these cowboy boots with her wedding dress.  She was definitely a rustic chic bride!
picture of brides cowboy bootspicture of bridal cowboy bootspicture of bride getting in wedding dresspicture of bride putting earrings onpicture of bride putting her shoes onpicture of groomsmen getting ready
Courtney wrote a sweet love note for her groom to read before the wedding.
picture of groom reading letterpicture of groom getting dressedpicture of bride at chatfield botanic gardens weddingpicture of bride at chatfield botanic gardens wedding
The bridesmaids carried lanterns, in place of bouquets.  I thought it was a unique, fun twist!
picture of bridesmaids in pink and turquoise picture of bridesmaids in pink and turquoisepicture of bridesmaids with lanternspicture of bride and bridesmaids with cowboy bootspicture of groom with antique truck
The guys looked great in their suspenders and brightly colored bowties!
picture of groomsmen at rustic barn weddingpicture of groomsmen at chatfield botanic gardens weddingpicture of groomsmen with argyle socks
picture of groomsmen lifting groom
Courtney & Evan didn’t want to see each other prior to the ceremony, but they did want to pray together.  We were very careful so that they didn’t see each other, it was a truly beautiful moment.  This is an awesome alternative to a first look!
picture of bride and groom prayingpicture of rustic wedding signspicture of wedding guest signing guestbookpicture of chalkboard at outdoor weddingpicture of arbor at chatfield botanic gardens weddingpicture of groom walking down the aislepicture of ring bearer at chatfield botanic gardens wedding
The next two photos are a set that I love to capture (and the reason I always have a second shooter)…one moment, two perspectives!
picture of bride walking down the aislepicture of groom's expression as bride walks down the aislepicture of wedding at chatfield botanic gardens
If I haven’t said it before, I like shooting through things!  I am in love with how this shot came out, shooting through one of their ceremony lanterns 🙂
picture of wedding ceremony at chatfield botanic gardens picture of bride saying her vows
picture of bride and groom exchanging rings
This sweet little bunny was an honorary bridesmaid for the day LOL!  She (assuming it’s a she), stood with the girls during the entire ceremony.  It was adorable!picture of outdoor wedding ceremony
picture of groom saying his vowspicture of bride and groom first kisspicture of bride and groom at chatfield botanic gardens wedding ceremony
Haha…these photos crack me up!  Courtney was very encouraging to the little flower girl and ring bearer.
picture of bride during wedding ceremonypicture of bride reacting during wedding ceremonypicture of bridal party at Chatfield Botanic Gardens wedding
I usually only do jump shots upon request…this group definitely requested it!  They love jumping shots, and pretty much nailed it 🙂picture of bridal party jumpingpicture of bride and groom at chatfield botanic gardens weddingpicture of bride and groom at chatfield botanic gardens weddingpicture of bride and groom in a fieldpicture of a bride and groom in fieldpicture of bride and groom in a fieldpicture of bride and groom silhouette picture of bride and groom silhouette picture of bride and groom on a bridgepicture of bride and groom sitting in a treepicture of bride and groom at chatfield botanic gardens wedding
I think this has been my most popular photo to date!  We really lucked out with some dramatic skies.  I enhanced the colors some in post-production, but no fake skies here…it was a gorgeous sunset!
picture of bride and groom at sunsetpicture of reception signpicture of wedding reception at chatfield botanic gardens weddingpicture of burlap centerpiecepicture of chalkboard menupicture of rustic wedding cakepicture of rustic sweetheart tablepicture of rustic barn wedding receptionpicture of bride and groom first dancepicture of bride and groom first dancepicture of bride and groom dancing outdoorspicture of father-daughter dancepicture of wedding garter tosspicture of garter and bouquet tosspicture of wedding garter tosspicture of wedding guests dancingpicture of wedding guests dancingpicture of bride and groom exiting weddingpicture of barn at chafield botanic gardens wedding

Thank you Courtney and Evan for allowing me to capture your big day.  I had an absolutely amazing time celebrating with you and your families.  Wishing you a lifetime of wedded bliss!

xoxo,
Melissa

Courtney & Evan’s dream team:
Photographer: Plum Pretty Photography (a special thank you to my hubby for being my second shooter at this wedding, and doing an amazing job!) www.plumprettyphotography.com
Videographer: Travis Haynie of TSH Videography Services
Ceremony & Reception Venue: Chatfield Botanic Gardens www.botanicgardens.org
Bakery: Colleen at King Soopers Littleton www.kingsoopers.com
Officiant: Todd Scheureman

  1. anke says:

    Love love love love it.
    Wundervolle und traumhafte Fotos. 😉
    If Im going to marry in Colorado or near that place I know who is going to take pictures!!! Great Work.

  2. Angela says:

    Love the sunset photos.

  3. Heidi says:

    Amazing photos! Looked like a great day and memorable wedding. Loved everything about it. The Sunset photo is unbelievable, takes your breath away.

  4. Tiffany says:

    Beautiful wedding and beautiful photos!

  5. Ashley says:

    What a beautiful day!

  6. Linda Hirt says:

    Woo hoo! Simply amazing photos MELISSA! You are so gifted with a great eye for portraits, stills, action and photo journals. So love you and your talent. Thank you for never disappointing! ♡

  7. […] See this idea using a variety of lanterns. […]