By Monique
I had a great time documenting Katie and Warren’s Squaw Valley wedding, the day provided some nice opportunities for my special style of Lake Tahoe wedding photojournalism. The June theme of cloudy skies and wind was persistent on June 20, but I think it adds a soft quality of light to the outdoor images. The day started with some getting ready candids in Katie’s room at the Plumpjack Squaw Valley Inn, then moved to the ceremony at The Queen of the Snows Catholic Church just down the road. The portrait session took place along the famous Squaw Valley wooden fence with the lushness of the green valley and mountains in the background. The reception was held at Plumpjacks with the cocktail hour upstairs, dinner downstairs, and then upstairs again for lively dancing to music provided by the Pete Charles Band.
The classic dress shot made a little more classic with the sepia tone and soft edges.
These shoes deserved more than the standard shoe detail shot. I just loved the red heels and subtle navy blue silk. The piano in the Plumpjack suite provided a great setting for these unique wedding shoes.
The natural window light was great for Katie’s indoor bridal portraits.
The Queen of the Snows provides a beautiful view of the mountains behind the alter, and the flags add a nice flair, reminiscent of the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics held there in 1960.
Warren and Katie sharing a moment during their wedding ceremony at the Queen of the Snows in Squaw Valley.
Capturing the wedding party giving Katie and Warren hugs and congratulations after the ceremony.
Katie shares some big laughs with her cousins and aunt about a funny moment during their musical performance during the ceremony.
Lake Tahoe’s premiere bagpiper Seán Cummings leads the procession of wedding guests from the Queen of the Snows church up the valley to the reception at the Plumpjack Squaw Valley Inn.
Sometimes the wedding party likes to get animated for some non traditional fun shots. This one turned out great with a lot of fun, different expressions and movement.
Katie and Warren having a great time during their bridal portrait session along the fence in Squaw Valley.
I love capturing the intimate moments between a couple when they are newly married.
I just loved those shoes!
Katie and Warren share a kiss beside Warren’s 1966 Mustang GT before heading in to their reception.
Capturing candids of all of the guests through out the reception is a nice way to tell the story of the day as it happens. In the photograph on the left, the groom and his cousins talk with their grandparents who couldn’t make it to the wedding.
Katie and Warren dance with a few of their guests who surprised them with these costumes, a song and dance. Katie described it to me, “The costumes for the dance were brought by our friend Pete and were Greek costumes. The back story is that Pete has competed throughout the area in Greek dancing and Risa (who also is greek) always sings at our friends’ weddings. So they decided to join forces and choreographed a dance and rewrote the words to the Mama Mia song, to relate to Warren and I. It was a complete shock since we had no idea they were doing this.”
