Wedding Inspo - 5 Albuquerque Venues to Fall in Love With

Even though the past few wedding seasons have been filled with the most magical destinations both near and far from our beloved New Mexico, there’s nothing quite like The Land of Enchantment, especially our sweet little hometown of Albuquerque.

While we do spend a huge amount of time up north in Santa Fe, we never say no to enchanting celebrations in the city where everything started for us over a decade ago. On the surface, Albuquerque may not seem like a typical wedding destination, but if you you peek around all of its little corners you’ll be absolutely astonished with the divine wedding venues hidden in our quaint city. From heavenly lavender farms to epic historical landmarks to tranquil gardens, Albuquerque is truly a haven for wedding nuptials.

We couldn’t resist the chance to feature just a glimpse of a few of the Albuquerque wedding venues that continually take our breath away, season after season. Our hearts beat just a little faster every time we get to capture love at these incredibly special locations and we’re forever crossing our fingers for even more “I dos” at a few of our favorite gems.

Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography

Venue - National Hispanic Cultural Center
Located right near downtown Albuquerque, this historic location is known for its grandiose performing arts center, unique architecture, and rich history. However, one of the many details we love so much about National Hispanic Culture Center is the way that it also makes for the most perfect of wedding locations. Its blend of soft garden touches and stunning southwestern flair makes it truly the best of both worlds.

Venue - Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm

While this world renowned lavender farm needs no introduction, we simply can’t help falling madly in love with it time and time again. With its downright bewitching grounds (including an endless lavender field, iconic silos, and countless gardens) this beauty is a place we are always able to find a little bit more charm in every single time we visit. We can’t wait for more of our darling couples to become as spellbound with Los Poblanos as we have been for all of these years.

Venue - Casas de Sueños + San Isidro de Capilla
We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to feature one of the most entrancing wedding location combination we’ve ever laid eyes upon. The pure white, non-denomination beauty of San Isidro de Capilla makes for the perfect blank canvas for any couple desiring a classic wedding chic feeling that still lends perfectly to the even the most modern of fêtes. And truthfully, we think that one of the most delightful ways to follow up a ceremony in this Albuquerque staple is with an al fresco celebration at Casas de Sueños, a tiny garden known for its irresistible beauty. This little spot is close enough to the stunning bosque, yet far enough away from the hustle and bustle of the city, making it the most quaint location.

Venue - Old Town Farm
Perfectly tucked away right near Old Town Albuquerque, this darling little venue is truly the most peaceful of locations. From its stellar red barn to its tiny corn field to vast grounds, Old Town Farm is captivating beyond belief. And if its charming features weren’t enough, this alluring little spot perfectly reflects all of New Mexico’s seasons with its constantly changing foliage.

Venue - Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town
Last, but never least is one of our all time favorites and one of the first venues we ever photographed. Hotel Albuquerque is known for its incomparable beauty, from its Spanish-inspired ceremony pavilion to its stunning, open-air garden, to its famous architecture. We adore this space and the way that couples have continually loved it year after year. We couldn’t dream up a more romantic setting to make if official in the heart of Albuquerque.

Wedding Inspo - Dogs in Weddings

When it comes to weddings and elopements, there’s one guest we adore above all: dogs. We are absolutely smitten each time one of our couples includes their sweet fur babies in their special day and always have to squeeze in a few extra photos (and pets) with them.

No matter the type of wedding, we truly believe that including dogs should be a YES every single time. From the biggest, most elegant days to the quieter, more intimate nuptials, pups really do make everything that much more fun and exciting. We love seeing these precious furry angels ‘get ready’ with their parents, be a part of the ceremony, and (of course) be the star of any and all portraits.

If you’re on the fence about including your pups in your wedding or elopement, this is your sign to do it and to bring us with you!!

Featured Weddings + Elopements
Logan + Audry at Taos Ski Valley
Ben + Chelsey at White Sands National Park
Kenny + Molly at La Posada de Santa Fe
Andrew + Deanna at Hotel Andaluz
Tyler + Taylor in the East Mountains
Bobby + D’anndra at Hacienda Doña Andrea
Collin + Amber at a Private Estate in Albuquerque
Owen + Amelia at Hotel Albuquerque
Matt + Allie at a Private Estate in Santa Fe
Daniel + Nat at Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm
Morgan + Mattie at Las Campanas

Weddings + Elopements by the Alicia Lucia Photography Team
Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography

Wedding Inspo - Wedding Cakes

If you know our team, you know that wedding cakes hold such a big space in our hearts. Truth be told, we’re downright obsessed with seeing how our couples bring together their unique style with this traditional staple.

Each and every season brings out new cake trends as well as the classic styles we’ve come to absolutely adore over the years. We’ve been crushing so dang hard on all of the funky shag rug cakes, incredible heart-shaped beauties, and those pressed flower darlings, but we’re also major fans of those ever-so-stunning buttercream floral cakes that compliment literally any wedding out there. And the best of all is when we get to witness a perfect blend of a tried and true trend with something brand new (peep that floral cake adorned with custom made jewelry shapes below!).

We’re so dang ready to kick off our 2022 season and see all of those deliciously divine creations every single weekend, bring on all the sugar-coated goodness!

Featured Cake Bakers
Planty Sweet
Maggie’s Cakes
Feathers and Frosting
Chocolate Maven
Figs and Honey Cake Co
Cake Fetish
Toothache Cakery
Simply Sweet by Darci
Sweet Treets Bakery
A Cake Odyssey

Weddings + Elopements by the Alicia Lucia Photography
Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography

2021, a Year with ALP

After the truly life changing year the was 2020, we knew that this year was going to be incredibly special as the world finally opened back up for big weddings and celebrations of all kinds. Our 2021 couples filled our cups to the brim with the must stunning days that we’ll cherish for seasons to come.

If going back to a full wedding season wasn’t exciting enough for us, we were also beyond lucky to travel to so many gorgeous new locations this year. From the vast wine country of Austin to the dreamy mountains of Taos to the ever mystic Ghost Ranch to all the new little spaces in Santa Fe, our scenery was far from the ordinary. On top of this, so many of our couples were finally able to celebrate with all of their friends and family, an experience that we will never take for granted ever again.

Cheers to all the new adventures with the best couples in the most stellar of places, we can’t wait for all that 2022 is sure to bring our way.

Places the ALP Team Visited in 2021
White Sands National Park (Alamagordo, NM)
Bishop’s Lodge Resort (Santa Fe, NM)
Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Farm (Albuquerque, NM)
Four Seasons Santa Fe (Santa Fe, NM)
Camp Lucy (Dripping Springs, NM)
Ghost Ranch (Abiquiu, NM)
White Mesa (Rio Rancho, New Mexico)
La Posdada de Santa Fe (Santa Fe, NM)
Lighthouse Studio (Albuquerque, NM)
Camino Real Ranch (Austin, TX)
Breckenridge (Colorado)
Race and Religious (New Orleans, LA)
Hacienda Doña Andrea de Santa Fe (Cerillos, NM)
The Seraphim House (New Orleans, LA)
The Stakeout Taos (Taos, NM)
Sandia Foothills (Albuquerque, NM)
Taos Ski Valley (Taos, NM)
Sandia Resort (Albuquerque, NM)
La Fonda on the Plaza (Santa Fe, NM)
Tingley Beach (Albuquerque, NM)
Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town (Albuquerque, NM)
Sandia Mountains (Tijeras, NM)
Angel Fire (New Mexico)
La Mesita Ranch (Santa Fe, NM)
Hotel Andaluz (Albuquerque, NM)
Inn and Spa at Loretto (Santa Fe, NM)
El Malpais National Monument (Grants, NM)
Hotel St. Francis (Santa Fe, NM)
Farm and Table (Albuquerque, NM)
Ten Thousand Waves Resort (Santa Fe, NM)
Pecos National Historic Site (Pecos, NM)

Weddings + Engagements by the Alicia Lucia Photography Team
Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography

Wedding Inspo - Bouquet Inspo Third Edition

No matter what kind of celebration we’re capturing, we know that there’s guaranteed to be some variety of magical florals involved. For us, bouquets always take the cake on wedding and elopement days, these beauties say so much about a couple, their nuptials, and their love story.

From the tiniest blooms to the biggest florals, bouquets are always one of our favorite details. Whether they’re dainty and soft or bold and bright, bouquets know how to steal the show. We love seeing our couples chose the most elegant, classic florals or even opting for something modern, colorful, and completely out-of-the-box.

2021’s bouquets were the downright dreamiest, we can’t wait to see what 2022 and beyond have in store for our floral-loving hearts!!!!

Featured Florists
Renegade Floral
Manmade and Sage
Bagels Florals
Floral Fetish
A Beautiful Theme
Mini Falls Farms
Floral Elegance
Floriography Flowers
La Flora Floristry
Viva Flora
Two Baroque Girls
Whim Hospitality
Noble Floral
The Flower Company
Stems of Austin
Good Seed Floral
Rose Rebels Floral Design
Foraged Santa Fe
Florecita Flowers
Albuquerque Florist
Something Special with Flowers

Weddings + Elopements by the Alicia Lucia Photography Team
Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography

Owen + Amelia, a Heavenly Old Town Wedding

After nearly 3 whole years of waiting, longtime sweethearts Owen and Amelia finally got to celebrate their wedding surrounded by their family and friends on the most perfect spring day. These lovers created the most magical day in Old Town and dang, was it one for the books.

Owen and Amelia first met several years ago through a mutual friend while both living in Boston. At first, they both thought that their relationship wouldn’t turn into anything serious, but the universe had other plans and these two slowly fell head-over-heels in love. In 2018, Owen proposed to Amelia in their kitchen right before Christmas and the rest is history.

We met these cuties all the way back in spring of 2019 for their engagement session and were so honored to be a part of their tiny elopement in 2020 when the pandemic forced them to postpone their big day. Nearly a year later, Owen and Amelia got to reaffirm their love and commitment for each other in the presence of their loved ones and tbh it was a day that was worth the wait. Leaning into the soft garden vibe of their dreamy venue, Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town, Amelia and Owen’s wedding highlighted all their delicate details and classic romance. From the unreal bridal gown that Amelia’s mom made by hand for her (!!!!!!!) to the stunning florals crafted by our friends at Floral Elegance right down to their sweet first dance to “I Found You” by Alabama Shakes, this heavenly day was everything and more. Seeing these two finally having their dream wedding (along with their cutie pup Penny!) was beyond special to us.

We adored every single second of Amelia and Owen’s journey together, cheers to a lifetime of love angels!!!

To check out Owen + Amelia’s darling elopement, follow this link:
Owen + Amelia, a Desert Elopement

Vendors
Venue - Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town
Florals - Floral Elegance Weddings
Stationary + Paper Goods - Briar and Brambles Paper
Hair - Nicole Hovlik
Makeup - Betty Rose by Alanna
Bridal Gown - made by mother of the bride
Bride’s Shoes - Sam Edelman
Bridesmaid Gowns + Flower Girl Dresses - made by mother of the bride
Groom’s Suit - Men’s Wearhouse
Officiant - Bishop David Doyle
Cake - Cake Fetish
DJ - Cutmaster Music
Lead Photographer - Alicia
Second Photographer - Melanie
Assistant - Jaclyn

Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography

Wedding Inspo - Top 5 Albuquerque Wedding Venues

Albuquerque has been our number one spot for weddings and elopements over the last ten seasons and let’s just say that the cutie venues here never disappoint. Our sweet little city has some of the dreamiest places to say “I do” and we’re constantly blown away by the magical celebrations we get to capture at each of them.

From tiny little farms to lavender gardens to elegant hotels to quiet gardens, there truly is a venue in Albuquerque for every single couple out there. If you’re more of the classic, romantic type, Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town might be perfect for you, but if you’re more of a quaint, rustic kind of lover, Old Town Farm could be your jam. And if you’re looking for a historic, otherworldly place to elope or have a tiny wedding, the ever stunning Los Poblanos could make your dreams come true.

Every single time we visit these sweet little venues we’re reminded of why we adore Albuquerque so much and special this city really is to us. We can’t wait for even more lovers to tie the knot at these incredible spaces!!!

Featured Venues + Love Stories
Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town - Owen + Amelia and Zach + Coli
Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm - Evan + Jocelyn
Casa Perea Art Space - Ysidro + Celestina
Old Town Farm - Russell + Katie and Brad + Kenna
Casas de Sueños - Zach + Coli

Weddings + Elopements by Alicia, Ashley, Bre, and the ALP Team
Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography

Wedding Inspo - Garden Inspired Weddings

If there’s one thing that leaves us absolutely breathless, its all of the insanely gorgeous garden soirées we get to be a tiny part of. These sweet, romantic, and wonderfully unreal dream days are some of the most memorable celebrations around.

Whether its here in our incredible Southwestern home state, in ever-charming Texas, or anywhere else on the planet, garden inspired weddings are always the days that take us to a completely different universe. From the soft and lush florals to the subtly delicate details to the magical air around these days, garden weddings always take us to cloud nine.

We can’t wait to be swept off of our feet with even more of these enchanting weddings, here’s to capturing every single bit of magic out there!

Featured Weddings + Styled Shoots
Ysidro + Celestina at Casa Perea Art Space (Corrales, NM)
Andrew + Natalie at Camp Lucy (Dripping Springs, TX)
Owen + Amelia at Hotel Albuquerque (Albuquerque, NM)
Jawara + Jasmyn at Los Poblanos Historic in and Organic Farm (Albuquerque, NM)
Angie + Brittany at a Private Estate (Albuquerque, NM)
Enchanted Bridal Shoot with Brittany in Old Town Albuquerque (Albuquerque, NM)

Weddings + Styled Shoots by Alicia and Bre of Alicia Lucia Photography
Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography

Wedding Inspo - Soft Minimalist Weddings

While our 2021 wedding season is in full swing and we’re obsessed with all of the new, stunning trends coming into the picture this year, we’re forever in love with easily one of the most iconic trends of all, soft minimalist weddings. These days are seriously everything to us and, truthfully, its not hard to see why.

A twist on the ever romantic classic wedding trend, soft minimalist weddings combine that old style glam with a dash of modern chicness. For us, there’s so much to adore about this trend. Whether its the sleek bridal gowns, the understated yet beautiful florals, or even the clean and simple details, we find something new to to crush on every single time. We love the way that minimalist weddings can take place at a lavender farm, in a backyard, or even on a rooftop in Santa Fe! Our couples who chose these elegantly simple days always know how to make their celebrations effortless and beyond lovely.

Here’s to all the pretty, ethereal days to come, we can’t wait to soak in all the soft minimalist beauty!!

Featured Love Stories
Dominic + Maggie at a Private Estate in Albuquerque, NM (coming soon to the blog)
Tom + Justine at La Fonda on the Plaza in Santa Fe, NM (coming soon to the blog)
Chris + Ari at Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm in Albuquerque, NM
Zach + Coli at Hotel Albuquerque + Casas de Sueños in Albuquerque, NM
Matt + Allie at a Private Estate in Santa Fe, NM

Weddings by Alicia Lucia Photography Team
Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography

Wedding Inspo - Old Town Weddings and Elopements

If there’s one part of town we love getting to rediscover over and over every season its beautiful little Old Town Albuquerque. Even though wedding season looked a whole lot different this year, we loved every second spent in this enchanting little area capturing tiny nuptials.

Besides being incredibly iconic, Old Town is a place that oozes magic and charm around every single corner. Whether its an intimate wedding at the ever so quaint Old Town Farm, a grand wedding at the historic San Felipe de Neri Church right on the plaza, a quiet elopement at The Desert Compass, or a stunning ceremony at Hotel Albuquerque, we always find something new to love about this special part of town. We love getting to see new little venues thrive and older venue get lots of well-deserved love all in the same part of town.

We’re so excited for more enchanting days in this hidden gem of a place, cheers to many more years of our beloved Old Town!!!

Featured Weddings + Elopements
Zach + Natalie, a Desert Compass Styled Shoot
Rob + Antonette, an Old Town Styled Elopement
Russell + Katie, an Old Town Farm Elopement (coming soon to the blog)
Zach + Coli, a Hotel Albuquerque and Casas de Sueños Wedding
Michael + Caitlin, a San Felipe de Neri Wedding
Brad + Kenna, an Intimate Old Town Farm Wedding
Dillon + Stephanie, a Hotel Albuquerque Wedding

Weddings, Elopements, and Styled Shoots by Alicia, Ashley, Bre, and the ALP Team
Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography

Wedding Inspo - Intimate Weddings Part II

Earlier this year we posted a blog about some of our favorite intimate wedding inspiration, but after about a dozen more tiny weddings just in the past few months, we decided to make a part two!

If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a dozen times, we ADORE intimate weddings. Everything about these little weddings is absolute perfection, from being able to spend more time with your guests to having a less limited budget due to overall lower costs to even just being able to enjoy more moments soaking up those first few hours of marriage. Over the past few months, we’ve been absolutely blown away by how our couples have taken intimate weddings to the next freaking level. Backyard weddings with all the pretty garden details, stoop weddings followed by mini parades, and the most adorable little farm weddings have just been the beginning of a whole new era of micro-weddings.

We’re not sure when giant weddings will be a consistent possibility in the coming months, but dang are we thankful for these beautiful, heartfelt, downright incredible intimate weddings. We can’t wait to share even more of these gorgeous days still to come!

Real Love Stories + Styled Shoots
Ysidro + Celestina at Casa Pera Art Space (coming soon to the blog)
Andrew + Deanna at Hotel Andaluz (coming soon to the blog)
Kenny + Molly at a Private Estate in Santa Fe (coming soon to the blog)
Eric + Lauren at Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm (coming soon to the blog)
Angie + Brittany at a Private Home in Nob Hill
Gates + C.C. at a Private Estate in New Mexico
Matt + Allie at a Private Home in Santa Fe
Nate + Cait in Downtown Denver, CO
Brad + Kenna at Old Town Farm
Stuart + Kelly at Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm
Zach + Natalie at The Desert Compass
Andrew + Shay at a Private Home in Albuquerque (coming soon to the blog)
Jawara + Jazz at Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm
Ryan + Jennifer at Sarabande Bed and Breakfast
Zach + Coli at Hotel Albuquerque and Casas de Sueños
Paul + Carolyn at Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm

Weddings + Styled Shoots by Alicia, Ashley, Bre, and the ALP Team
Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography

Wedding Inspo - Invitation Suite Inspo

A lot of things may have changed for weddings this year, but one element that always remains is beautiful invitation suites. We adore seeing how our couples pull together their special day with this tiny, but stunning detail.

From bespoke invitation suites with watercolor details to minimalist and modern stationary to bright and colorful invites, we’ve seen some incredible designs over the past season!

We can’t wait to see what unique and beautiful concepts our couples pull into their invitation suites in the future, we already know that we’ll be absolutely awestruck over them all!!

Invitation Designers
Funky Olive Design
Letterpress Made
Minted
Natalie Soud Studio
Silver Swirl Studios
Sweet Sentimentality
Basic Invite
Protea Press
Shutterfly
K.Laine Design
Southern Fried Paper
Dandylion Paper

Weddings by the Alicia Lucia Photography Team
Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography

Wedding Inspo - Intimate Weddings

As 2020 progresses, it feels like there are different possibilities for weddings on a daily basis. And while big weddings, especially in New Mexico, might not be a reality for a little bit, we adore that intimate weddings are starting to become a bigger staple in the wedding industry.

For clarity, intimate weddings and elopements might seem similar, but they’re actually quite different. In a typical elopement, usually just the couple, the officiant, and the photographer are present. However, in an intimate wedding, usually both sets of parents of the couple, the officiant, a few close friends/family members, and the photographer are present. Sometimes, when there’s not a pandemic taking place, an intimate wedding can even look something like 15-45 guests, usually just a short list of the most important people in the couple’s life.

So far this year, we captured one of the sweetest intimate weddings here in Albuquerque at Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm, but in the past we’ve captured a handful of tiny weddings that have filled our hearts with absolute joy. Some of the bonuses of intimate weddings aren’t just cost related (or in 2020’s case, health related), sometimes the best things about smaller weddings involved being able to spend quality time with pretty much every single guest. Another factor is even being able to allow moments of the day to feel less hectic such as making timelines that have less rushed portraits and ceremonies with smaller weddings parties (which means a lot less stress too).

While big weddings will someday be a possibility again, having intimate weddings in their place until we can all gather together safely again might just be the next best thing. Here’s to finding new ways to celebrate and never ever giving up on love, no matter what the universe throws our way!!

Featured Intimate Weddings + Styled Shoots
Brad + Kenna at Old Town Farm
Paul + Carolyn for Rocky Mountain Bride at Los Poblanos
Ben + Katy at The Inn of the Five Graces and Hacienda Corta Caro
Zach + Coli at Hotel Albuquerque and Casas de Sueños
Stuart + Kelly at Los Poblanos
Ryan + Jennifer at Sarabande Bed and Breakfast
Daniel + Natzidielly at Los Poblanos
Ryan + Jason at Ghost Ranch
Daniel + Rebecca at Eldorado Hotel and Neptune Art Space
Oriol + Sarah at Gerald Peters Gallery
Angelo + Rocio at Los Poblanos

Weddings + Styled Shoots by Alicia, Ashley, Bre, and the ALP Team
Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography