Wild Basin Lodge Wedding | Abby and Ilan | Traditional Jewish Celebration » Colorado Mountain Elopement and Wedding Photographer

Abby and Ilan | Wild Basin Lodge Wedding

wild basin lodge colorado wedding photographer

Savannah Chandler Photography | Estes Park Wedding Photographer

Some weddings leave a big, soppy spot on your heart. That is exactly how I feel about Abby and Ilan’s Wild Basin Lodge wedding.

I very first spoke to Abby and Ilan from a hospital floor “patient dining room” via. FaceTime. It was the period in time where my son was undergoing chemotherapy – and that was my option. Abby and Ilan were more than understanding, and totally supportive of what was happening in MY LIFE, during a chat about THEIR wedding. These two are truly the best kind of humans – ones who genuinely care. It makes TOTAL sense to me that they both are going into the medical field, and I can’t wait to hear about all the amazing things these two kind humans do in the future.

Abby and Ilan are both of the Jewish faith. They invited me to celebrate Havdalah on Saturday night with them and their closest family and friends. There was food, followed by some very heartfelt toasts, and then one of my favorite experiences (as a human and a photographer) – a candle light ceremony to signal the end of the Sabbath and campfire songs under the stars. The moon was just making it’s way over the horizon right as the celebration began – making for an amazing moonglow over the adjacent Chapin, Chiquita, and Ypslion mountains. This is also one of my favorite images to date – as pushing to get angles, exposures, and moments can be very difficult. I am SO glad that I decided to step outside of my normal shooting boundries and went for that one shot (it literally was one shot, that I had one shot to get 😬).

The next morning, the wedding day was no less amazing. As with many wedding, Abby and Ilan gave each other gifts. However, these gifts were like this couple: truly thoughtful and lovely. Abby sang Ilan’s favorite song in Hebrew and recorded it alongside a track by one of their friend’s band. I don’t think there was a dry eye on the balcony during the whole song. Ilan had a stunning wooden box made, and inside it were photos, tickets, and even the original Email where they were introduced. So many fun and sweet memories to hear about.

As the day went on, so did the happy tears and my favorite – Lots of singing and dancing. I had SO MUCH FUN dancing along with everyone, from pre-ceremony all the way through the traditional Jewish dancing and Hora. I even found myself up on a ledge (getting those angles, of course 🤓) dancing along. The day was SO full of love, laughter, and EVERYONE felt included – even us crazy photographers.

I hope that you all enjoy Abby and Ilan’s photos as much as I did producing them. As the saying goes – you’ll always remember how people made you feel. I’ll always remember Abby and Ilan’s wedding – not only for the awesome photos, but sheerly for the way I was made to feel.

The most sincerest of Thank You’s and Well Wishes to the two of you as you begin your life as a married couple.

Cheers, and Mazel Tov.