Allée Photography Blog

Traci and Larry’s relationship had a beer theme from the start. Their first official date was at the Wynkoop brewery in LoDo, and we shot part of their engagement pictures there. For the wedding in Vail, they had a microbrew growler centerpiece at every table, and a cake from Intricate Icings in the form of a beer dispenser, complete with a working tap! It was a fun day from start to finish as they rode the gondola to the top of the mountain, headed to the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens for the ceremony, and finished off with a great reception at the Donovan Pavilion. Great catering was provided by Gourmet Cowboy from Minturn, A Music Plus handled the music, and Sapphire Celebrations coordinated the whole affair. It was definitely a day to remember, complete with a signature drink: Sacramint Stout!

It was another amazing evening with Goodwill Industries of Denver, as they put on the second annual “Good Exchange for Change” Clothing Swap and Fashion Show, this time at the EXDO Event Center in Denver. Mondo Guerra, Denver’s own Project Runway star from season eight, was joined by fellow Colorado Project Runway designers from season nine, Fallene Wells and Julie Tierney, to host a very special kind of show and offer their support for the wonderful work of Goodwill. Denver TV and radio personalities Lisa Hidalgo and Denise Plante were terrific co-emcees. Nearly all the models in this blog post were students from Goodwill’s youth programs at Denver School of the Arts and CEC Middle College that had purchased and “repurposed” clothing from local Goodwill stores. There were professional models too, from Wilhelmina Denver, but all clothed in fashions purchased at area Goodwill stores. In addition to a fabulous evening of entertainment and the awarding of the top prize to winning student Uriel Moreno, three gorgeous outfits were auctioned off, personal creations of Mondo, Julie and Fallene. Finally, each of the 800 people who attended the event, and who each brought 10 items of clothing to donate to Goodwill, were set loose among the donations to select 10 new items to take home! Proceeds from the event went to benefit Goodwill’s community programs, which help tens of thousands in our community every year. What a night! And what a way to showcase the important work that Goodwill Denver does!

The Denver chapter of the International Special Events Society always puts on an over-the-top wedding showcase, and this year’s event was absolutely amazing! Wedding vendors teamed up to create fantasy tablescapes, complete with delicious hors d’oeuvres and gorgeous brides! This annual event is a blast to attend and even more fun to photograph. Check out the home page for ISES Denver and put some of these incredibly talented vendors on your list for your next event!

The “Good Luck Buck” did his part to bestow luck and best wishes to Jennette and Curt at the Garden of the Gods Club last week. And with beautiful weather and a great party to start off this marriage, it couldn’t have been more perfect. Loved the part of the ceremony where Jennette’s grandmother and Curt’s grandfather presented the rings! Great cake from Boonzaaijer’s and wonderful entertainment from Chris Gardner of Blue Moon DJ.

Late tonight the moon took on this amazing orange hue. Could it be the smoky skies from Arizona wildfires? Never seen a half moon this color…

Well we’re excited! Nearly 2,500 prints from around the world were submitted to the 2011 Accolades of Excellence competition at the WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) conference in Las Vegas that ended today. So we figure coming in third in any category isn’t too bad, and besides, it leaves room to do better next year!

Below is our third place overall in the Animals Division, and our highest scoring print in the Wedding Division, which was considered for top honors in the “Bride and Groom Together” category.

Four of the five prints we submitted received Accolades of Excellence, and the judging in the Wedding Division (where most of our prints were entered) was done by the best in the business: Yervant, Bambi Cantrell, Jerry Ghionis, Roberto Valenzuela, Ryan Schembri and Dennis Orchard, just to name a few. We’re honored, we’re humbled, and we intend to do even better next year!

D’Anelli Bridal took part in “Brides Across America” on Veteran’s Day last year, giving away more than 60 beautiful wedding gowns. We joined in by offering complimentary bridal portraits to those same brides.

Staff Sgt Tiffani Swayzer of the USAF was one of the brides that took up our portrait offer. Tiffani is as gorgeous as any model we have photographed, so it’s hard to imagine her in Iraq, running missions to our forward bases in a Blackhawk helicopter, or handling perimeter security for our bases in Afghanistan, but it’s all in a day’s work for her. It makes our offer of free portraits seem small in comparison, but it’s our way to say THANK YOU to Tiffani and all the other military women who put their lives on the line for our security. We salute you!

We celebrated and supported the American Cancer Society at Strings Restaurant last Saturday with four of the six couples that took advantage of our December fundraiser to fight cancer. We had offered upgraded photography packages along with a commitment to donate ten percent to cancer research. Amy Richardson, Executive Director of the ACS, joined us to receive our check for $2,120 while Strings Restaurant supported the effort by hosting a beautiful three course meal. We want to express our appreciation to all our couples (in the order of their wedding dates) who helped support this cause: Chris & Abby, Jacinta & Jeremy, Ginny & Weston, Emily & Mike, Jenny & Drew, and Megan & Ryan. Thanks so much, and we can’t wait to see you all walk down the aisle!

It was our privilege to photograph the January 13 Dinner of Unconditional Love at the Denver Sheraton honoring Dr. Rick Hodes for his work at the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa’s Mission) in Ethiopia, where his work on heart and spinal problems has saved literally thousands of lives.

The hats and scarves on the tables were for sale as fundraising items, and between sponsors and the generosity of the guests at the dinner, more than $500,000 was raised to support this Dr. Hodes’ work.

An unexpected treat at the end of the evening was the appearance of Prudence Mabhena, who’s struggle with adversity was the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary Music With Prudence. She delivered a stirring acapella rendition of Amazing Grace and several other songs to a standing ovation. Prudence herself will undergo life-saving spinal surgery at Children’s Hospital later this month.

The National Association of Catering Executives (NACE) held its December holiday event at the newly opened Four Seasons in downtown Denver. We were asked to photograph the festivities and what a party it was! Chase N The Dream provided the music, while Chair Covers and Linens put together the awesome look of the Grand Ballroom. The catering was designed to satisfy even the most discriminating catering executive, and photo booth fun provided by The Traveling Photo Booth added to the festivities. After all that, we managed to round them all up at the end of the night for a fun group photo. What a way to start the season! If you want to see our video slideshow of this event, check it out on Vimeo.