A lil bit country, A lil bit rock and roll

 What a beautiful day on Lake Jefferson!  The Sun, the light breeze, and the beautiful couple.  Tessa is an amazing artist and her and Jake are an incredibly fun couple, so I knew their wedding was going to be a blast, and they DID NOT dissapoint!  When you hear a Johnny Cash cover band is playing the reception, you know you're in for a good time!

Congrats Tessa and Jake!

Take a look at some more photos!

Mike and Sheri

It was a beautiful day in Edina, MN last weekend as Mike and Sheri said I do.

southern charm, up north

This wedding was full of down home fun! Scarlet and Bryan fell in love in North Carolina and recently returned to Scarlet's midwestern routes and settled down in Minnesota. They didn't forget where their love blossomed though and included plenty of South Carolina fun in their north woods Minnesota wedding!

little wedding on the prairie

Another weekend, another fun couple and wedding. Last weekend was no exception. Heather and Kevin had a beautiful day in south central minnesota, including their "first site" photos at one of my favorite places, the Kasota Prairie. (it's also one of my dog's favorite places, but that's another story)

Thanks for including me in your amazing day!

good tunes

FUNDAY SUNDAY! What a great day! I got the opportunity to shoot one of my favorite local bands, Goodnight Gold Dust. Have a look and a listen! Enjoy! (and make sure to see them live if you're in Wisconsin or Minnesota! They're great!)

In the beginning.....

A wedding day is so much more than just a wedding day. It's a part of a great story, and certainly not the end of one. Of course it's the finale to one day's party planning, but it's really just the start. All the real planning is for your life together.

Like any bride, I think Angela dreamed of a big fairytale wedding, a grand entrance down a long aisle accompanied by her father and a booming church organ, a reception with loads of people and tables drenched in pink and white elements and the perfect wedding cake. But what I think she's most dreamed of is having the kind of marriage and love her parents have had. I first met her parents about a year ago when I photographed their son, Andy's wedding. I instantly fell in love with Terri and Tom. You could really see how much they loved each other and their children, who were truly an extention of their love. They truly meant and lived every word of "for better or worse, richer or poor, in sickness in health."

When I arrived at Angela's parents home the morning of her wedding to Michael, it was a bittersweet day for her parents. Their only daughter and youngest child was getting married. She was moving out of her childhood home (and very pink bedroom) and into her new home with her new husband. Angela's parents have decided to sell the home this fall and downsize now that they'll be empty-nesters. I could see all the memories flooding back for them; the yearly photos on the front steps on the first day of school, Angela's first dance (a daddy-daughter event), the fights over her messy room. We decided to honor some of those memories is photos while at the same time capturing Angela getting ready and leaving home.

When we got to the church, and Michael first saw Angela in the gardens for their "first sight photos" I saw her parents.....not there in the garden, but in the way that Michael looked at Angela....the same way her father looks at her mother, with a radiant love. I imagined what Terri and Tom must have been like at Angela and Michael's age....so in love and ready to start a life together.

I'm so thankful for the opportunities I have to witness love. Thank you to Angela and Michael and her parents Terri and Tom, for reminding me that the wedding day is just the beginning and the best is yet to come.

Megan

It seems that everyone knows tattoo artist Megan Hoogland, or at least of Megan Hoogland. She probably doesn't remember this, but I actually met Megan for the first time about 13 years ago. It was the summer after my sophomore year in college and I had become friends with a girl that was apprenticing with a piercer at Megan's tattoo shop in Mankato. When I was briefly introduced, I was dumbstruck and ridiculously intimidated, which as you know, for me...takes A LOT. Megan has a presence about her, and it's more than just her beauty (but yep, she's pretty hot). Megan doesn't mince words, she doesn't hold hands or sugar coat anything. She doesn't have the time or want to. She takes charge, gets it done and moves the heck on....oh and not to mention that she's talented as hell (check out her work!)! A couple businesses later, bazillion awards, 3 children, Megan is still going strong (stronger actually!) and owns Mecca Tattoo in downtown Mankato, MN. I was lucky enough to have Megan tattoo my arm a while back.
<------------ (I should really blog about that, eh? Maybe when she does my sleeve work) If you're looking for some new ink, Megan is amazing, no matter what distance you are from Minnesota--her talent is worth the trip. (Dude, I totally just got "Mecca"!!!!)