Megan + Nick’s Manor House Wedding in Littleton, Colorado
Venue: The Manor House | Florals: Parsley & Valentine | DJ: Gio Barabadze | Cake: The Makery | Hair: Em’s Bridal Hair | Makeup: Mayra Fuentes | Photography: Two One Photography
Megan and Nick got married at The Manor House in Littleton, and somewhere in the middle of the afternoon, out on the lawn with the whole Front Range behind them, they stood together and read each other their private vows. Nobody else heard a word of it. They had asked for that on purpose, and it turned out to be the anchor of the entire day.
I have photographed more than 800 weddings and over 200 of them at the Manor House, and I still learn something from couples who decide in advance exactly what they want the day to feel like. Megan told me she wanted overall happiness and authenticity from the guests, emotion from the family, and something touching and timeless from the two of them. That is what we built the timeline around.
The Details They Thought About for a Year
Megan is a designer at heart and it showed in everything she touched. The invitation suite was a soft dusty blue with an oval script motif, and it carried straight through to the place cards, the menus and the table numbers. Her rings sat on that suite all morning before anyone put them on.
These are the two vow books they would read from a few hours later. She wrote hers out by hand.
Getting Ready in the Extra House
Megan and her girls took over the extra house on the Manor House property, which is one of my favorite getting ready spaces anywhere. Big windows, quiet, and enough room that nobody is stepping over anybody. Her bridesmaids wore matching blue pajamas. She wore a robe with her name on it, and a second one that said Mrs. Meihaus.
And then there are the shoes. She had a beautiful pair of heels for the ceremony and a pair of white Air Force 1s for the dance floor, which is exactly the right call at a wedding where people actually dance.
Her mom zipped her dress. That was the first look with her mother, and we kept everyone else out of the room for it. Debbie had also had a handkerchief engraved, and Megan held onto it most of the morning.
Nick and the Guys in the Groom’s Room
The guys had the groom’s room downstairs, which has a pool table, and they used it. Nick wore an olive green suit, and his mom pinned his boutonniere and fixed his tie before anybody else got to see him. That was a request from the questionnaire and I am glad it was, because it is one of the best frames of the day.
Five First Looks Before the One With Nick
Megan wanted first looks with almost everyone, and we built enough room into the timeline to give each of them air. Her sister got a ring engraved with their maiden names. Her dad came into the room and could not hold it together, and neither could she. Her bridesmaids turned around one at a time. Her flower girls got their own moment.
This one is her father. He had a photograph tucked into the lining of his jacket, right behind his tie, so that someone who could not be there was with him all day.
The First Look and the Private Vows
Megan told me early on that she did not love the tap on the shoulder, so we did it differently. Nick walked out to the lawn and stood facing the mountains while she came down the path behind him, and he turned when he was ready. Then I walked away and gave them the field to themselves, and they read their vows out loud with nobody else close enough to hear.
If you are debating whether to do private vows, this is my case for it. The ceremony is for everyone. This part is only yours, and you will never get the two of you alone like that again on a wedding day.
And then there is what was inside his jacket the whole time. Nick had the lining embroidered, and nobody knew until he opened it.
Portraits Around the Manor House
Doing the first look early bought us the whole back half of the afternoon, which is the real argument for it. We used the front steps, the lawn, the hedge line, the aspens along the drive, and the view out toward the hogback. On a clear day you can see the Denver skyline from the ceremony lawn, which almost nobody expects from a house that looks like this one.
Five and Five, and a Stack of White Parasols
Five bridesmaids in dusty blue satin, five groomsmen in charcoal, and Nick in olive so he reads as his own person in every frame. The girls carried white parasols, which photograph beautifully and also keep everyone out of the August sun while we work. The library inside the Manor House is where the guys always end up, and it never gets old.
A Ceremony With the Whole Front Range Behind It
They married outside on the ceremony lawn in front of 108 people, with the foothills on one side and the Denver skyline on the other. Parsley & Valentine lined the aisle in white and blue and left the view alone, which is the right instinct at this venue.
They tied a love knot during the ceremony. If you have not seen one, two cords get braided together into a single knot that cannot be pulled apart, and the couple does it with their own hands in front of everyone. It takes about ninety seconds and it gives a ceremony something to look at besides two people talking.
The Reception Room, and the Table Numbers Everyone Talked About
Navy linens, white and blue florals, gold candlesticks, blue glassware. But the thing everyone stood around looking at was the table numbers. Instead of a number, each table got a framed childhood photo of somebody in the room, and you had to work out who you were looking at to find your seat. There was also a memory table of framed photographs of the people who could not be there.
Toasts, Dances and a Room That Would Not Sit Down
Gio Barabadze ran the night and brought a live guitar into it, which lifted the whole room. The toasts went long in the best way. Her dad spoke, the best man spoke, and Megan got up and spoke too. Then the dance floor opened and essentially never emptied.
Then out the front doors and down between the columns, with everyone throwing streamers on the porch of the Manor House. It is my favorite exit at this venue and it is not close.
Megan’s Advice to Anyone Planning Right Now
I ask every couple to leave one piece of advice for the people coming behind them. Hers is the best argument for trusting yourself that I have gotten in a while.
You can listen to everyone’s advice but just do what you want. Do the design you want because it’s your vision and no one else understands the end result.
She is right, and this day is the proof. Nobody else was picturing framed childhood photos instead of table numbers, or a handkerchief guest book, or sneakers under a wedding dress. She was, and it all landed.
Thinking About the Manor House?
The Manor House sits above Littleton with the Front Range on one side and the Denver skyline on the other, which means you can have a mountain view ceremony twenty five minutes from downtown. The ceremony lawn, the columned porch, the library and the extra house give you four completely different looks without anyone getting in a car.
- Do the first look. It bought Megan and Nick the entire back half of the afternoon and gave them the private vows on top of it.
- Ask about the ridge line. The sun drops behind the foothills before the published sunset, so the golden light window here closes earlier than the forecast suggests.
- Use the extra house. It is the best getting ready space on the property and most couples do not realize it is available to them.
- Plan the porch exit. Streamers, sparklers or anything else, those columns are built for it.
I have photographed over 200 weddings at the Manor House, so if you are looking at dates there and want to talk through a timeline, reach out through my contact page. Two One Photography is based in Castle Pines, Colorado, and photographs weddings throughout Littleton, Castle Rock, Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs and the Colorado mountain towns.
September 26, 2026
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