Hunter + Dakota's Fall Zorvino Vineyards Wedding

Weddings | October 4th, 2019

We met Hunter + Dakota through Hunter’s brother and sister in law–whose wedding we had shot the previous year–and were over the moon excited when they asked us to capture their big day as well. Hunter + Dakota both really wanted winter engagement photos when they were back home and the weekend that we chose did not disappoint at all. It had just recently snowed, and it made for some absolutely stunning photos. Hunter + Dakota were absolute troopers in the cold, laughing and going along with anything we threw at them, which made us so much more excited for their upcoming wedding.

Hunter and Dakota are both serving our country in the Air Force and both were stationed in Colorado, where they first met. They both have such fun and bubbly personalities that the love they have for each other just came so natural. When Dakota proposed to Hunter, he surprised her with a mini getaway at a hot spring resort in the beautiful mountains in Colorado. After a nice dinner during this getaway, he popped the question!

Hunter and Dakota got married at the absolutely beautiful Zorvino Vineyards in Sandown New Hampshire. When we arrived at the venue, it was a beautiful sunny, yet cold, day. The ceremony space was already set up with all of their flowers- the wooden gazebo looked gorgeous overlooking the grapevines below. We walked upstairs to where Hunter was getting ready with her girls and the energy was palpable. Hunter was all smiles and so excited. Hunter’s mom, Vicki, was doing Hunter’s hair (so cute!), everyone was drinking mimosas- overall, it was a very relaxed mood.

Shortly after we arrived, Hunter’s flower girl Frankie showed up. This girl was SO adorable. From the second she walked in, she was all smiles and personality. Seeing her face light up when she got to see her dress for the first time was priceless. She had us and everyone else in the room laughing and dancing with her.

Once Hunter’s hair and makeup was done, we took a few quick pictures of her mom helping her in to her dress, and stepped out of the room. We could tell that both of them were excited and emotional now that the ceremony was so close to being started. We really wanted Hunter and her mom to have a quiet moment to themselves to take it all in, so we stepped out and waited for her girls to see Hunter in her dress for the first time. Their reaction was priceless!

Then it was time to do the first look with her dad! We first met Hunter’s dad at her brother’s wedding, and we knew then how special their bond was, and how special this moment was for both of them. We got him ready and even before he turned around he had tears in his eyes. Cue the tears behind the camera for us when he got to see Hunter for the first time! We love these smaller special moments so much during weddings.

While the girls were finishing up their hair and make-up, we went and checked on the guys. They were doing their final touches and putting on their boutonnières, with some help from some of the ladies of course. We snapped away while the officiant was reading through his ceremony and while Dakota joked around with his guys. They then went and got some wine slushies from the winery (yes, WINE SLUSHIES...yum) The guys hung out for little bit longer and waited for the ceremony to start.

For the ceremony, Hunter and Dakota decided to have a family friend officiate the ceremony for them. It was such a heartfelt, beautiful ceremony. There were so many special moments included throughout- including handwritten notes from both Hunter and Dakota’s parents to them. And if anyone knows Hunter’s dad Brian, you know that he can write an absolutely beautiful speech- there wasn’t a dry eye anywhere when the officiant read these out loud. Those tears were quickly wiped away though, because you couldn’t help but laugh at the little ring bearer, Dakota’s nephew, toddling up and down the aisle during the whole ceremony.

The grapevines of Zorvino Vineyard made an absolutely perfect backdrop for family portraits during cocktail hour. It was a cool experience for us because we don’t get a lot of opportunities to see the same families more than once- it was so much fun to get to catch up with some familiar faces that we had seen at Rachel and Cheney’s wedding!

Once these were done, we stole Hunter and Dakota away to explore the vineyard even more for their couple photos. Although it was a cold afternoon, you would never know it– just like during their engagement session, they were down for anything we asked them to do, and they had so much fun doing it. Both Hunter and Dakota were so excited to finally be married that the emotion just burst through every photo we took.

And just like that, it was time to get the party started! We moved inside to Zorvino Vineyard’s beautiful rustic reception space for introductions. Hunter and Dakota enjoyed their first dance as husband and wife surrounded by all of their friends and family.

After the first dance, Hunter’s dad welcomed and thanked the guests with such a beautiful speech– for the second time that night, we were crying behind our cameras along with everyone else listening to him talk about Hunter and Dakota’s relationship, as well as the beautiful relationship he and Vicki share. After his speech, Hunter’s maid of honor Rachel and Dakota’s best man Kyle gave their toasts, followed by the parent dances, and once again we were reminded of just how close the bond is between Hunter and Dakota and their families.

We already knew from Rachel and Cheney’s wedding that Hunter’s family really liked to dance- and the rest of their guests were the exact same. As soon as the dance floor was open, everyone was up and dancing. The party really got started before the bouquet toss– all of a sudden Ginuwine’s “Pony” started playing, and Dakota (who up until now had been a little on the reserved side) turned to Hunter and tossed his suit jacket at her. Her face after she caught it says it all!

As the night started to wrap up, we knew that we wanted to steal Hunter and Dakota away one more time for some night photos by the beautiful archway looking over the vineyard. These were some of our favorite moments to capture from the whole night– all of the big moments were over at this point, and Hunter and Dakota got to step away from the crowd and just have one last quiet moment together before the night ended.

Hunter and Dakota, thank you so much for including us to be a part of your special day! We had so much fun and can’t wait to catch up with you the next time you’re home from Colorado!

Did we just become best friends?

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