Wow, oh wow, oh wow. As I sit here and have a chance to look back at every wedding day, engagement session, family portraits, anniversary photos, mini sessions, maternity portraits, lifestyle sessions, newborn portraits, senior portraits, and more, all I can say is wow. 2018 was such a blessing. You blessed us! So many special announcements, new steps and chapters in life, and stopping to document life are seen below. You trusted us and invited us to walk alongside of you in these precious moments -- allowing us to live vicariously through you and celebrate the best parts of life with you. So below, you'll find some of our favorite photos as wedding and portrait photographers that highlight many more photos and moments not shown, each freezing memories to be looked back on for a lifetime.

The first time I thought about how we should actually document some of our own funny behind the scene moments was after so many people asked us what it was like to hang out with llamas at Peter & Hannah's wedding day but I wasn't re-reminded until Matt & Laura's wedding day when Mark graciously attempted to hold all 8 opened umbrellas in his arms. I missed the funny moment as I was more focused on him not flying away but from that point on we made an agreement to try to stop and snap a photo of the silly moment before moving on. ​There are so many things that happen behind the camera or when it's down that you never see, so this year we stopped to capture some of the funniest and truest wedding photography behind the scene moments that we could find. Being a husband and wife photography team in the Twin Cities has been a dream come true because we get to work with our best friend and relive our wedding day all over again as we live vicariously through our amazing brides and grooms.

The details, all the beautiful details. We were shooting details in the Rush Creek Golf Club entryway when in walked Nathan's mother and their adorable niece -- the flower girl. She was the cutest little flower girl we've seen and had the most precious of details to match. Getting to watch her spin around like Cinderella in a gown throughout the day always brought a smile to our faces. These beautiful details continued out throughout the entire day, but their day wasn't defined by the details: it was emphasized by them. These two cared so much for creating the best experience for their friends and family, so they went to any means necessary to encourage their closest loved ones to relax and enjoy the day. They had the coolest wedding ceremony program we've seen -- sharing not only unique details about their relationships but where their love ones were traveling from. Thankfully, Nathan and Cali weren't the only ones to put their guests first as Rush Creek Golf Club graciously decorated their beautiful grounds for Christmas a little early, enabling them to have the romantic winter wedding day they were hoping for. 

The guests were hanging on every word. The bride’s dad held the microphone loosely as he shared story after story and detail after detail about the lovely couple before him – you would think that he was mostly sharing his pride for his beautiful daughter but at the end of his speech, he took a sudden turn and talked about the family the bride, Andrea, was marrying into. “They’re such a perfect match family-wise and we are so blessed,” he said and soon, the groom, Charles, was in tears, his mother was on tips of tears smiling in the direction of her son, and the bridesmaids were asking each other for tissues. We are always up for destination weddings and the chance to enjoy a road trip or travel so when Charles and Andrea reached out to us about being their wedding photographers, we were all in! Heading to photograph their beautiful wedding day at Usher's Ferry in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was amazing -- and what was even better is that it was about 20 degrees warmer there then in our hometown of Cottage Grove, Minnesota. 

We always say that we work hard to make our bride and grooms as comfortable as possible on their wedding day and we work hard specifically in the wedding portrait posing to make it feel natural and full of laughter. Mark reached a new level of making this happen when he accidentally touched a live electric fence during Jolene and David’s bride and groom portraits at Terra Nue Farm a few weeks ago. We immediately all burst out into laughter (sorry, Mark) and it was the running joke the rest of the day about how Mark’s hand was still numb. Needless to say, even with all the excitement, the horse in the background at this point still didn’t acknowledge our existence – another funny moment of us making any and every animal sound and movement to try to get its attention but it stubbornly looked in the other direction! 

Star Wars or Star Trek starcraft? That was the first big interaction between these two. While they had met in a communication class at Crown College as they were fellow Communication majors, this was the first time they first struck a personal conversation -- at least however personal you can get online over a Facebook status. Alan was on the side of Star Wars but Kaylyn soon commented that he was choosing wrong and needed to go for the Star Trek option. This simple conversation that started online soon developed into a beautiful friendship and relationship offline -- making these two inseparable. Kaylyn says that they love to spend time outdoors with each other but that Alan is definitely more of the outdoor enthusiast than her. Having an outdoor and small, intimate wedding at the gazebo at Chaska City Square Park was an easy decision for these two. When we talked about being their husband and wife wedding photographer team, Kaylyn shared that they had gone here on a photography outing when they were just friends. One of them were taking the class and the other came along for the ride. At one point, Kaylyn was sitting on a bench and Alan tried to sneak a picture of her but she totally busted him -- you'll see the exact bench in a photo below.

It wasn’t the typical first look. Instead of being a private affair between just the bride and groom, the entire bridal party huddled from above in one small doorway and a few windows of the barn at Goodtree Farmstead in Northfield, Minnesota. The excitement and anticipation was visible over Keaton’s entire face while Sam calmly stood behind him waiting for further directions. As she walked towards him, the bridesmaids couldn’t help but giggle with pure delight! These two and their journey had finally brought them to their wedding day. Finally, it was the moment, Keaton turned to see his bride and his anticipation turned into joy. His beautiful bride was standing in front of him and for a moment, he forgot about the husband and wife wedding photographers, the bridal party, and the busyness of the day and stepped forward to kiss his bride, take in her beauty, and then pick up her hand to his lips, giving her a soft kiss.

Taking wedding photos at a beautiful Minnesotan rustic barn is one thing. Taking wedding photos at the place where your grandparents met – the place where your grandpa went to work on a farm and met the love of his life – is another. This was the case for Jordan and Emily’s gorgeous wedding day in Monticello, Minnesota. While the wedding was at Elk River United Methodist Church and the reception in the Mississippi Room of the Monticello Community Center, they wanted their portraits done at a place that held precious past family memories and would create special new ones.

​We remember preparing for our wedding like it was yesterday. Whether that is from the sheer excitement of getting married or the overwhelming feelings of all that we had to then accomplish, we’re not sure. So, if we could go back and tell ourselves a thing or two differently one of those wound be the following. Find a site like basicinvite.com.

​Dear Mark, 
 
As I look over at you from the passenger’s seat of the van on our latest adventure, I can’t help but wonder where has the time gone. It brings me back to preparing for my first road trip with you. My parents had sat me down and asked me if I was interested in going to LIFE 2007 with the Wiggins. Your parents had offered to drive me from Toledo, Ohio to Orlando, Florida with you and your sister. The five-day youth event would take us two weeks, because we’d be stopping to visit with your extended family in Georgia both ways where I’d get to meet your grandpa and grandma as well as aunts, uncles, and cousins. I definitely had liked you; we had exchanged emails and even seen each other at youth events from time-to-time, but two weeks? I wrote in my journal to God that if I still liked you and wasn’t annoyed with you after two weeks of constant contact with you, then you must be the one. Classic 15-year-old girl, yes, but here we are! It's 11 years later, two boys in the back seat and you jamming out to the latest Hillsong Young and Free album. 

​​It was finally the long awaited moment. We had arrived at Purgatory Park and the irony of the name struck us as we walked the path to where Nick was. As Stephani took steps closer to her groom, the reality of the wedding day sunk in all the more. He held his eyes tightly closed, struggling with wanting to peek and see his beautiful bride but also not wanting to look until the exact moment. It wasn’t your typical first look. This one was different. Both Nick and Stephani had chosen to save their first kiss until their wedding day and since it was finally that day, there we stood at Purgatory Park anticipating the long awaited first kiss. 

The Grand at Mulligans banquet room was full, each wedding guest with their eyes locked on the bride and groom as the best man stood up to give his speech.  “Matt, you’ve found the person who is perfect for you… the person who completes you… your best friend. That person was born 19 years ago... It’s me,” said Ben. Everyone burst into laughter as Matt and Laura exchanged a loving glance with one another and smirked at Matt’s younger brother.

​Friends! We are so excited to share this Grand Event Center Wedding with you today! It’s hard for us to believe that Kari and Michael’s wedding day has already passed by. We remember shivering together with them in downtown Stillwater for their engagement photos like it was yesterday, but, alas, here we are! A Cinco de Mayo wedding? Yes, they happened to choose that awesome date and the case of the traveling sombrero did happen a bit behind the scenes. We couldn’t have picked a more perfect day for their day! The sun was shining but not too hot, the earth was finally turning green thanks to all of our late snow, and Michael and Kari were surrounded by friends and family who so evidently were excited about the new step these two were taking.

​​They stood only steps away from each other. His back to her. Beautiful, fresh spring-time flowers grasped within the palms of her hands. He stood still. Hands clasped one over the other, holding back the wedding day nerves and sheer excitement to see his beautiful bride. It was cold for an April wedding. They didn’t expect the snow for their day, but it was a beautiful white covering over the world. Showing the freshness and newness of the final moments of being fiancés and the starting moments of a married couple. KayLee walked slowly towards Eno.

This post has taken a long time in coming. Lindsay has had the privilege of looking back on countless sessions from last year and struggled to pick only a handful of photos from each session which is why this is getting posted mid-January instead of end of December 2017. We just love you all too much!
 
You know what else we love? Traditions. Especially ones that help us to reflect on the past year, those we love, and how we've grown. This is definitely a tradition that we will continue on (we did do a reflection on 2016 – but this year we can’t narrow it to 50 photos).
 
2017 was quite the year. We traveled to Georgia to visit Mark’s grandma and introduce her to our firstborn son. We welcomed our second-born son in April. We jam-packed our summer – some of our favorite moments were getting to take the boys to Wisconsin Dells’ Kalahari with our church’s youth group, hanging out for a week at Big Sandy Camp as a family, and then ending summer with a trip with Lindsay’s family getting to explore the always gorgeous Duluth and further up north. We traveled to Michigan for Thanksgiving to visit Lindsay’s grandparents and then to Montana for Christmas to visit Mark’s parents. But this post really isn’t about us. (We will have a coming post of our personal favorite photos of 2017 soon!) It’s about you – our awesome clients.
 
Getting to walk along with other families and amazing couples through their precious additions, new beginnings, and documenting family life always leaves us so grateful. You kept us busy. You kept us creative. You kept us alive and excited to share life as we experienced one joyful moment after another. You walked alongside us as we tweaked our business practices. You laughed at Mark’s dad jokes. You celebrated us as we welcomed our second son.
 
All this to say, we love you guys. We appreciate you. We can’t wait to serve you this year! Happy 2018!

Connor & Becca met at their church's bible study. What's their church's name? Connections Church, yep, you can't make this stuff up! They both went to school in the area and soon realized that they both had a love of running. In fact, they both qualified and will be running in the up and coming Boston Marathon1 If you spend any amount of time with these two, you'll very soon be nodding in agreement that these two love to run -- like a lot -- as well as hang out in the outdoors and with their families. 

Jake & Jessica met their first day of college. Crazy, right? But they didn't start dating until halfway through their sophomore year. Since then, these two have been best friends and love to spend their free time going on walks out in nature or at the falls in River Falls (we took their engagement photos there, so check it out here). They also love to hang out and watch movies. You can tell in how these two look at each other that they're building their amazing marriage on a firm foundation of friendship. PS... Nature and movies in their free time? I'm sure you can see why these two are our kind of a couple! 

A short side story is that I had the pleasure of working with Jess three summers ago when we were both working within the Kids Club program. Jess was still in college, dating this Jake guy, and I was, well, childless :) So to see where things have changed in the last few years is so fun and was such an honor to stand by her on her wedding day after all the fun days at work we had! 

When I talk with couples about their wedding photos, I always ask them what most excites them about their wedding day. These two were most excited about getting everyone together -- specifically both of their families. They hit this point out of the park on their day. The special touches of family from the handmade wood carved initials, to the amazing father-daughter dance, to the loads of laughter in the kissing game as well as the cup game. 

Jake & Jessica, hope you're loving married life! Remember, marriage is like a Lego Castle. It's an amazing looking box that you are so excited to get your hands on. Once you get it, you have a lot of little pieces that take time and teamwork to put together to make it just right ;)

<3 LW

Eric & Miranda had an absolute gorgeous day! When we watched the weather the week leading up to the wedding, it was looking like thunderstorms, but Miranda was such a trooper & was game for anything! Thankfully, it only rained a short time during their ceremony.

When I first met and talked with these two, I learned that they met at River Falls in chemistry because they were lab partners! How adorable! (Insert cheesy chemistry joke here.) These two are both super outdoorsy! Check out their engagement session here! He shows cows & she shows horses. Basically a match made in Heaven, right? When Eric proposed, he surprised Miranda by coming back from grad school in Canada and caught her so off guard that she was in her PJs and no contacts in -- so she said she could barely even see :) 

We had such a blast hanging out with these two and are so excited to see where they're headed! Congrats! 

<3 LW

I had the pleasure of working with Jessi before Mark & my little man came along. Her dedication, compassion, and fun spirit are easily noticed and spreads to those around her. Anthony came along shortly after I started working with Jessi and it was clear that he was someone who shared her passions and plans. Getting to be there to capture these two's day was a true honor! They stayed true to themselves and had a uniquely beautiful wedding.