Vail Proposal - West Vail - Sykora

Even though I've driven past this spot a million times, I had no idea it even existed.  When Chris asked me to meet him there for his proposal, I had to follow some footprints in the thigh deep snow - straight up the mountain. 

If you're familiar with Intermountain at all, you'll know of Stephen's Dog Park.  This little spot above the park has the most insane views of the Davos Trail and Dowd Junction.  Look closely at some of the photos and you'll see how tiny the houses and the cars are below.  

I'm excited to go back and have a look around, but next time in the summer and hopefully not carrying as much gear!

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Vail Mountain Proposal - Teddy and E

When my sweet neighbor Jackie asked if I would help with her brother's marriage proposal on Vail Mountain, I jumped at the chance because I love a good proposal shoot.

It was decided that Teddy would propose to E on Windows Deck.  You can't tell from these photos, but Windows Deck is hands down, THE best view on Vail Mountain.  I also love Windows because it's much more private than most of the decks on the mountain.  

As I waited on the deck for Teddy and E to arrive, I spotted them in the distance at Wildwood Restaurant.  I generally pretend like I'm a tourist taking photos of the view when I'm shooting a proposal, but given the lack of visibility, I was afraid it might blow my cover.  Luckily Teddy got down on one knee before E had a chance to really think about what I was doing there!

After she said yes, they popped a bottle of Veuve to celebrate and we took a few more photos of their special moment.  I left them to head back down the hill and got in my one and only day on my snowboard for the season (I can't ski powder, but I love I love it on my board).  When I got back to my car, I noticed something on my face.  After 16 years of living in Vail, I had caught my first round frost bite.  Oh well, it was worth it!

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Vail Wedding Proposal - Vail Observation Deck - Joaquin and Alyssa

When I'm organizing wedding proposals, I'm usually doing the work by myself.  When Joaquin decided to propose to Alyssa, he had the concierge team at The Arrabelle lend a hand to put the details together.  They brought champagne and a sound system to the top of the mountain to play Alyssa's favorite song.  It made such a huge difference having their wonderful team there to help out!  

Everything went off without a glitch and I was able to not only capture the proposal, but a few engagement shots afterwards.  Here are a few of my favorites.

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Valentine's Week in the Mountains - Parts I, II and III

I'm celebrating Valentine's all week this week.  With everything that's going on in the world, love should be celebrated as often as possible.  So I'm breaking the week down into three parts, starting with some exciting news.  

Part I

As of January 1st, I now have my own little studio in Vail.  It's been an unexpected and fun opportunity and I'm looking forward to getting the word out and getting more people in there.  I'll still be operating a mobile studio, but hopefully this will cut down on schlepping my gear around so much.  

We broke the studio in with Valentine's Mini Sessions with some amazing tiny people.  I got a little carried away with investing in Valentine's backdrops, but they were all just so cute.  These aren't even all of them (yes, there's more), but it gives you an idea of some of the fun we've had so far in the new space.  

Part II

Chris contacted me about proposing to Eileen at The Vail Observation Deck last week and he was a dream client to work with.  It can be hard to coordinate proposals when clients aren't completely familiar with the mountain.  But Chris was sending ME diagrams with locations, placements and the timing for everything.  This has never happened...EVER!  

What Eileen didn't know was that Chris had also flown in their parents.  They were watching the whole proposal from a distance and knew that they could head towards the deck once he got down on one knee.  The third photo shows Eileen's reaction to seeing them all heading to the deck.  

It was a gorgeous day and she was completely surprised with everything.  Perfection!

Part III

This morning I had the privilege of shooting a wonderful, heartfelt, self-solemnizing wedding at the top of Beaver Creek Mountain.  To give you some context, yesterday we had an insane blizzard.  10 inches of fresh snow and some of the worst wind we've had all season.  I was looking out the window all day thinking 'this better be gone by tomorrow'.  Thankfully, everything worked out in our favor!

Following their vows, Brynn and Matt asked me to take a run with them down the hill.  We got some fun shots while skiing, but my favorite was the chairlift photo as we made our way back up the mountain (the last photo in the series). 

So there you have it. Valentine's week is done and dusted.  I have another proposal next week, so look out for photos from that one!

Lots of ♥, WSP.

Visit the website to see more Vail Studio Photography, Vail Wedding Proposals and Beaver Creek Weddings.

Beaver Creek Marriage Proposal - Michael and Lyndsay

I've mentioned in previous posts about the amount of planning that goes into shooting marriage proposals.  This session was no different!  Michael had decided to propose to Lyndsay beside the Covered Bridge in Vail Village.  The one thing we didn't count on was spring coming two months early this year.  The Covered Bridge was a muddy mess and not an idea location for the big moment.  

With a few stealthy phone calls and emails, Mike asked to switch the location to Strawberry Park at Beaver Creek.  Strawberry Park is a nordic area, so no traditional skiing or snowboarding is allowed there.  So I packed up my snow shoes and camera bag and headed to the chair lift the next morning.  Mike had told me what they'd be wearing and I spotted them as I was getting on the lift and they were renting their snow shoes.

We had devised a plan that I would look like a tourist taking photos of the scenery and Mike would ask me if I could take a photo of them on his phone.  As Mike handed me his phone, I put it in my pocket and switched to my camera for the big moment.  As you can see from the photos, it went pretty well!

Visit the website to see more Vail and Beaver Creek Engagement Photos