Embracing the Seasons for Your Wedding,

*A guest editorial blog contributed by Kiera Dean*

Sometimes it seems as though everyone has a summer wedding, but booking your wedding around a certain season is not always possible. Not only that, but you may want to plan your wedding based on your own favorite season. If you adore the winter or thrive in the spring, you can still create a gorgeous wedding.

Are you looking for some fun and easy ways to incorporate the seasons into your wedding planning? Read on to discover more.

Spring

A spring wedding can be perfect, though you cannot rely on the weather. It might be dazzling sunshine, a little chilly, or you may even get some snow. Whatever the weather, you can embrace the colors of spring. Pretty pastels will be the order of the day, combined with deeper berry accents to offset the gentleness. You can plan to have your photographs outside, but you probably do not want to organize an outdoor reception at this time of year. Instead, bring some soft floral accents indoors to give that spring fling feeling wherever you are.

Summer

A popular time to book your wedding, when planning for summer you will want to be outdoors as much as possible. Choose a boho theme and head to the woodlands or fields for an outdoor wedding, hiring a gazebo to combine the best of indoors and outdoors for your reception. Remember that, for summer weddings, cute little touches like having an ice cream van at your reception and serving a lighter meal are a great idea in the warmer weather.

Autumn

Plan to start your autumn wedding earlier in the day if you want to take advantage of those beautiful colours outdoors. You can have fun with the color scheme of an autumn wedding, as nature provides you with such a rich color palette as it is. Either lean into it by accentuating your bridesmaids’ dresses and decorations with rich oranges, plums and reds, or go for a gentler option with soft, more neutral caramels and apricots. This will look lovely as a bouquet, which you can combine with real autumnal foliage for a unique twist.

Winter

A winter wedding might not be at the top of everyone’s list, but if you happen to get that magical winter wonderland with real snow nothing is more enchanting! It’s risky to plan for real snow to fall, but you can opt for an immersive wintery theme that will make guests feel like they’re in Narnia! Go for fully Christmas vibes with rich reds and golds to accent your wedding dress and decorations, or keep it chic with silvery sparkles. You can also get away with serving food that is a little warmer and cozier.

Don’t forget to think about timings – the amount of daylight you get during the winter is drastically reduced, so you need to factor this into your photo schedule.

Feeling the seasonal inspiration? Whatever time of year you decide to tie the knot, you can turn your wedding into a beautiful reflection of you.

Featured Weddings + Elopements
Jawara + Jasmyn at Los Poblanos
Morgan + Mattie at Las Campanas
Brad + Kenna at Old Town Farm
Conner + Laura at Los Poblanos

Weddings + Elopements by Alicia, Ashley, Bre, and the ALP Team
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

Fathers' Day with ALP's Favorite Dads

Today more than ever we want to give a little extra love to all of the amazing dads, father figures, and dads-to-be that we’ve met over the years!

Wedding days are that much more special because of these wonderful men and all the love and guidance they bring our couples on their big days and beyond! We love getting to see all of the father-daughter first looks (and even a few flower girl and groom first looks with our grooms who are already lucky enough to be dads!), those emotional walks down the aisle, and of course parent dances during receptions.

Cheers to all the incredible fathers out there, our world is that much better because of your love and kindness!

Featured Weddings
Jake + Angela at Sandia Event Center
Stuart + Kelly at Los Poblanos (coming soon to the blog)
Morgan + Mattie at Las Campanas
Adam + Jill at Los Poblanos
Ashwin + Lauren at the Inn and Spa at Loretto and La Posada de Santa Fe
Gustav + Jackie at Los Poblanos
Garrett + April at Casa Perea Art Space
Chris + Ari at Los Poblanos
Patrick + Niki at Enchanted Vine Barn
Jordan + KC at La Fonda on the Plaza
Ben + Emilee at Sandia Event Center
Zach + Coli at Hotel Albuquerque and Casas de Suenos
Michael + Sarah at La Fonda on the Plaza
Drew + Lauren at La Mesita Ranch
John + Anna at La Fonda on the Plaza
Qwist + Cara at Los Poblanos
Trey + Clara at a Private Estate in San Patricio, NM
Carter + Carrie at La Fonda on the Plaza
James + Lauren at Los Poblanos

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

What We Heart About Santa Fe Weddings

Anyone who knows our team has seen how much we adore Santa Fe weddings and all of the amazing little spots where we’ve captured our couples and their love stories. From its vast architecture to it rich culture, Santa Fe is a gem among the Southwest and we feel so dang lucky to spend so much time exploring it.

One of the most iconic locations for weddings is, of course, the Santa Fe Plaza, but what many don’t realize is the vast number of different venues of all shapes and sizes for weddings.

Do you want a huge wedding with a parade around the historic plaza followed by an outdoor reception? There are several hotels including La Fonda on the Plaza, The Inn and Spa at Loretto, and La Posada de Santa Fe that are pros at these celebrations.

Or are you a bit more low-key and want an intimate wedding at a stunning hacienda or tiny inn? Spots like Hacienda Corta Caro and The Inn of the Five Graces are the coziest of wedding nooks.

Maybe you want a venue with an iconic past or one that’s even an art gallery? Places like Peters Projects at Gerald Peters Gallery, SITE Santa Fe, and The Santa Fe Opera are just a few of those unique, art focused spaces.

There’s even two incredibly famous churches right on the plaza, Loretto Chapel and The Cathedral Basilica of St Francis of Assisi, for more traditional weddings.

And what about places for couples wanting to venture a bit outside of the usual Santa Fe scene for venues nestled among the mountains and vast New Mexican landscape? Venues like La Mesita Ranch Estate, Las Campanas, Hacienda Doña Andrea, and Four Seasons Santa Fe all provide amazing views and details for any and all weddings they host.

Not only does Santa Fe have so many amazing venues, but so many unique New Mexican and Southwestern traditions have stayed in style season after season in The City Different. Every season mariachi parades around the plaza take center stage, tequila donkeys like sweet Conchita make an appearance at receptions, and all the chili, cactus, and skull details accent every inch of weddings. We love how couples from near and far fully embrace all the special little pieces of Santa Fe that we have such a soft spot for. And we can’t help but absolutely love it even more when our lovers from previous wedding seasons continue to visit Santa Fe year after year just to always have a part of the Southwest with them.

In our eyes, any venue in Santa Fe is the perfect venue and every tradition is beyond special. We’ve been so fortunate to capture a huge amount of couples in the most unique locations and honestly, we can’t wait to explore new places with brand new love stories.

Featured Santa Fe Venues
La Fonda on the Plaza
Hacienda Doña Andrea
La Mesita Ranch Estate
La Posada de Santa Fe
Santa Fe Opera
Las Campanas
SITE Santa Fe
Gerald Peters Gallery
Hacienda Corta Caro
Loretto Chapel
Inn and Spa at Loretto
Inn of the Five Graces
Eldorado Hotel and Spa
Four Seasons Santa Fe

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

Mother's Day with ALP's Wedding Day Mamas

If there’s one group of amazing women we appreciate more than anything, its all the incredible mamas out there! For us, Mother’s Day is the perfect excuse to celebrate these incredible women, but honestly we want to make all of the mothers in our lives feel extra special everyday!

Due to all of our pretty weddings and elopements, we’ve met some beyond wonderful mamas. From mothers of the brides and grooms, to stepmoms, to mother-in-laws, to grandmothers to mother figures, we’ve witnessed so many angelic women make wedding days that much more beautiful with their love, compassion, and light.

Our team is made up of a strong group of gals and many double as badass mamas as well. We’re in awe of the mothers we’ve met on wedding days and the mothers we have in our very own lives. Cheers to being surrounded with so many stellar women, today and every single day of the year!

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

Wedding Inspo - Wedding Cakes

If you’ve been craving a sweet escape, we can’t help but mention that this blog is just for you! We’ve featured some of the most stunning cakes we’ve captured over the past two years and we’re still drooling over them.

From succulent accented beauties to bright and festive babes to the classic, yet pretty floral beauties, we gotta say that these cakes certainly had their own personalities (and some of them definitely stole the show). We love seeing when couples get super creative with wedding day details and its always such a treat to see how some of local baking beauties pull off these sweet masterpieces!

We’re still on a sugar high for some of these cakes so scroll through and find your new favorite sweet treat!!!

Featured Bakers
Maggie’s Wedding Cakes
Chocolate Maven
Simply Sweet by Darci
Mellow Cakery (formerly Maimie’s Cakes)
Bizzy B Cakes
Q’s Cakes & Sweet Boutique
Small Cakes
A Cake Odyssey
Emerald Pie Bar
Sassy Bakes (Heather of Los Poblanos)

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

Wedding Inspo - Groom Style Third Edition

While its true that we have a huge affinity for stellar bridal style on the blog, we can’t help but share a little bit of love with our stylish, dapper, and downright handsome grooms! Not only are these guys total on-camera knockouts, they’re also some of the kindest, most personable dudes you could ever ask for on wedding days!

We love a sleek, traditional black suit or tux, so how do grooms elevate this classic style? Our grooms have tapped into everything, from incorporating Southwestern flair with bolo ties or designer cowboy boots to adding personal touches like a cool pair of sunglasses or a surprise pop of color in their boutonniere or suit jacket lining!

And we’ve had plenty of grooms chose other colors for their wedding days suits as well including blue, grey, tan, and even mix-and-match colors! We’ve loved seeing how these guys dressed up colors other than black for their big day and adored seeing so many unique details including ties with tiny prints on them (from polka dots to florals) to broaches (instead of a traditional bow tie or tie) to opting for unique textures like wool.

Last season we saw an incredible variety of groom style and honestly we’re thrilled to see what our next guys have in store for us, we’re crossing our fingers for a few extra daring grooms with non-traditional suit colors! Until then, take a look at these wedding day hunks, we had the best time capturing each one of these wedding day hubbies!

A Few of Our Favorite Suit Designers + Shops
The Black Tux
Bonobos
ASOS
Mango
Ralph Lauren
Indochino
Suit Supply
Ted Baker
Lanieri
Neiman Marcus
Jos. A Bank
Banana Republic
J. Crew
Kenneth Cole
Hockerty
The Tie Bar
Tommy Hilfiger
Perry Ellis
Joseph Abboud
Men’s Wearhouse
Suits Unlimited

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

Wedding Inspo - Wedding Guest Style

Who says wedding parties get to have all the fun when it comes to style? One the past few seasons, we’ve seen wedding guests up the ante with some MAJOR looks that went above and beyond our dreams!

Even though wedding style varies from wedding to wedding (based on the overall vibe of the day and the couple), time and time again guests have left us awe struck with their incredible celebration outfit choices. From intricate and colorful dresses to sparkly jumpsuits to cowboy black tie- inspired numbers to modern twists on classic outfits, we love finding our favorite look of every wedding we get to capture!

Scroll through, find your fave, and maybe let these amazing guests inspire your next look!!!

Weddings by Alicia, Ashley, and Bre of Alicia Lucia Photography
Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography

2019 Wedding Day Behind the Scenes

Between the crazy, amazing, and beautiful wedding day moments, our team loves snagging photos of each other on the job in some of the prettiest Southwest locations with the world’s sweetest couples!

Our team does it all— from capturing every single little moment on camera, to carrying bouquets & wedding gown trains, to being the world’s most perfect test models (more or less >.<)! We love not only getting to be a part of weddings but getting to see members of our girl squad absolutely crush it for our couples.

Cheers to more of the focused and brilliant, yet silly and down-to-earth moments that we just know the 2020 wedding season will have to offer!!!

Wedding Venues
La Mesita Ranch Estate (Santa Fe, NM)
Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm (Albuquerque, NM)
La Fonda on the Plaza (Santa Fe, NM)
Sarabande Bed and Breakfast (Albuquerque, NM)
Hacienda Doña Andrea (Madrid, NM)
Four Seasons Santa Fe (Santa Fe, NM)
Hotel Albuquerque (Albuquerque, NM)
Las Campanas (Santa Fe, NM)
Hyatt Tamaya (Bernalillo, NM)
Sandia Event Center (Albuquerque, NM)
Old Town Farm (Albuquerque, NM)
Casa Perea Art Space (Corrales, NM)
Enchanted Vine Barn (Ruidoso, NM)

Lead Photographers - Alicia, Ashley, Bre
Second Photographers - Bre, Cameron, Molly, Melanie, Brianna, Sarah, Kama
Assistants - Cameron, Taylor, Jaclyn

Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography