Laura & Nate

Yesterday I shot my cousin Laura's wedding in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. It was a rough week for Laura and Nate leading up to the wedding. Nate was in a motorcycle accident and thankfully was wearing a helmet and leather jacket but still broke his shoulder blade and bruised himself up pretty good. Pain killers helped him through the wedding. And the morning of the wedding Laura woke up struggling to swallow and went to the doctor only to find out she had mono! So they were both on drugs but the wedding went well and I honestly couldn't tell that Laura was sick. Plus Lee, Laura's brother, who was supposed to be an usher, came down with a violent flu bug on the day of the wedding and was completely out of commission. I'm still up here one more day with my aunt and uncle and now my uncle has the flu! Hopefully I won't be bringing it back to share with all of you in Arizona :).

The wedding was very simple but also very special with many family and friends in attendance.

This is my gorgeous cousin Amanda up from Nebraska:


The dress:


Getting the dress on without messing up the hair is always a fun challenge:


Laura & Nate seeing each other for the first time:


We just walked around the church grounds for portraits but I loved what I had to work with:



Laura & Nate were so sweet together.





Here's the bridal party:


The groomsmen:



The bridesmaids:


Laura's dad walked her down the isle to the country song "I loved her first." It was a tear-jerker.


The cute ring-bearer:


And the sweet flower girl:



I've never seen Laura happier:


Finally married and off to nurse each other back to health :).


If you'd like to see a slideshow with more photos from the day, click here.

Congratulations Nate & Laura!!

Alex & Ryan

Saturday was Alex & Ryan's wedding. These two are a totally sweet couple who are friends of Laura & Daniel -- a couple who's wedding I shot a year and a half ago. So it was fun to see them again--happily married :).

This wedding was a dream to shoot. Even though it was hot and sunny all day, we had great light overall and beautiful places to shoot. Not to mention beautiful people :). We started out the day at a great salon in downtown Tempe -- Mood Swings. If you're getting married and looking for a salon to get ready at--check this one out--I would love the chance to shoot there again.

Here's Michelle--the maid of honor:


Alex getting her make-up done:



Next we headed to The Secret Garden, a great venue in south Phoenix. I love shooting there. My friend Sarah is the coordinator and she is a joy to work with. Also, The Secret Garden has the prettiest getting ready rooms I've seen at all the venues I've worked at.

Here's the dress:


And the shoes--one for style, one for comfort:


The girls were so funny--they really wanted the day to be peaceful and fun so they brought Uno to pass the time before getting dressed:



Alex was a gorgeous bride:



Here's Ryan hanging out with his Best Man, Scott before the wedding. I love how they're sitting the same way:


During the portraits of the guys I was working with the 2-year-old ring bearer to sit like this:


And instead, he came up with his own pose:


So hilarious!!

Here's the adorable flower girl:


Preparing the way for the bride:


The guests looked on as Alex's dad walked her down the huge staircase to get married:


Such a beautiful setting--you wouldn't know we were in Arizona except for the heat!



Some fun portraits with Alex and Ryan after the ceremony:






And the first dance:



A great moment during the father/daughter dance:


And then the par-tay!


If you haven't had enough and would like to see even more photos from the wedding, click here to see the slideshow.

Congratulations Alex & Ryan--it was such a magical day!

Eric & Melanie

Eric & Melanie got married last Saturday in Sedona. It was absolutely picturesque. Buckle up because I have a LOT of favorites to share with you. The day started out with hair and make-up:



I love the old-world feel to this photo:


The dress:


A couple shots of Eric getting ready:



Melanie warned me ahead of time that her family is a bunch of mad picture-takers. And she wasn't exaggerating.


Another one from later in the day:


Melanie's sister, Lindsey, was one of the bridesmaids:


More fun prep shots:



Melanie is absolutely gorgeous:


Walking down the aisle:


I love this shot of Lindsey:


It was an emotional ceremony. Melanie tried her best to hold back the tears:


After the ceremony, the bridal party had a toast. Jamie caught this shot of Eric missing the glass as he poured Melanie some champagne.



Portrait time was so much fun with Melanie and Eric. What a beautiful setting!







It was fun seeing their custom-designed guest book put to use:


The flowers and table settings were beautiful:


I got the chance to play with my new off-camera lighting equipment for the first time at a reception. Here's the results:




What a great wedding! Thanks Eric & Melanie!!

If you'd like to see a slideshow with even more photos from the day, click here.