Lake Tahoe, California might have been on the edge of burning down, but that wasn’t going to stop this beautiful Valhalla Tahoe Summer Wedding from happening this past August.
I began working with Bo and Blake in 2019 and since then, they have become some of my fave humans. It has been such an honor capturing all of life’s big milestones for them over the years.
Bo and Blake’s Wedding Journey
We first did a styled shoot together in 2019. They had just gotten engaged so it was perfect that they were modeling as an engaged couple for the shoot. Super bonus — they got to use the photos from this shoot as their engagement photos!
After that styled shoot, they ended up booking me for their 2020 wedding. Can I get a HELL YEAH?! We all know that COVID-19 had other plans for all of those 2020 weddings. Bo and Blake ended up postponing theirs until 2021.
We took new engagement photos for their new save the dates, and they ended up eloping in 2020, on the same dates as their new 2021 wedding date! They eloped in Laguna Beach, California. Like every other moment that I have shared with them, it was so dang special!
Check out their Laguna Elopement here!
Bo, Blake, and I have been through a lot together! At the time, those “trials” didn’t seem to end! Because of the Caldor fire of 2021, we almost had to go through another wedding postponement. In fact, the day after the wedding, Tahoe closed the lake down to the public.
The fire was a tragedy, but the silver lining was the smoke’s cool effects in their wedding pictures.
A Unique Valhalla Tahoe Summer Wedding Experience
Driving up to the lake, the atmosphere was very smokey, eerie, and unlike anything, I had ever seen before! I honestly felt like I was driving through the set of The Walking Dead.
Bo and Blake got ready for their wedding at the lakeside Hotel Azure.
From there we traveled to their venue and headed down to the dock to take some first-looking pictures next to the lake. The smoke was super intense and it made for an unforgettable scene.
They had their ceremony indoors at Valhalla. For the record, this is an incredible venue. With a stunning stone fireplace that made out to be the alter, Bo and Black said, “I do.” It was so special to finally reach this point and get to witness the wedding we had been planning for close to two years.
A Wedding Finale in the Nick of Time
After the ceremony, everyone headed outside for a cocktail hour while the ceremony space turned into their reception space. We took all of the photos with family and friends and even had time for Bo and Blake to go enjoy their cocktail hour. Trust me, I want you to enjoy your wedding day and not just hang out with me! Making time for you to do just that is super important to me!
One of my favorite moments was when Bo and Blake’s closest friends gave beautiful speeches. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place. You could just feel the love that surrounded these two and their day.
Finally, it was time to let loose and party.
The drinks started to flow and everyone started to get down on the d-floor, ME INCLUDED!
Their Valhalla Tahoe Summer Wedding was a wonderful capstone to their journey. I pinch myself all of the time thinking about how lucky I have been to have been able to photograph their love from the beginning.
Dream Team:
Photographer: Dani Rawson Photography
Dress: Swoon Bridal
Hair and Makeup: Tahoe Hair Artistry
Jewelry: Dreaming Gold Jewelry
Planner: Envy Event Management
Rings: Forever Rox Jewelry
Venue: Valhalla Tahoe
