Welcome to a multi-day wedding at Cloud Camp at the Broadmoor, a luxury wilderness retreat in the mountains above the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. This intimate family gathering for a Labor Day weekend celebration in early September (2018) was memorable for so many reasons. The leaves were changing already changing at the lodge. Guests were greeted upon arrival with Pendleton blankets in their cabins. Days here have a simple rhythm, with all-inclusive activities during the day concluding with the lowering of the flag and ringing the dinner bell! Then, evening begins.
When I arrived the evening before the wedding by shuttle, I found everyone gathered in the courtyard outside the lodge. Adults were drinking Moscow mules and smoking cigars. Kids were taking turns on a mechanical bull. A simple BBQ dinner served to the music of an acoustic guitarist gave way to a late night fire pit and s'mores. When guests got tired, they were only steps away from their cabins because everyone was staying at the property.
The next day, I returned to the lodge to find kids everywhere - playing boardgames, looking across distant mountain peaks through a telescope, and lounging in rocking chairs. The bride was in an upstairs suite with Nicole Toledo Make-Up getting ready for the ceremony.
Their ceremony took place on a north-facing deck with storms threatening in the distance. As this wedding was not either of their first (as evidenced by their beautiful blended family with multiple kids on each side serving as wedding party members) Natalie chose a watch for Mike instead of a wedding ring. After they were pronounced married and signed their license, I snapped some photos of Natalie and Mike as they waited for the golf cart that would relay them up the hill to the lodge. There, the tables cape was set with figs, pomegranates, feathers, antlers, and copper basins filled with flowers. It was a total vibe. I stayed for the table games and toasts, and dancing outdoors beneath strings of market lights. At some point I rode the shuttle back down in the dark past the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo to the Broadmoor Hotel, wishing I was back at Cloud Camp celebrating still! It was an awesome wedding weekend and I hope you'll enjoy living through it vicariously in these photos :)
