Priceless Photo Memories Photoblog » A photography blog of Priceless Photo Memories; posting on weddings, portraits, and life.

Brad and Corey were amazing and terrific to work with! Saturday threw them a whole host of strange weather and they didn’t miss a beat. Saturday brought with it perhaps the most dynamic I have ever seen! I began the morning in Red Wing with Corey and her ladies at the salon as they did hair and makeup. The morning was a little overcast, but over all a beautiful morning!

After hair and makeup we traveled up to Hastings to the Little Log House Pioneer Village for pictures and the ceremony. As Corey was finishing getting ready, the sky opened up with the biggest rain drops I have ever seen! Corey and Brad wanted pictures outside and had no intentions of letting the weather dictate what they could or couldn’t do…so we grabbed umbrellas and went outside to meet the elements!

The rain was on and off through our picture time, but there were enough cute little buildings with lovely overhangs so we were able to keep Brad and Corey pretty dry through the morning!

As the storm began to move on the winds began to pick up. Not just a little breeze…30-35mph sustained winds! No big deal, Brad and Corey were happy and optimistic through it all! The original weather forecast for the day said that it was supposed to be in the 80s and sunny; 60s windy and storming was a little bit of a surprise. Watching Brad and Corey together through the morning of unexpected weather was beautiful. They were so happy to be together, to be with their friends and family and to get married…nothing could have dampened their spirits.

Round three of the weather set in during the ceremony. The winds finally brought in the sunny and 80s that had originally been predicted for the day.

The reception was at Treasure Island Marina. The plan was for the wedding party to take the boat out on the river for a bit while the guests arrived and began to enjoy social hour. Well…the gusty winds caused a little change of plans. They still went out to the boat, but didn’t get to take the boat out into open water. Oh well, a boat party with friends is fun whether you are out in open water or at the docks!

Let the celebrations begin!

I loved the group of kids anxiously awaiting their turn on the dance floor!

The band SideFX came in as the host of the party for the evening.

Part four of the weather: beautiful, no wind, light clouds for sunset. What a perfect way to end!

Corey and Brad, you weathered everything nature could throw you on your wedding day and you did it with grace and optimism! May that be an indicator of the grace and optimism that will follow you through your marriage! We wish you many blessings throughout your years together!

I met Elizabeth at the salon as her and her bridesmaids were getting their hair and makeup done. Elizabeth was accompanied by a special mix CD that John had made for her to listen to as the morning activities progressed! The CD was filled with songs from their relationship throughout the years…too cute! One of my favorite parts of the day was overhearing some family members of both Elizabeth and John talk about how perfect Elizabeth and John are as a couple. I love hearing when friends and family are so excited about the marriage that is about to take place. It makes me very excited for these two knowing that they have so much love and support from their families.

Let me just say that Elizabeth is amazing! She added so many beautiful details to the day…including making hangers for each of her bridesmaids!

John and Elizabeth had a beautiful ceremony at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. They are are blessed with many pastors in their lives and they got to include many of them in different parts of their ceremony.

After the ceremony Alan and I went with Elizabeth and John to a big field with a couple of single oak trees for a few additional pictures!

Elizabeth switched out her green heals for a pair of green rain boots for running through the field…it was perfect!

The reception was held at the Great Hall of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church of Lino Lakes. There were so many fun and unique things about their reception. Elizabeth and John have big hearts for youth! One of my favorite things about the reception was that the youth from their church were the ones serving dinner! Rather than hiring a full catering company, the youth got to serve dinner as a fundraiser for their next missions trip…I loved it!

There were 30 tables set up at the reception, each numbered and each number told something about the bride and groom. For example, Eleven: the number of years John and Elizabeth have been friends. What a fun idea!

Rather than a regular DJ to spin the tunes for the evening, Elizabeth and John had dueling pianos come in for the evening! It was so much fun and provided a whole new level of entertainment for the evening and dance!

The following day was Elizabeth’s mom’s birthday so she got a little pre-birthday serenade!

John…rockin’ out the Elvis.

Yoda…lord of the rings?

Congratulations Elizabeth and John! May your wedding day be the beginning of a beautiful life together filled with many blessings!

Cal and Carlie were married on May 8th at St. Joseph’s Parish in New Hope, MN. Our morning began at  Salon Montage with Carlie and her bridesmaids as they got their hair done. I loved the big sweeping curls that Carlie went with for her hair…she has the most wonderfully thick hair and it was perfect for that elegantly natural look! But then anything Carlie would have decided to do would have looked beautiful because she is so darn beautiful!

Carlie’s personal attendant was terrific…she was prepared for anything, even if it was an emergency fixing of a bridesmaid’s necklace right before the ceremony!

This was the first time I can remember that I have seen the marriage documents be signed during the ceremony…it really makes a lot of sense, but I think it’s a first for me!

The reception was held at the MN Valley Country Club in Bloomington, MN. Carlie did the planning and orchestrating of the reception site and it turned out beautifully! The flowers for the ceremony and reception were done by Sadie’s Floral, and they all were amazing!

We stole Carlie and Cal away for a last few pictures before the dance began. That late evening sun is unbeatable!

As the sun set and the lights were lowered, the pink lighting and the draped lighting illuminated the room in the most ethereal way. It became a whole new setting for the late night dance and party!

Billy D and the Crystals, a band from Carlie’s home town in northern MN came down to be the entertainment for the evening. They were terrific! It always so much fun when a couple brings in a live band for the dance…it’s a whole different dynamic and it’s lots of fun to watch!

Cal and Carlie, we wish you many blessings as you begin your marriage!

Monday we ventured out into the weird weather we have been having lately (the crazy wind that’s here one moment and gone the next, the rain that comes for 5 minutes then turns into sun for 10) for Craig and Meghan’s engagement session. We had a little rain here and there, but it ended up working out pretty well. Craig and Meghan were so much fun! There are so obviously in love and quite expressive too…awesome combination! We did so many different things during their engagement session it was hard to pick out a normal sized set for the blog.

They wanted to have a little fun with their session so they picked up bubble guns! Loved it!

More bubbles…

Meghan and Craig…you are awesome! Thanks for a fun evening of picture taking. We are looking forward to your wedding day!

We had been trying to get a date on the calendar to do an engagement session with Ali and Bill since last October or so…the weather just never really wanted to be our friend. Last Saturday we finally squeaked by between rain showers and managed to fit in an engagement session! I love the the beauty of early spring…the bright greens of plants growing new shoots, the green green grass, the warmer temperatures, and the amazing blooming trees! It was perfect! We met up with Bill and Ali at Rice Park in St. Paul for their session. They began the session by spoiling us with brownies…these were not just any brownies, they were killer brownies. We decided to save them for later which was a good call on our end because they were huge, amazing and coma inducing…mmmm….

Bill and Ali were great to work with and we are very much looking for ward to their wedding in August! Here’s a few shots from the afternoon…enjoy!