Della Terra is my favorite wedding venue in Colorado. It’s perched on a hill right before the Fall River entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park with tons of charm and fantastic facilities. Mollie and Lindsay live near Louisville, Kentucky and flew up to Colorado for their dream wedding at the beginning of COVID’s terrible peak in December. It was the last wedding held at Della Terra for the year of 2020 and because of the spike in cases. Because of this, the wedding was entirely outside. It’s not that easy for a bunch of Kentuckians to be outside for 8 hours in Estes Park in December, but it was worth it to have their dream wedding.
Mollie got ready in the salon and Lindsay got ready in the movie theater with her parents. Lindsay was wearing a stunning off-the-shoulder satin dress and some very cute silver glitter Ugg boots under her dress. Lindsay opted for suspenders and a maroon suit to compliment their winter color scheme of deep red and pine green. Della Terra was decorated for Christmas and the lovely Christmas trees in the lodging area were a fun place to get started taking photos of Lindsay’s dress.
Mollie and Lindsay did a “First Touch” before their ceremony with a champagne toast added in. The venue did a great job of keeping the two brides separate from each other, while still allowing both of them to walk down the aisle with their Dads.
The entire wedding party flew up from Kentucky just before the wedding and they were all wrapped in blankets awaiting their arrival at the mountain backdrop altar. After a beautiful duo of vows, lot’s of laughter and Della Terra’s traditional tree planting ceremony (all the couples who get married there have the option to plant an aspen tree on the property in celebration of their marriage) they finished the ceremony and went to the cupola behind the ceremony site to sign their marriage license.
After the ceremony my 2nd photographer and I went directly over to Rocky Mountain National Park with the brides to get them photographs in front of the mountains that they hope to live near one day. We had a blast soaking in the views and enjoying the calm in the middle of their day. The best part about Della Terra is that the entire wedding portrait trip into RMNP and back took us only 40 minutes from leaving to returning!
When we returned the party was ready to get started! After dinner the dances got going and they did not stop. Mollie’s brother especially was a star, strutting around the dance floor and showing off for the cameras. Although some people huddled around the plentiful outdoor heaters, most just danced until they didn’t even need their jackets. That, by the way, is the best way to stay warm in December in Estes Park when you relegated to being outside!
It was an absolute pleasure to be a part of this wedding and take their wedding day photos!
