JoEllen and Rob are such unique people. So creative, quirky and smart. When I met them, I instantly loved them. We liked alot of the same things, a similar nerdy sense of humor and they were just so darn nice. And they both had a background in graphic design so they had an eye for the funky. We were a perfect match, photographically speaking. I knew they had to book me, because if I missed out on what they had planned for September 27th, I would have been pretty bummed.

September 27th FINALLY came and what a day it was. The getting ready, wedding and ceremony all took place at the Round Barn Farm in Red Wing. I had never been there before, let alone heard of it. When I pulled up, I couldn’t believe that its not a more familar locale, this place is fantastic! The barn is so cute, the house (and bed & breakfast part of the property) was huge. If you want to get married outside and have the reception at the same place, this is where you should look.

I love all of the pictures I am going to post. All of the color and backgrounds (and of course the hot couple) make these photos a feast for the eyes!!

cute Stuart Weitzmans

Isn’t she gorgeous?

Dashing Groom

First sight

Such an emotional ceremony…

Emotional?? I meant funny…

The barn

Inside

Awesome details

Mmmmm!

A few night photos

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, Jo and Rob!!! Everything was wonderful and I hope you enjoy the photos! See you soon!!! Congrats!

I just got home from shooting a wonderful wedding in Red Wing. I was downloading and backing up my images and came across this perfect image to post as a sneak peek. I call it, “HOTNESS.”

You are definitely gonna want to check back to see the full posting because this was one heck of a wedding. And a super great couple, to boot.

I just had an anniversary. Well, Matt and I had an anniversary. Usually, we don’t really do anything that spectacular, maybe go up north, maybe go a little further north. Just something easy. Since this year was number 5, I was telling Matty, I wanted spectacular this time. Paris? Too much time commitment. New York? Maybe. Chicago? Possible.

There was one main factor that was keeping us from all of these places. Our little Luca. I hadn’t left him overnite yet, and didn’t see the rush to do it. We thought about bringing him, but that seemed way too idealistic. A baby in a big city who had to be in bed by 9? Suck.

So I brushed it off as the 5 was going to be no big whoopie. We had planned to go out to dinner and have Gramma watch him for a few hours. I got to pick the restaurant, Azia. We had a bottle of champagne and some cranberry puffs to start. I had some sushi and some shrimp noodle dinner. Matt had pork tenderloins with sweet potatoes and asparagus. Really, really yummy.

As we are eating Matt gets all serious and and totally freaks me out. (He is such a little sneak!) He said he knows it would have been great to go somewhere out of state, but instead we aren’t going home, we are staying in Minneapolis at the Ivy. I was totally surprised, which is very hard to do because I am a nosy person. I was also a little sad because I didn’t get to smooch Luca and I wouldn’t see him until the morning. But it was just one night and we were going to go out downtown and have a few drinks like the old, pre-baby Matt and Steph. Yay!!! I missed them!

So we went out, had a lot of fun and went home in the morning to see Gramma and Luca sitting outside waiting for us. Now I know it wasn’t anything fancy like Paris, but it was real. I can’t believe that we have been hitched for 5 years. It feels like I have known Matty forever but those 5 years have gone by so fast. I am probably the luckiest girl ever to have found such a perfect boy like him. He is super hot, super nerdy, and my perfect match.

(And yes, I also hate blog postings with no pictures, but I had no idea that anything but dinner would be happening, so I left my camera home!!)

ADDED…Since I don’t have any pictures from the 5 to share, I figured I could show you a picture from my wedding. Now it is a snapshot, and one of the only photos that I actually liked from my wedding. (I wasn’t shooting weddings myself yet…) We had a not-so-fantastic wedding photographer, so note to soon to be brides, you definitely get what you pay for when it comes to photography!

So you remember that I shot Ashley’s senior pictures but only got half way due to some rain, right? Well, I said there would be round 2, and here it is. We finished off her session in Stillwater and a cool field that I know. She looks like a rockstar. She is a rockstar!! Here you go Ashley!

getting political…

These 2 remind me of an Urban Outfitters ad

If you need your senior photos taken, and you want something fun and different, you know who to call!

Meet Ashley. She is a senior this year and we hung out the other evening to shoot some fun senior pictures. Well, we only got to hang out a short time because we gambled with the weather, and the rain won. But what makes this post extra good is that if you like all of the photos that you see, there will be more next week!! Because of the rain-out, Ashley and I will being doing some more photos, which will be blogged once we do them.

But anyways, the first half of Ashley’s photos took place on Grand Avenue, which was fun and challenging because this was the first time I have done a shoot on Grand. And it won’t be the last because there is tons of great nooks and crannies and ice cream parlors on Grand. Can you believe that Ashley is a natural blonde? What a super fox! Got to love a girl who’s not afraid to play with hair color!!

Damn girl, look at those eyes! POW!

Ashley works at an ice cream parlor herself, so we had to stop at Grand Ole Creamery for some treats!

Before the rain came, there were some crazy breezes to play with

Check back next week for round 2!!

Just a little FYI to all you people out there with inquiring minds. Sure they may look cute, but those little choppers can cause quite some drama.