Wedding at Echo Falls Golf Club

On August 20, Shawn Wallace and Bob Burks were married at the Echo Falls Golf Club in Snohomish, a beautiful venue located about halfway between Woodinville and Monroe.  The weather was beautiful, but almost too nice; blue skies, bright and HOT, with the temp hovering right at or above 90 degrees.  But in spite of the temperature, this was arranged to be a perfect day for Shawn and Bob and it worked out exactly as planned.

A little background on the couple

I always like to find out how the couples whose weddings I photograph got together, sometimes the stories are pretty amazing.  In the case of Shawn and Bob, here is their story in Shawn’s words –

“Bob and I met about 13 years ago at an event hosted by a Yahoo! Friends Group called Puget Sound Friends of which we were both members.  The group had gotten together at the Tulalip Casino Cabaret Club for a night of dancing. I met Bob as soon as I arrived and we began going to many of the group events together with two other girls, Katrina and Jenny.  Katrina, Jenny and I were apparently known to the group as the Yahoo! Girls because we were always together and Bob was our designated driver whenever we went out.

Bob and I remained friends long after the group broke up even though he and I were both in other relationships. I separated from my boyfriend and he from his girlfriend and started dating in September of 2013.  He asked me to marry him at the same place we met during a family dinner on my birthday, October 24th, 2015.”

It may have taken 13 years, but in a very short time they would be married!

Getting ready for the photos

When I arrived at Echo Falls and entered the clubhouse, Bob and some of the groomsmen were hanging out there, while Shawn and the rest of the ladies were upstairs in the “bride’s dressing area”.  Which just happened to have the best air conditioning of the entire club!  I got a few photos of Shawn as she was getting ready, and spent some time walking the grounds looking for places that would work well for photos of Bob, Shawn and the wedding party.

We set up a “first look” photo Shawn and Bob near where the ceremony would later take place, and then did photos near the waterfall that gives Echo Falls its name.  This has always been one of my favorite places at this venue for posed photos, though today it was so bright that it was a bit tricky to arrange everyone so they would not have the bright sun in their eyes.  Fortunately everyone in the wedding party had sunglasses handy, so we had some fun using the glasses in a lot of photos.

The Wedding Ceremony

After the posed photos we all retreated to the clubhouse; the ladies back upstairs to their air conditioned room, and the guys to the patio overlooking the 17th and 18th hole.  Though outdoors, this area was in the shade and a nice breeze kept us all fairly cool until it was time to move to the ceremony area.

The wedding party and family moved from the clubhouse to the ceremony in golf carts, which was both fun and very practical.  The guests were all in position, and officiant David Cooper of Forever, Together led the way to the “altar”, with the falls just behind and to the side, creating a great backdrop.  The wedding party consisted of maid of honor Amanda Corliss, bridesmaids Kaitlyn Wallace (Shawn’s daughter) and Kim Ames; best man Dan Walters, and groomsmen Traver Maynard and Brian Olson.  The ceremony went without a hitch, and a short time later Bob and Shawn were a brand-new husband and wife!

At the conclusion of the ceremony most of the guests quickly moved back to the clubhouse, while the wedding party and family remained for a few more photos.  Then we all moved down to the clubhouse for the Grand Entrance of the newlyweds, and the real start of the party.

The Reception

The color coordination of the room and all of the decorations was awesome.  Shawn had done all of the planning herself, and IMO she could have her own wedding planning business if this is a good representation of her skills.  Flowers, table settings, the cake and even the sand used for the sand ceremony during the wedding ceremony matched perfectly.

Bob and Shawn spent cocktail hour interacting with their guests, and as dinner time approached I noticed that the sky had begun to cloud over a bit, and saw that if we were going to get any photos before the sun set we needed to move outdoors right away.  Shawn and Bob agreed, so we headed outside, grabbed some golf carts and headed for the 18th green, which sits in the middle of a large pond beside the clubhouse.  We had to watch until no golfers were playing the hole, but then we were able to get onto the green and get some nice shots with the water and the setting sun (some of which you’ll see below).  We spent enough time to get the photos we wanted, then moved back to the clubhouse to join the group for the rest of the evening.

Music was provided by EnergiaEvents who did a great job.  They were even able to supply special uplights that matched Shawn’s color scheme!

The cakes (there were two) were made by Jessica Graves of Simply Caketastic, and were both beautiful and very tasty.  OK, I can only claim from personal experience that the main cake was delicious, as Bob’s special cake was whisked away by the staff after the cutting, likely to be saved for the bride and groom to enjoy later.  Darn it, it looked like really intense chocolate and I am a chocoholic!  😉

Time to leave

All too soon, it was time for the party to end and everyone to go home.  The remaining guests were all given streamers, and as the newlyweds left the reception the guests formed a double column and waved their streamers as Shawn and Bob made their way to their car, which had been decorated in the best wedding fashion by Shawn’s daughter Kaitlyn and several other co-conspirators.

Following is a sampling of photos from the day/evening, I hope you enjoy them and leave some comments below.