denver wedding photographer | MAHAL BELLA | wedding photography

I’ve been musing over how to best discuss the contents of this post, but I can’t imagine there’s anything I can say to bring justice to what an amazing experience it has been to photograph Shannon and Drew.

Shannon first touched based with me during my trip to Australia back in February. Her e-mail was short and sweet, but within a couple of e-mails we had a date and place set up to meet face to face and discuss options for her wedding date. Meeting Shannon and Drew for the first time was such a fun experience. They were down to earth, artistic, geeky, and a complete riot! So, when I received a call from them several days later to tell me their decision, I just about burst into tears with happiness.
This season I have worked with some absolutely incredible human beings who despite meeting many other fantastic photographers in the Denver region, saw something in this geeky, awkward girl’s way of seeing the world that they could relate to. There is never a day that goes by that I don’t feel thankful to those who put their trust in me to capture some of the most important moments of their lives.

While I have uploaded images to my Facebook group from this wedding, I had yet to blog this wedding until now. So to clarify, this is both my first main shooter wedding of the season and one of the most fun weddings I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of so far through this rollercoaster ride a wedding season, and one that I won’t forget anytime soon.

Shannon and Drew chose to exchange their vows during an intimate church wedding at the Eisenhower Chapel, followed by the reception in the hall of the Catholic school Shannon teaches Literature at. Between the ceremony and reception, Shannon and Drew took the opportunity to borrow a golf cart to transport us (ie: bridesmaids, groomsmen, photographers) to the reception location and grab some fun shots along the way. Let me say that nothing beats a bridal party that has an amazing sense of humor, and are up for any oddball idea that I throw at them!
The reception was a blast – tears flowed, great food was fed to all, and games were set up outside the hall for those who preferred to nurse their competitive streak instead of dancing. Every single person walked away from this evening with a smile on their face, and love in their hearts.

While prior to the wedding day I had the opportunity to shoot with Shannon on a couple of other occasions, attend a couple of her famous pizza nights, and hit the town for her hens night, Shannon and I had promised to make an effort to keep in touch after her wedding day.
Shannon, Drew, and Jason (the best man – who is a GREAT guy!) attended a potluck dinner party at my place, introduced them to my circle of close friends, attended a couple more pizza nights, celebrated Thanksgiving at Shannon and Drew’s house (she’s a WONDERFUL cook y’all!), and just this weekend they all attended the party I threw for my husband’s 30th birthday. Needless to say, I think we have both held on to our ends of that promise. :)

Lastly, in the recent spirit of Thanksgiving I want to say this…
Shannon and Drew – you’re both beautiful, extraordinary people that I am so, so thankful for. Thank you for being my clients, thank you for trusting my artistic eye and being so damn fun to shoot with, but most importantly – thank you for welcoming me into your life as a friend. It’s truly been a honor.