Mir {Wedding}

Sydnee & Hecter Mir

Our Lady of the Snows and the Alyeska Lodge Hotel

The very last day of 2014 marked the very first day of Sydnee and Hector’s marriage!

Sydnee is an Alaskan girl, through and through. Hector is from Florida.   Of course they wanted to share a true Alaskan experience with their Florida family and friends so they planned a sweet ceremony at the very largest ski resort in Alaska: Alyeska Resort in the Chugach Mountain Range.  Little did we know that Alaska had its own plans for the weather and the Floridians lucked out with some shockingly mild temps.  Where they wanted snow and crisp, cold weather, they got rain and mud. It was breakup on New Years Eve.  The weather didn’t dampen their spirits one bit! It was a party to remember.

When we met up with Hector in his room, he was just about ready. His groomsmen were on hand to help him with the final touches and we got to deliver a very sweet gift from his bride to be.

Sydnee had a very special handkerchief embroidered  with their very favorite saying as a sweet gift for her beloved.

I am just loving the hammered silver rings for Hector! So unique!

Hector cleans up pretty nice!  Both Hector and Sydnee are actually professional opera singers, so I imagine they both have lots of practice.

Love this one. He pulls off the “Humphrey Bogart” look so convincingly.

I adore his two toned tux! So handsome.

When I had arrived at the hotel, I had never met either Sydnee or Hector. We had done our entire consult over the phone. Imagine my delight when I saw that Sydnee is so absolutely adorable! I knew it would be a great day.

This one while her hair in the pin curls is almost my favorite photo of her in the entire set.  I say almost because they are all so great and she is so gorgeous!  But this photo has a clean 50’s look that makes me super happy.

Gah! Those sparkly shoes!

When I saw the reflection, “I” was the one singing opera. Which should never happen. Especially in front of these guys.   STUNNING.

I am officially holding back from sharing every photo in the blog. If you are one of the lucky that happen to have a password, scroll down to the bottom and click the link. Oh yeah- it will be worth it.

It was totally dark by the time we got to Our Lady of the Snows.   It was still decorated for Christmas, so we were able to do a couple of long exposure shots to set the scene.

Juniper berries, candles and little birds decorated the cute chapel.

Hector has some pretty special nephews and niece! Of course they love to tickle Uncle Hector! You can tell they just adore him.

Its time!

Sydnee’s veil was her grandmothers.  Such stunning lace.

Oh my goodness… the photo of the flower girl with her ears plugged during the long ceremony  just makes me giggle every time!

Communion is such a sacred moment.

Mr. and Mrs. Mir!

You know, sometimes its when the flash doesn’t fire or other things happen that you find the gold and true connection. Despite its technical imperfections, I just love this shot.

The guests all bustled on over to the Alyeska Resort. They had the cutest way to assign tables! A bottle of champagne for each person with their table number inscribed!

Meanwhile, Mr and Mrs Mir took a few moments to make some nice photos to remember the day by.

While I have this photo with classic processing as well… sometimes fun and funky turns out to be my favorite.

And some silhouette fun! Love how the flash shines through her dress!

Before we went into Alyeska Resort, we took a moment to set up the tripod for a long exposure shot with some light painting to set the scene:  Check out how you can see the chalet clear up on top of the mountain!

Snow White (AKA Sydnee) and Her prince’s table was decorated with all things glittery gold and rustic country Alaska. It was super cute.

Its no doubt where all those good looks came from. Wedding photos from family decorated the entry.

The grand entrance!

The couple immediately went into their first dance. They sang their song to each other the entire time.

If you like some good Alaskan food… check out this platter of King Crab legs for the wedding feast.  Mighty tasty!

Hector was pretty happy about it anyway, haha. 🙂

The toasts brought everyone to tears and giggles depending on the moment. Toasts, and the emotions that come from them, are always among of my favorite moments of a wedding day.

Check out this great idea:

Sydnee and Hector had a sweet customized cigar bar for all those that felt the need to posh it up and enjoy the starry night! Look at those sweet custom labels mixed in with those fatty-big-daddy cigars!

Haha, Hector!

And… .. . Haha, this guy!  Love the gents cracking’ up in the background!

I would be remiss in not pointing out the fantastic party atmosphere provided by DJ Spencer Lee out of Anchorage! It was hopping!

Sydnee and Hector had a dance where they honored the longest married couple… and these two win.  Aren’t they the cutest thing?  Seriously, my heroes.   As a lady who has been married for 17 years myself I can tell you, it’s hard work, but oh-so worth it!

And there you have it… the longest married couple with the shortest married couple. Love it.