I loved this wedding. I mean I really, really loved this wedding. And let me tell you why. . . because it was like being in the middle of the best romantic movie you have ever seen. There were tears. There was laughter. There was face-touching (which you know is my favorite). There were groomsman shenanigans. There were sweet and sassy bridesmaids. But most importantly, there was love. Giant, rushing, warm, shiny, sparkling waves of love.

(Jeez Louise, I’m crying already and I’m only two paragraphs in.)

Even though several months have passed since this wedding, when I look at the images, I can feel it like it was yesterday. I can feel Kari’s exuberant dance around the dressing room after she put on her mother’s cathedral veil. I can feel the unique (albeit mysterious) bonds of masculine friendship when Logan is hoisted onto his best man’s shoulders. I can feel the pain and pride of Kari’s oldest brother speaking on behalf of the father they lost. I can feel the sorrow, comfort and love as Kari dances the first dance with her mother, and they wipe away each others tears.

And although there was certainly sorrow, there was so much joy. Kari and Logan stood hand in hand in the middle of the dance floor as Minnesota’s Wedding Entertainment Director Extraordinaire Bill Hermann spun the tale of their love – from a match made on eHarmony, to their engagement, to their wedding day. Everybody – and I mean everybody – was hypnotized. Watching the two of them gaze at each other while Bill’s low, melodic narrative carried us along in their story was beyond moving. It was epic.

And then things got crazy.

It’s not often that you get to see a dance floor packed from edge to edge at a wedding. And all the events that might go quietly into the night at a reception, like the garter and bouquet, were done with such flourish that they became events in and of themselves. When Kari threw the bouquet, there were hands everywhere grasping at the floral projectile. When Logan removed Kari’s garter, they were literally surrounded by every man and boy in the place. When they did the anniversary dance, the floor was packed shoulder to shoulder with couples in love, which as you can imagine, is heaven for a mush bucket like me.

 So this is my Valentine’s Day gift to you. Looking at these images will not only make your feel Kari and Logan’s love and joy, it will make you feel your own. You’ll think of how much you love those around you and how lucky you are to have their love in return. And it will feel oh, so good.

 Happy Valentine’s Day!

 Now go kiss somebody, already!

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There’s plenty of time to get to know each other better during an engagement session, and as we tromped around Gale Woods, I found out that not only was Luke a farm kid like me, he also had to share that farm with a gaggle of siblings.  We’re both one of ten.  And to top it off, we both have Czech blood in our veins!

When Sherry and I met for the final consultation, we went over the shot list, and when it came time to decide on how to handle the “extended family” portrait on Luke’s side, the final number was big.  Really big.  40+.  This is one of the many reasons that wedding photography is not for the faint of heart.  Getting 40 adults and children arranged, smiling, happy, and all looking forward is no easy task.  It takes a certain amount of charm and the willingness to throw all pride out the door in exchange for a smile from a child who hasn’t had their afternoon nap.

When it came time to actually create this portrait at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Hopkins, I fell in love with the family as a whole.  Luke’s mother is a tiny woman who raised 9 hulking boys and one sweet daughter.  She speaks with an accent and touches your arm as she talks.  Surrounding her were about 20 grandchildren, one of whom literally had me at his feet, pulling out all my best tricks for the honor of one brief, yet adorable, smile.

While Sherry and Luke offered their parents the sign of peace during the ceremony, Sherry’s mother was responsible for one of my favorite moments of the day. As mother and daughter embraced, her mother kissed Sherry’s cheek while holding her face.  There’s just something about someone’s hand on their loved one’s face.  The closeness and connection moves me every time.

But Luke and Sherry’s wedding was overflowing with wonderful moments.  The toast given by Sherry’s sister at the Minnesota Valley Country Club had the couple bent over with laughter.  The dance floor was a frenzy of their nieces and nephews. Sherry’s dad had an actual knee-slapper moment in the middle of telling a story, and pockets of Luke’s siblings huddled around his mother and her trusty Canon to see her most recent catch.

All of these moments were full of two things, love and family, and it wasn’t until I took one last peak into the reception before leaving that I realized how much this wedding felt like being with my own family.  It wasn’t just because the number and imposing height of Luke’s siblings are so similar to my own (we’d both think of a brother under 6 foot as a runt).  It was because there was laughing everywhere, giant smiles, boisterous kids, good natured teasing, and an overwhelming  sense of warmth and welcoming joy.  Yep.  That feels like home to me.

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There wasn’t even a photographer . . . besides Alicia.  Alicia is my capital “A” Awesome Assistant.  And even though she was the one getting married, she was also the photographer.  She set up her camera on a tripod and hid a wireless remote in her hand.   Although I don’t have any of those images to show you, I do have some that we took at her Minnesota reception.

Cecil and Alicia booked The Wilds in Prior Lake  for their reception.  We ran outside just before the first dances and then again afterwards and were able to create three entirely different looks as the sun changed.  As special thanks goes out to Alicia’s cousin and his partner who played the part of Alicia since she was busy playing the part of the bride.  And what a beautiful bride she was! 

 But I don’t have to tell you – see for yourself.

Congratulations, Alicia and Cecil!  

When I shot their engagement session at the Peace Gardens at Lake Harriet, I knew that they were my kind of couple.  They’re fun, genuine, don’t take themselves too seriously, and are perfectly at ease with being schmoopy in front of the camera.  They’re the kind of couple that I can put in good light, take a step back, and give them a two-word direction: snuggle up.   And they are champion snuggle-up-ers.  

Although I would have been more than happy to photograph Erin and Brian in the basement of the local VFW, when I met them at the Calhoun Beach Club for their final consultation, my jaw literally dropped.  It’s a beautiful facility with a very unique style.  Elegant and contemporary with an abundance of natural light, I became positively giddy thinking of all the possibilities.  As fellow photographer Michael Overbeek recently quoted from Top Gun – it’s a “target rich environment.”

Of all the places I’ve photographed, there are only a handful that really put attention and thought into the bride’s room.  The bride’s room in Calhoun Beach Club is one of the loveliest I have ever seen.  It has four separate stations for hair/make-up, gorgeous mirrors, two beautiful white couches with crisp clean lines, and ornamental hooks  high on the wall, perfectly placed for handing a wedding dress. 

But even better than being a gorgeous building with beautiful light and a lovely bride’s room, The Calhoun Beach Club has personal significance to Erin and Brian.   This is where their story began.  Right outside the gated pool area is where they spoke to each other for the first time.  So of course on their wedding day, to bring their story full circle and pay homage to the god of symmetry, we had to sneak away for a few minutes and go to the place where it all started. 

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Ohh, Universe!  What a twisted bugger you are!

Now don’t jump to conclusions.  Alissa, Mike, their families and their bridal party could not have been more sweet, more cooperative, or more fun to spend the day with.  There was no Bridezilla, Momzilla or any other kind of Zilla.  Everybody was in a great mood, we started on time at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in East Bethel, MN, and Alissa and Mike looked fantastic.  But we hadn’t even taken the first formal portrait when Alissa heard something rip as she walked up the alter steps.  Yep.  Her wedding dress ripped.  And not somewhere in the back or under the train.  It was right in front where the gathers from the sides came together underneath a sequin embellishment.  Her personal attendant was wicked quick with a safety pin, and we kept moving.

The formal and informal portraits before the ceremony went swimmingly.  The ceremony was lovely, and the receiving line moved smoothly with lots of hugs and laughter – just in time to let the guests out into the pouring rain. 

Sigh.  We had planned on taking additional portraits outdoors after the ceremony, but it just goes to show you always need a Plan B – and a golf umbrella in the trunk of your car — nestled between a step stool, reflectors, extra extension cords, clamps, and folding chairs (seriously folks, you never know what you’ll need on a wedding day).  So instead of stopping at a park, we went to the bar, grabbed a few drinks (not me, of course, this girl needs to focus – literally), and headed to the hotel.

I stole Alissa and Mike away from the bridal party and wisked them up to their room to create some moody, dramatic images with my fancy new LedZilla video light.  Lordy, do I love that light!  And after I showed Alissa and Mike a few images on the back of the camera, I think they loved it too!

Just like Mike and Alissa, the reception was fun, full of laughs, and full of smooches.  Like always, the reception hit warp speed, time flew by, and I packed my beloved Nikons to go home and have a birthday dinner with my man.

No such luck.

Right as we were rolling our bags out, the hotel staff was at the door ushering everyone into a basement storage room because of a tornado in the area.  Now there’s a story the bride and groom will get to tell for the rest of their lives.  Knowing there was nothing you could do about spending part of your wedding reception in the hotel basement, Mike and Alissa used the time to visit with their guests.  And once staff moved some of us out of the storage room and into basement conference rooms, guests started making their own fun.  The folks in the room we were in played hangman on the whiteboard.  The room next to us had an informal family get-together.  I unpacked my beloveds and starting shooting.

After a few phone calls to my man to confirm that, yes, I could now drive home safely without fear of ending up in Oz and crushing a witch, we hit the road.  Thirty minutes later, I was safe and sound at home, opening up my birthday presents (thank you, Babe!).  And even though that tricky Universe tried to mess with Mike and Alissa’s perfect wedding, it failed miserably.  Mike and Alissa still had a gorgeous wedding, a delicious dinner, and a fantastic reception - including the part that was spent in the basement.  They will always have beautiful photographs of their day (if I do say so myself), and most importantly, they will always have each other.  That qualifies as perfect in my book.

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I met with Alissa and Mike Thursday afternoon for a final consultation for their July 17th wedding.  I love final consultations because it gives me a chance to get all wrapped up in the excitement of their upcoming wedding.  We talked about all their details, from getting ready, to what to “borrow”, to first dances.  They’re such a great couple, and gorgeous to boot, that I cannot wait to photograph them again.  We shot their engagement session at St. Anthony Main in the fall, and the image I’ve posted below is a perfect introduction to them as a couple: smiling, laughing, playful, and all-around adorable. 

I am not exaggerating when I say this, even though I am a big fan of hyperbole, but if I didn’t know any better, I would think a photographer planned their wedding.   They opted to do a first look and see each other beforehand (insert giant “YAY” here).  They’ve allowed for plenty of time before the ceremony for photography, and additional time after the ceremony!  They even have a balanced number of groomsmen, bridesmaids, and ushers (4,4,2), which makes the symmetry-loving part of me jump for joy.  And it gets even better – their reception is at the Northland Inn, the same place my husband and I had our reception six and a half years ago.

Really – how did I get this lucky?

And there’s more!

That same evening I met Chriss and Brian for the first time.   From our e-mails, I could tell that Brian is a fellow photographer, and he knows his stuff.  I can say with certainty that he is the first groom to tell me that he likes the way I “work with light and shadow” and my “judicious use of shallow depth-of-field.”  I couldn’t have been more pleased if he told me I was the spitting image of Angelina Jolie.

After chatting about her favorite images, Chriss and I got sidetracked onto a conversation about giant purses after she made reference to my “about me” page and the fact that I keep a tape measure in my purse.  Talking shop about photography and discussing the merits of gigantor purses in the same meeting? These are my kind of people! 

But we didn’t just talk about camera gear and handbags.  We talked about the great light in the Landmark Center, the gorgeous rooms at the St. Paul Hotel, the dueling pianos that will be playing at their reception, table cakes, Brian’s grandmother’s ring, and their “grand entrance” into the reception while Chriss’s friend, a professional jazz vocalist, sings “At Last.”  Doesn’t this wedding sound fantastic?  Don’t you wish you could go?

Be prepared to be jealous – I get to go to this wedding and photograph all of it. Seriously – how did I get this lucky?

And just when you think there couldn’t possibly be more, there’s more.  That same day my precious was delivered to my door  : a brand new, completely awesome, fully adjustable Dedo LedZilla video light.  I had to take a break from writing this blog to play with it.  Believe me when I tell you that this light is a-maz-z-zing!  I am in love.

So that was my day, folks, awesome from beginning to end.  Thanks for picking up the phone and listening; I’ll call you again later.

And now for a little more gratitude – Alicia Oppelt Musselman.  BEST ASSISTANT EVER!  Hands down; no contest.  She rocks, and she may be a little bit psychic because she has a freaky way of completing tasks I haven’t even asked her to do yet.  And if there are any photographers out there with notions of whisking her away, think twice.  I am not above biting.  She makes it possible for me to focus on creating images instead of where I left my light meter.

David Grupa and Erin Dunn - thank you both for telling me to quit being such a wimp and just enter the album already.

 But then something happened that was even better.

 My part of the story begins on Wednesday night. I had missed a call from Meghan, and she left a voicemail asking me if I had June 4th, 2011 available, and if not, what days did I have open.  As a photographer, I’m usually the third down on the list to be booked, after ceremony and reception venues.  But Meghan had called to ask me what dates I had available!  Pretty great, right?  Wait.  It gets better.

I called Meghan back yesterday, and we set up a time to meet today.  She and Andrew came to my home office, I tempted them with some delicious banana nut muffins I had just made, and we sat down to chat.

I started by asking them all kinds of questions, like how long have you been together, where did you meet, and how did you get engaged.  Remember, I’m a complete push over for love.  I want to hear every mushy detail and get swept up in their story. 

 And they had some great stories.

Andrew had not one, not two, but three engagement stories.  He planned an elaborate gondola ride where his friends would hold “will you marry me” signs on a bridge.  The weather ruined that plan, and then there was the small matter of getting a ring.

He planned a trip to Mexico, involving gorgeous beaches, music lofting out over the water, and pirate ships on the horizon.  A behind-schedule jeweler, FedEx and Mexican customs ruined that plan.

When he finally did get the ring, he had it hidden in various drawers for over a month.  Meghan nearly found it on multiple occasions.  Finally, the stress of keeping it hidden was too much.  He came up with a new plan. On Tuesday he had flowers sent to their favorite park, he got down on one knee, and he asked.

She said yes.

Then she asked him if it was too late to call me.

While Andrew had been crafting all these wonderfully romantic plans, Meghan had spent months and months looking at my work. She had seen my Facebook fan page on one of her friend’s pages.  She followed it to my website.  She followed my website to my blog.  And she called me the day after she said yes – before the ceremony site, before the reception venue.  She called me first.  And that, boys and girls, feels a million times better than Windexing a shelf of awards.

Last night I walked away with the following eight honors at the 2010 Northern Light Regional Convention for MN, ND and SD professional photographers:

• MN Wedding Photographer of the Year
• Distinguished Album
• Haga Wedding Award
• Court of Honor
• Northern Light Highest Scoring Wedding Print
• Fuji Masterpiece Award
• Kodak Gallery Award for Photographic Excellence in a Print
• Kodak Gallery Award for Photographic Excellence in an Album

But before I put down one more word of horn honking, I need to give a big, fat THANK YOU to David Grupa, David Johnson, David Jones, Erin Dunn and Kirsten Holscher.  I have a terrible time choosing which of my images to enter because I become too attached to the subjects.  I would make my selections based on the history of the image, how I felt when I took it, how I feel when I see it now, and how I feel about the people in it.  These wonderfully gifted photographers spent their valuable time helping me see my images with fresh eyes, and their advice was instrumental in achieving the list of awards above.

I’m especially proud of the fact that all of the images I entered were created for actual clients.  I didn’t hire professional models and stylists or rent a special location.  These are real brides and grooms being photographed on their actual wedding day.  It was a privilege to take part in their weddings, and I’m grateful  they allowed me the time and creative space to produce the images you’ll see below.  Meghan and Brandon, Jill and Paul, Katie and Sean, and Mary and Peter  – thank you, thank you, thank you!

Additionally, the images were awarded by trained, experienced professional photographers and judges, men and women who’ve spent decades learning, improving and sharing their art.  I value their opinions and greatly appreciate their gifts.  To have them recognize my work as being worthy of the awards above is truly an honor.

Album: It Starts With a Kiss

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Print: A Quiet Corner

Print: Leading Lady

Print: A Perfect Storm

Since my North Dakota Catholic farm-girl upbringing didn’t exactly provide a plethora of multi-cultural opportunities, this was the first time I had ever seen an hora danced in person.   It was amazing!  I was on the verge of tears as I watched it (remember, I’m a mush bucket).  It was a complete rush of energy and emotion, pure joy in motion.  Every time I see that image, I’m taken right back to the moment, and I’m swept up in the tide of community, family, faith and celebration. 

About nine months after I photographed Josh and Susan’s wedding, I received a call from Grandma Feldman, wondering if I would be available to photograph her 80th birthday party.  Myrna and I chatted several times on the phone discussing the event, but as we chatted we were easily sidetracked into discussing our families, our childhoods, and our communities.

When Myrna arrived at the Copenhagen room in Plymouth’s Radisson Hotel and Conference Center she greeted me like a friend, taking my hand in both her hands and telling me how beautiful I looked.  Believe me, I’ll take a compliment wherever I can get it, but more than the generous compliment, I appreciated the warmth and sincerity of her welcome.  And as the guests started to arrive, it became apparent that everyone there appreciated her warmth and sincerity. 

Myrna greeted each guest with open affection.  She’d hold each face in her hands and plant a smooch on every cheek.  As she talked with guests, she’d hold their hand or put a hand on their arm.  And again, I was amazed.  Stoic Czechoslovakian farm families don’t kiss cheeks, and they only hug when forced to do so through social pressure.

After guests had a chance to eat, Myrna’s son, daughter, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, and several friends all stood up to share stories about Myrna.  Some of those that spoke did so through tears, and every story had a similar theme – Myrna’s seemingly endless capacity to love.   

I watched Myrna while her friends and family spoke of her.  She was standing behind her grandson, her arms wrapped around his shoulders, with her chin resting on his head.  It was such a beautiful gesture, telling the entire history of their relationship in a single moment.

As I watched this moment and listed to stories of Myrna’s love and devotion, I was stuck with the realization that Myrna has the answer.  This 80-year-old grandmother and pre-school teacher is a living testament to the meaning of life – to love and be loved in return.  It couldn’t be more simple and yet to see it done so well and so completely was simply amazing.

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