We get asked for recommendations at nearly every wedding we work. This is the answer — a short list, kept deliberately short.
Most of the people here are ones we've stood beside at a wedding, often many times, and we say how many. A few are vendors we met and vetted but haven't yet shared a day with. Those are marked as such. We'd rather tell you which is which than blur the line.
Nobody paid to be listed and we take no commission on anything booked here. There is no arrangement — just people whose work we've watched hold up under pressure.
151 weddings across 67 venues since 2019 — these are the ones we know best
More of our weddings have happened here than anywhere else on the Western Slope — twenty-one of them. At this point we know where the power is, where the sun lands at six o'clock, and which corner the dance floor wants to be in.
How we run this venue → Montrose · 10 weddings since 2022Worth the drive from Grand Junction, and our couples have never once said otherwise. Ten weddings here and another on the books for this fall.
How we run this venue → Palisade · 10 weddingsOne of the first venues that ever trusted us with a wedding, and ten of them since. Vineyard setting, and a staff that already knows where we're loading in before we tell them.
How we run this venue → Loma · 7 weddings since 2020Indoor space that solves the problem every Grand Valley couple eventually runs into: what happens if it's a hundred and four degrees, or the wind comes up.
How we run this venue → Palisade · 6 weddings since 2020Farm setting in Palisade with room to spread out. Six weddings here and another this October.
How we run this venue → Montrose · 6 weddings since 2020Purpose-built for weddings, which shows in the details that usually get missed — where guests park, where the getting-ready space is, where the caterer stages.
How we run this venue → Grand Junction · 5 weddings since 2022The closest thing to a full-service wedding weekend inside city limits — ceremony, reception, and rooms for the people who shouldn't be driving afterward.
How we run this venue → Mack · 4 weddings, booked through 2027Further out than most people expect, which is exactly the point for some couples. Open reception space, and the sound behaves — not every outdoor venue can say that.
How we run this venue → Grand Junction · formerly Mountain View FarmRun by two sisters who genuinely care how the day goes, which is not a given. They've sent couples our way for years and we've never once had to smooth something over afterward.
How we run this venue → Ridgway · 3 weddings since 2023Mountain views that do most of the work for you. Plan the timeline around the light rather than the clock — sunset comes at you differently up there.
Visit their site → Palisade · 3 weddings since 2021Smaller and more intimate than most on this list. If your guest count is under a hundred and you'd rather the room feel full than large, this is the one.
Visit their site → Grand Junction · 3 weddings since 2025Newer to the valley and already running like they've done it for years. Waterfront setting without leaving town.
How we run this venue → Mesa · 3 weddingsMountain weddings up on the Mesa. We've known this crew a long time, and the altitude is worth planning around — it changes both your timeline and your guests.
Visit their site →Listed alphabetically — this is not a ranking
She built her name on elopements — small, fast, often somewhere you have to hike to — and has moved into brand photography since. Some of the photos of us floating around out there are hers. She's also a friend of ours, and we'd rather say so plainly than have you find it out later.
Visit their site → 2023 · Thunder Mountain LodgeMountain wedding, long day, and the gallery that came back made the drive look worth it. Find them at @andriasphotos.
Visit their site → 2 weddings · 2023 and 2025 · Orchard River ViewTwo days together, two years apart, and the second one ran as smoothly as the first. They know how to work a reception without becoming part of it.
Visit their site → 3 weddings · 2023–2026 · Antler Ridge, Orchard River View, Mesa ViewWe've worked more weddings alongside Ciara than any other photographer on this list, across four years and three different venues. That kind of repeat overlap isn't an accident — couples who hire her tend to be the couples we get along with too.
Visit their site → 2022 · Antler RidgeComfortable at an outdoor venue where the light changes fast and nobody gets a second take.
Visit their site →Willing to travel for a mountain wedding, and unbothered by the logistics that come with one.
Ask us for an introShot an October wedding up on the Mesa, where the light goes early and the temperature goes with it.
Visit their site → 2024Easy to work beside, which matters more over a nine-hour day than most couples realize when they're booking.
Visit their site → 2023 · Orchard River ViewKnows the Palisade venues, which shows in how she plans around the afternoon sun rather than fighting it.
Visit their site → 2023 · Lock, Stock and BarrelA July wedding in the middle of the heat, handled without drama.
Visit their site →Historic hotel, tricky interior light, and the gallery still came back looking like the room felt.
Ask us for an introThe one category we've never had anybody for — until now
Including the non-traditional
Things that happen in front of people
Welded permanent jewelry, on site. Two places it works especially well: the bridal party the morning of, while the photographer is already in the room shooting details — and that stretch after dinner before the dance floor fills, when guests are looking for something to do. Same reason our Photo Booth earns its keep in that window.
Ask us for an introGetting people there and home
This list changes as we work with more people. If you're a Western Colorado wedding vendor we've shared a day with and you're not here yet, say so — it's an oversight, not a verdict. We recommend these folks because we've worked with them; every couple contracts with them directly, and we aren't a party to that agreement.
Tell us your date and we'll tell you straight whether we're open.
Check Your Date →