Talia & Kristopher’s Wedding Picture Preview: Civic Center Park, Riots, & Italy
I first photographed Talia & Kristopher’s wedding over Labor Day weekend in Venice, Italy, to see some of those pictures check out this blog post about their Italian destination wedding. Their wedding in Italy was a small affair for just a few immediate family members so they also held a traditional Catholic ceremony and reception in Denver, Colorado so that their friends & family could celebrate the marriage with them too. Talia upheld her family wedding tradition by getting married at the same church that her parents, sister, and just about everyone in her family married at – Our Lady of Mt.Carmel Church in Denver. After the ceremony we met the wedding party in Civic Center Park for pictures. Occupy Denver protests were going on just around the corner from us at the State Capitol so we had to maneuver around protestors, police, and blocked streets…which almost made me call off the plans to stop at this park. But I crossed my fingers and took a chance because I knew Civic Center Park was the best option to get the most variety of historic & artistic photos that I knew the couple would love, so we trekked on. Luckily we didn’t have any problems, but I found out later that right after we left the cops tried to shut down the protests which resulted in a nasty riot. So either the cops waited for us to finish our pictures before starting trouble with the protestors, or I just had really good luck on my side. I like to think that the cops are true romantics deep down and enjoyed watching a couple in love before getting the fight started, haha…..hmm…can you imagine the pictures I could have gotten and the story!—“Bride & Groom Caught Between the Occupy Denver Riot” crazy, but not pretty! I ended up getting some amazing pictures of the wedding party in Civic Center Park, like the one below, so I think it was totally worth it!
Wedding Pictures in Civic Center Park...just minutes before the riot
So thankfully all was safe and we then headed to Maggiano’s Little Italy Restaurant in downtown Denver on 16th St. Mall. The fabulous Italian food & decor at Maggiano’s Restaurant made it a perfect choice for their wedding reception. The family style dinner meant no waiting in long buffet lines, as well as unlimited servings. ..molto buono! After dinner the bride & groom handed out mini Italian espresso makers to all the guests as favors, quite a unique choice!
Talia had a custom wedding cake created to match her wedding dress, it had lace details and even the same jeweled belt decoration. After the cake was cut the bride changed into her short party dress with pockets and extra high heels to compliment it. Complete Music did a great job DJ’ing the reception and played all kinds of unique Italian music, traditional wedding music, as well as modern dance beats that got the kids, even the babies, excited & dancing!
Before the night ended I took the couple outside onto 16th St. for one last wedding day portrait. I also found out that the protestors that were chased out of Civic Center Park earlier that day took their “army” to 16th St. Mall which resulted in the mall shuttle being shut down for a few hours as crowds of protestors marched down. Apparently that whole scenario ended about 10pm, not too long before we went outside for pictures…another draw of the luck for us that day! To view some of my favorite pictures from their Colorado wedding day, play the slideshow below.
[mbspremium slideshow=1]
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