A Rainy Summer Wedding at The Woodlands in Morrison, Colorado
The Woodlands sits above Morrison, where the road climbs up through the pines and then everything opens onto a meadow with the mountains stacked up behind it. Liz and James got married there on a summer evening. It rained in the middle of portraits. Neither of them flinched.
Liz carried a Bird of Paradise in her bouquet and pinned one on her father’s lapel. They were there for her mom, who she lost when she was young. Once you know to look for them you see them all day, in the arrangements at the arch and again on the dinner tables.
The Team Behind the Day
Venue and Coordination: The Woodlands
Florals: Dahlia Dream Designs
DJ: Chris Lewis, Event Revelry
Video: Voir Videos
Bar: Peak Beverage
Photography: Two One Photography
Getting Ready
Liz and her seven bridesmaids started the day at The Eddy Hotel in Golden, in matching tees, spraying champagne in the lot before anyone had their makeup on. Her grandmother came in to fasten her necklace and stayed for a minute after. James and his guys got ready at the venue with a whiskey toast and a lot of helping each other with ties.
Three First Looks
There were three of them. James saw his mom first. Then Liz stepped out onto the deck to her bridesmaids, and then around the corner to her dad, who had his hand over his face before she even got close. Then the two of them, out in the lavender behind the barn with nobody else around.
The Ceremony
A hundred and twenty five people sat out on the lawn at five o’clock, the pines and the mountains stacked up behind the arch. Liz’s uncle Craig Cole read for them. Her dad walked her out through the barn doors and handed her over, then turned and hugged James like he had been waiting all day to do it.
The Wedding Party
Seven bridesmaids in rust and terracotta, six groomsmen in cream. Against the white barn and all that green it read perfectly. Somebody found a golf cart and that was the end of the formal portion.
Liz and James
Then it started raining. We kept going. Somebody handed up a clear umbrella and we walked out to the rock outcrop anyway, and the truth is a sky that is doing something beats a sky that is doing nothing every single time.
The Details
Oranges down the middle of the tables, rust napkins, the Bird of Paradise turning up again in the centerpieces, table numbers with their own photos on them, and The Fitzys spelled out in neon across a wall of white flowers.
The Reception
They came in under a tunnel of arms and went straight into their first dance to I Love You Always Forever by Donna Lewis. Her dad gave a toast. Her maid of honor gave one. One of the groomsmen wore a shirt with James’s face printed all over the back of it.
When Liz filled out her questionnaire before the wedding and we asked what she was looking forward to most, she wrote three words: the dance floor. She was not exaggerating. It stayed full until the pizza showed up, and then it stayed full after that too.
To Liz and James
Thank you for a day that felt like the two of you the whole way through, rain and all. We loved being there for it.
Planning Your Own Wedding at The Woodlands?
We have photographed more than 800 weddings across Colorado, and The Woodlands is one of our favorite places to spend a day. The light in that meadow late in the afternoon is worth building your timeline around, and the barn gives you a real plan B when the weather turns, which up there it often does.
If you are getting married at The Woodlands, or anywhere in the Colorado mountains, tell us about your day. We would love to hear about it.
September 22, 2026
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