By Monique

Emma and John had a mountain wedding with the ceremony in the Trinity Church in Nevada City, and the reception at the Lodge at Sugar Bowl Ski Resort near Truckee. Between the church ceremony and reception, I took the couple to the Donner Lake look out point for some fun portraits on the granite rocks. Once we got to Sugar Bowl, Emma and John suprised their guests with the fact that the cocktail hour was held at the top of the mountain via a ride on a chair lift. There was a big field of mules ears wild flowers at the top of the mountain surrounding the lookout hut where guests enjoyed drinks and appetizers. I had also noticed a big field of lupine and paintbrush wild flowers near the main lodge, so I convinced them to take a quick walk through the field before heading to the deck for the reception, and these images ended up being my favorite images of the day. There were bees all around us, but they sat down in the middle of the field for a few minutes without any concerns. John and his family and friends are from Sweden, and Emma’s mother is from Sweden too. So the reception had several Swedish traditions that were a little different from typical America wedding receptions. Two of John’s friends were the toast masters of the evening, and they spread out a lot of toasts and a few games through out the dinner hour. Some of these invloved shots and singing Swedish songs. There was also a fun tradition of all the single men lining up to give the bride a kiss on the cheek.