Diane and Paul's Coffee Table Books

We just received Diane and Paul's coffee table books in the mail and they look fabulous! Diane and Paul ordered three books, one 10x10 for them and two 8x8's as gifts for family. Each book comes with a black slip cover with silver lettering on the front. The books are duplicates of one another, with 20 pages and are laminated for extra protection. Diane and Paul had a great wedding at Hillside Gardens, one of the best kept secrets in town. Maggie of Celebrations by Maggie helped to plan their wedding, which involved a lot of personal touches and a great swing dancing demonstration by Diane and Paul. Click here to see a their wedding day slide show. I can't wait for them to see their books! — Cathy

Diane and Paul's Hillside Gardens Wedding

Diane and Paul were married Friday, July 24 at Hillside Gardens, I posted a sneak peak of their wedding here. I knew Diane and Paul were going to have a wedding filled with personal touches, including friends and family in the ceremony. Enter ring bearers Brady and Keigan, Diane's grandsons in a wagon decorated for the occasion and dragging several larger-than-life blue plastic wedding rings. It was so cute! I've seen many couples include a sand ritual in their ceremony but Diane and Paul's officiant Arianna did something a little different. Before mixing the sand each of the couples dump out some of their own sand, thus "leaving behind" some part of their old life that they do not want to bring into the new life. Once they mixed the sand, symbolizing the oneness of marriage, Arianna scattered all the sand on the ground at their feet and invited the couple to take their first steps and then share their first kiss as husband and wife. It was a unique and meaningful way to wrap up the ceremony. Thank you Diane and Paul for inviting me to be a part of your wedding day. Click here to see a brief slide show of their wedding day. — Cathy

Diane and Paul's Hillside Gardens Wedding (Sneak Peek)

You may remember Diane and Paul from their engagement session at the Garden of the Gods that I posted here.They were married Friday, July 24 at Hillside Gardens surrounded by their family and friends. The event went off without a hitch, thanks to Maggie of Celebrations by Maggie and the catering staff at the Picnic Basket. Their wedding was not a typical wedding! Diane wore a fabulous dress, teal with iridescent purple. Diane and Paul are amazing dancers! At the end of the night, Diane changed into her dancing shoes and dress and the two of them danced the night away. Watch for a slide show of their wedding coming soon! —Cathy

Meagan and Dan's Coffee Table Book

Brienne photographed Meagan and Dan's wedding this summer at Hillside Gardens. This is one of our favorite wedding spots. Their album arrived yesterday and it looks fantastic! Meagan and Dan picked some great photographs, the design is superb and I can't be more pleased. The book has 20 pages and comes with a red slipcover which looks really good with Meagan'swedding colors:) Meagan picked it up after work yesterday and she was just as pleased as I was. For one of Brienne's first weddings as a principal photographer with us, I think she did a fantastic job. Brienne's available weekends for 2009 are filling up quickly, don't hesitate to call and check her availability!

Meagan and Dan's Hillside Gardens Wedding

I posted a sneak peak of Meagan and Dan's wedding here. Meagan and Dan were married at Hillside Gardens over the July 4th holiday.
Our associate Brienne photographed Meagan and Dan's wedding. They held a small ceremony in the late afternoon followed by a catered reception under the Pavilion. Brienne did a wonderful job capturing their day and I'm so pleased with the photographs. It was especially nice to see a photograph of Meagan and Dan walking with their daughter Ashton at the end of the ceremony. They look so happy! Click here to see a slide show of Meagan and Dan's wedding. Thanks Meagan and Dan for inviting us to be a part of your wedding day! – Sean

Meagan and Dan's Hillside Gardens Wedding (A Sneak Peek)

Meagan and Dan were married Thursday, July 3 at Hillside Gardens. Brienne photographed their wedding day and I was glad that she got to finally photograph a Hillside Gardens wedding. The garden setting is a perfect spot for weddings. Plus, Larry (the owner of Hillside Gardens) has a thing for quirky lawn ornaments:) The outside bar there is also the best hangout for cocktails at sunset that I know of. Meagan and Dan were married in a late afternoon ceremony and they enjoyed a catered reception across the lawn in the Pavilion. Brienne did a fantastic job photographing their wedding. If you're still looking for a wedding photographer, Brienne still has some open dates this summer. Stay tuned for a slide show of Meagan and Dan's wedding day soon! — Sean

Cassie and Will's Fine Art Wedding Book

Cassie and Will were married last summer at Hillside Gardens. They had a fantastic wedding and I was excited to put their photographs intoan album. They decided on a Fine Art Wedding Book, easily our most popular book with couples from last summer. Here's a sneak peek attheir book. It has a beautiful contemporary leather cover. This leather is called earth and it's a softer version of our genuine leather cover. Thebrown motif fit with their wedding colors, so Cassie and Will chose a brown keyline overlayed by a mist colored mat. Their wedding book is stunning and I'm excited for them to see it! — Sean

Emily and Billy's Hillside Gardens Wedding

You may have seen an earlier post from Emily and Billy's Hillside Gardens Wedding. Actually there were two posts, you can see them here and here. Emily and Billy had an intimate wedding at Hillside Gardens, one of my favorite Colorado Springs locations. Like many of our couples, Emily and Billy decided to see each other before the wedding and I'm so glad they did! We made some really fantastic pictures beforehand and Emily and Billy were able to truly enjoy their wedding and reception without having to stop for photographs. Emily and Billy wanted something very laid back, but at the same time they wanted great food. Garden of the Gods Gourmet definitely came through with an incredible meal. And Billy found a very special bottle of Champagne that he shared only with Emily...(Ok, I got a sip and it was wonderful) Click here to see a brief slideshow of Emily and Billy's wedding day. And thanks Emily and Billy for inviting me to photograph your wedding!— Sean

Emily and Billy's Hillside Gardens Wedding (A Sneak Peek)

Without batting an eye Emily and Billy allowed me to photograph them in a very cool (a.k.a. dirty) spot. And get this, we did it all before the wedding! The resulting picture is awesome and I'm just posting a preview pick, above, so that you can see their sacrifice:) They had a fantastic wedding on Saturday at Hillside Gardens, hands down one of my favorite locations in Colorado Springs. They held a small wedding and priorities were on the food, the pictures and the communion. They have a fondness for fine gourmet and even finer wine. Garden of the Gods Gourmet has to be one of my favorite local caterers! Keep an eye out for their wedding day slideshow soon! — Sean

Emily and Billy's Hillside Gardens Wedding

Last night I downloaded the images from Emily and Billy's wedding at Hillside Gardens and I skimmed through them very quickly. So fast, in fact, that this series of images looked like one of those little flip books so I put it together like one. Emily and Billy were great fun and I had a great time photographing their wedding! I will be posting more photographs from their wedding later in the week. Enjoy! — Sean

Cassie and Will's Wedding

Cassie and Will were married at Hillside Gardens last weekend. Their wedding was personal and intimate. What excited me most about their day? They made time for pictures before their wedding. And we made some fantastic pictures! Hillside Gardens is a wonderful place to photograph a couple in love. See what I mean when you watch Cassie and Will's wedding slideshow. Cassie and Will have a special story. They were in the same kindergarten class at Steele Elementary (where Abby will attend grade school) and they went to prom together! They both graduated from college with science degrees. They are incredibly talented and fun. And they have a real love of adventure. Their honeymoon involves taking an old Volvo that Cassie restored to Alaska and back. Cassie's parents are also our neighbors, so it felt as if we were guests at the wedding and not the photographers. Thank you Cassie and Will for inviting us to photograph your wedding! Click here to see a brief slideshow from their wedding. — Sean

Amber and Ken's Wedding at Hillside Gardens

Amber and Ken met while stationed in Alaska for the Air Force. They are both on the bomb squad, and their specialty is defusing bombs! They were married the morning of May 12 at Hillside Gardens. The weather was beautiful and so was the view of Pikes Peak, all white with snow! They couldn't have planned a more perfect setting for their intimate celebration. Click here to see a brief slideshow from their wedding. — Cathy

Weddings at Hillside Gardens

When you dream of your wedding, do you dream of a pavilion surrounded by a beautiful garden with an incredible view of Pikes Peak? Hillside Gardens would be that place. Hillside Gardens and Nursery (it's a full-service nursery and botanical garden all in one) sits smack in the middle of Colorado Springs, but you wouldn't know it. Four acres of grounds offers a retreat from the city with a beautiful ceremony site and pavilion. Funky garden scultpures decorate everything so it's super fun to photograph. When we got started doing weddings we were fortunate enough to meet some couples who really wanted a Colorado wedding, complete with mountain views and gorgeous light. Click here to see a slideshow of some of our weddings at Hillside Gardens. — Sean

A nice note from Mom

"We want you to know that we love the photos from Cassie and Will's engagement sitting...You are both fantastic photographers and it wasn't easy to pick just one of you. I don't think anyone could go wrong with a Cayton doing the photography." — Cassie's mom Gloria

Cassie and Will will be married at the Hillside Gardens in June. I can't wait for their wedding. Thanks for your wonderful note Gloria! — Sean p.s. see a slideshow of their engagement photos click here

Meredith and John

Meredith and John were married Sunday, September 24 at the Hillside Gardens. I love to photograph at Hillside Gardens. There are a ton of beautiful garden details and the view of Pikes Peak is amazing. I was especially lucky on this day for a layer of new snow made for an excellent backdrop. To view a slideshow of Meredith and John's wedding**CLICK HERE**All of our slideshows require flash player. Download a free version here: flash player — Cathy

Kelly and Joel's Album

We just finished designing an album for Kelly and Joel. I thought I would post a couple of the spreads from the album here. They had a beautiful wedding at Hillside Gardens in July. And while it was hot, the weather didn't stop them or their guests from enjoying the wedding. To view a slideshow of their wedding album**CLICK HERE** All of our slideshows require flash player. Download a free version here: flash player — Cathy

Kelly and Joel's Wedding

Kelly and Joel were married Sunday, July 16 at the Hillside Gardens. Hillside is a well-kept secret in Colorado Springs. It provides an incredible backdrop with Cheyenne Mountain and Pikes Peak in the distance. Hillside Gardens started as a nursery, but it also has this beautiful area below the nursery that offers couples an all-in-one ceremony and reception location. It's beautifully landscaped and absolutely perfect for weddings — except when there's a record heatwave in Colorado Springs. That was the case with Kelly and Joel's wedding. Their ceremony was scheduled in the late afternoon and the temperature was close to 100 degrees. Nevertheless, everyone brought umbrellas and there was plenty of water. By the time the reception started, evening winds had cooled things down considerably. And despite the heat, Kelly and Joel kept their cool and enjoyed every minute of their wedding day. To view a slideshow of Kelly and Joel's wedding **CLICK HERE** All of our slideshows require flash player. Download a free version here: flash player—Cathy

Meredith and John's Engagement

Meredith and John are planning a September 24th wedding and reception at Hillside Gardens. For their engagement shoot we headed to Helen Hunt Falls in Cheyenne Canyon. John had suggested it. They love the water. And it turned out to be a great idea. View a slide show of their engagment photos **CLICK HERE** All of our slideshows require flash player. Download a free version here: flash player — Cathy