Purgatory Resort Wedding in Durango

When we got Jamie and Eric’s Purgatory Resort wedding invitation in the mail, it had the Milky Way as the background and promised “Dinner, Dancing, and Meteor Shower to Follow” the ceremony. They couldn’t have picked a better spot (Dante’s Peak) or day (one of the peak nights of the Perseid meteor shower) to make good on that promise.

Friday morning found us in a caravan of 4WD vehicles heading up a forest service road behind the venue coordinator to make sure none of us got lost on the way to the venue. The day was rainy, and not the usual Colorado rain where you just have to wait 15 minutes for the storm to pass through and the sun to come out. This rain was relentless and had me checking weather.com every hour. We scouted out our photo locations and trusted that the view was jaw-dropping when not obscured by clouds.

The weather did eventually let up on Friday and the clouds even cleared enough in the evening for Jesse and I to drive up the mountain a bit to practice shooting the Milky Way, a shot we had been hoping to do for a very long time. When we stepped out of the car, our breath was taken away by the sheer number of stars you could see in the sky. We had downloaded an app to determine which direction we had to point the camera in order to see the Milky Way, but it turns out the app was unnecessary; you could see it with just your eyes. We hung out long enough to ensure that we would be able to capture the stars on Saturday before calling it a night.

Saturday morning arrived sunny and beautiful, with just enough white cumulus clouds to make the sky interesting. I freaked out a little bit when I saw that weather.com had no rain until later in the evening, during the small window we had to capture the Milky Way before the almost-full moon rose. Then I realized that somehow, weather.com had me in Washington, DC; once I switched my location to Purgatory Resort, I was thrilled to see that there was no rain in the forecast at all and only light clouds in the evening.

It seems anti-climactic for me to describe the actual photo we were able to capture of Jamie and Eric beneath the night sky, so I’m not even going to try. In this case, the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words misses the mark by about a million words. So take a look for yourself.

Jamie and Eric, we couldn’t have checked this photo off our wish list without your venue selection, willingness to take a break from your party, and trust in us while we tried something brand new. It was an absolute pleasure and an honor to document your Purgatory Resort wedding. Mahalo!

Jamie & Eric’s epic Milky Way photo was featured in the Huffington Post! You can also read more about their wedding in the print issue of Durango Weddings Magazine.