Denver Botanic Gardens Wedding | Annuals Pavilion | Kaylee & Daniel

I photographed this beautiful morning brunch wedding at the Denver Botanic Gardens’ York Street location in early August!

The Annuals Garden and Pavilion was the perfect spot for their <50 person wedding—due to COVID, Denver Botanic Gardens was allowing weddings at 50% capacity. If you’re wondering whether to have your ceremony and reception at the Annuals Garden and Pavilion, do it! There is plenty of space, not to mention it’s super stunning.

I visited the gardens last year with a friend (and discovered how cool bonsai trees are!!!) and had envisioned one day photographing a wedding here. It had been awhile since I had gone, and since I didn’t have time to visit again before the wedding to scout locations, I Google-Mapped the crap out of the gardens to remember where beautiful spots were and see where the sun would be hitting. Side note—I’m part of several Denver/Colorado photographer Facebook groups, and the general consensus is that the Denver Botanic Gardens are one of the most amazing places to photograph weddings in Denver, not just because of the beauty but also because the staff is amazing and friendly!

Kaylee got ready at the Magnolia Hotel in Denver, while Daniel prepared at their new home. The Magnolia Hotel is stunning inside and is perfect for getting ready photos! There’s very easy parking nearby (this is my biggest fear after living in the San Francisco area #badatparallelparking), and the colors are beautiful & neutral, so I highly recommend people getting ready here! 

I love first looks with parents—it’s a special moment that I love capturing!

This is the Annuals Garden and Pavilion! I LOVE IT!

I also love weddings officiated by family members/people who really know the couple!

That just married feeling!

The beautiful Solarium at the Denver Botanic Gardens was where the ceremony was supposed to be before COVID hit (it’s a smaller, enclosed space), so it was empty for us to take photos. I love that we had both the Annuals and Solarium spaces to take photos in! Isn’t it amazing? 

The reception itself was under the pavilion! Even though it was on a summer morning, the wedding was not hot (plus there’s shade!), so if you’re wondering whether that will be an issue for your Denver Botanic Gardens wedding, don’t worry!!

Kaylee and Daniel’s wedding cake was donuts! AMAZING. I loved the personal touches they included, like the wedding program that had a crossword and lots of fun facts about the two. Kaylee is a writer so this was very her!

You know I love a good “bride looking at mother/son dance” photo.

Their wedding “guest book” was the cornhole & giant Jenga! This is such a good idea because you can use these forever and always be reminded of your family and friends :)!

Congratulations to Kaylee & Daniel!!!!!!!!!

While I don’t do it often (the last one was in June 2019 #covid), photographing weddings is a huge honor because you’re stepping into a couples’ close circle of family and friends. After all the weddings I’ve been part of, either as a guest, wedding party member, coordinator, or photographer, I go home feeling so grateful to have been brought into the fold of another person’s life. I always tell my friends how much I freaking love weddings because there is so much joy to go around, and the way that families and friends love on each other is amazing. After a few canceled/postponed events this year, I’m so excited for a 2021 full of celebrating my friends at their weddings!!!

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