Favorite Wedding Photos of 2017 | Favorites | Minneapolis Wedding Photographer

This year has been a blessing! I love sharing my top favorite wedding images of this crazy year of 2017! So for the first part of this post you will see my favorite wedding photos.  Originally I intended this post to be my top 20. As you see there was just too much love and goodness not to share more.
Although this year was wedding packed it wasn't the only thing happening in 2017. So the second part of the post will be my  favorite parts of 2017 from my life! 

Ugh these photos still have me keeping a smile on my face! But like I said weddings where not the only thing going on in my life this year. Here are some of my favorites for 2017 in my life.
 

Personal Favorite Moments of 2017

We bought our first house in 2017. I don't think I ever felt so much a grownup until we bought something that is really ours. We are slowly filling it with memories which I hope keeps filling for a long time! My favorite thing about our house is the living room gets the best view of sunrise. Some of them just take my breath away when I get a change to see them. 

This is Benjamin Winter Waits. He is my first nephew and this was one of his first photos. He turned 4 months old this December and is at the point where he smiles and giggles and just steals my heart every time.

Marcus and I got to go to Mt. Rushmore for the FIRST TIME! I was truly in awe of how magnificent it was! Around this time I was just itching for a trip and we jumped in the car the first opportunity we had a 3 day weekend. I love road tripping with Marcus. We just have a fun time listening to music and talking. The Airbnb we stayed at had a corgi which i have been crushing over for the entire year. THEY ARE SO CUTE.

We drove to Iowa to visit Marcus cousin Jessica for a day! This is downtown and while we were there we saw 3 wedding parties and a whole school of prom kids. It was a little crammed but beautiful! 

We also got to check off a track on Marcus's NASCAR list! We went to the race at Chicagospeedway. And then we walked around downtown Chicago which I haven't done in years. I totally forgot how big this city is! Besides paying outrageously for parking, we did a found tour which was really enjoyable! 

Thanks to my sister Jenny, I was also able to experience some amazing seats at my favorite teams! Not only that I felt like a queen with getting amazing food and hanging out with my sister! I was able to experience my FIRST Wilds game! It was really fun and I would love to go to another one in the near future. Marcus and I need to hit up one that is against and AZ team.

My last time to Texas was in 2011. 6 YEARS since I had been down to see my second family, the Glawes. It had been 2 YEARS since I had seen my forever sister/ BFF/ laughgenerator / high school-sweet-heart/partner-in-crime. Katrina and her family moved to Texas from Minnesota in high school and I think that was truly my first heart break. 
She has been up to MN loads of time and it was my turn to surprise her! Thanking the Lord for cheap tickets I hopped on a flight and spent the week with her and my second family. We were driving all over the place, singing Taylor Swift at the top of our lungs, and trying freezy pickle juice for the first time. One of my favorite moments was in the evening when we were all sitting on the couch and her two little boys were praying before bed time. When Carlile's turn came he prayed for Auntie Molly and my heart just melted. UGH SO CUTE! We also got to see sea world and magnolia studios in Waco! 

It's been a good year for us. I am so thankful for the abundant amount of blessings that have been sent my way in 2017.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17

Historic Forestville Engagement Photography | Bri & Jordan | Minneapolis Wedding Photographer

Starting out as a practical joke, Bri and her sister jokingly filled out an online profile on Farmersmatch.com, not thinking anything would come of it. As Jordan scrolled through Bri's warm smile and striking blue eyes made him stop on her profile and gave him the courage to send her a message. Almost missing his messages, Bri stumbled upon then and they both started talking back and forth. As conversations got deeper, they decided to give it a chance and go on a first date in downtown Rochester.  Bri showed up to the restaurant earlier; Jordan unwilling to ask for directions got horrible lost and was 30 minutes late. But after the confusion was lifted they had dinner and really hit it off!!

Fast-forward, Jordan had a surprise for Bri at his farm. As they pulled up in his truck he grabbed a shirt from the back seat and wrapped it around Bri's eyes to guarantee she would not peek. Now Bri had been wanting goats for a while to add to there little farm family and as she was led into the barn that's when she heard the bleat of a goat. Getting excited what she thought was only goats, Jordan took off her makeshift blindfold to reveal two goats and a sign that said "A hobby for you to go with a hobby of mine cause I wanna be with you till the end of time."  Standing in silence waiting for her to finish reading, Jordan took out a small ring box. As she finished he asked her to marry him in which she gladly said yes! She left there with two new goats ( Vera & Jane ), a shiny halo ring, and a handsome fiance!

Their engagement session was in the beautiful History Forestville. It gave plenty of variety for their photos which was a dream. All of us are looking forward to Bri and Jordan's wedding June of next year!

Why You Should Have Your Engagement Session With Your Wedding Photographer

My dad has always been a photo enthusiast. In my his eyes having five kids is as good as having 5 miniature models;  my siblings and I have grown up very uncamera shy because of it! For us any excuse to take photos was a good excuse! 

If you have taken a gander at my packages you have probably noticed I don't charge for my engagement sessions when you book your wedding with me. Your engagement session is not just another opportunity to take more photos (which I know your fiance just loves) it is a chance to build our relationship. Through this crazy business adventure I am still building and learning what makes the best experience for my MW couples! This is one golden nugget that I have learned and will standby for my couples.  Here are 3 reasons why you should shoot your engagement session with your wedding photographer.

1) It allows you to get a feel for how your photographer works. Your photographer will direct you to make you look good and have a good time. You will be able to see how they set up a pose or if they make you feel comfortable in front of the camera. It is better to know that and know how to feel comfortable with the love of your life in front of your photographers camera. Do they have key words?  Do they have favorite poses to stick you in? You will find this all out on your session!

2) It allows your photographer to know how you work as a couple.   Each couple has a different relationship; this is the time before the wedding that your photographer learns how you work together. Whether you are high volumes of pda or a little more pulled back, your photographer can then gauge what things you will be comfortable doing on the wedding day! (Like jumping in a near by pool after the ceremony or being thrown in the air by all the groomsmen) This will help put you in poses and do things that are more YOU!

3) There are no bad surprises when it comes to your wedding day photos. After the engagement session, you will then have been shot by your photographer. So instead of feeling like another stranger is shooting your wedding, you will feel like it is  friend excited to be capturing the day along side you! On top of that, your completed engagement session will be the same style as your wedding photos. So you will have a glimpse of what your wedding photos will look like! 

 I  believe it is important!! ♡