Ashley & T | Minneapolis Engagement Session

I am an engineer.  This means I absolutely love a quiet coffee shop to edit for hours (the reason why I can get you your wedding gallery in less than two weeks), am happy to go through all the details of your day, and am constantly challenging myself to learn new things.  

What this also means though is I have a giant personal space bubble!!   While my family, ENFP dominated friend group, and husband have been trying to break this (I am literally surrounded by people who's love language is touch)  it still takes me awhile to warm up.  

So I am not sure what was about Ashley and T; their inviting personalities, her contagious smile, the way he can make her eyes light up.  But something called me to come in close.  AND IT WAS SO POWERFUL.   Combining story alongside these intimate portraits I can feel their love pulse right through me in these images.  

Danna & Adam | Wisconsin Wedding Photography

Danna and Adam as a couple are entirely unique. Their passion for one another is immediately recognizable; the burning light of two hearts who have found their counterpart.  The uniqueness comes in the way they carry a wholehearted acceptance that what they found is nothing short of mystically divine.    I could not share their images without also sharing a piece of his vows for her which put into words so perfectly, this very magical love they share. 

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We left our last known surroundings:
Maybe because we were young
Maybe because we were naive
Maybe because we were overzealous

Or Maybe:
Maybe because we know
that no matter where we go
or who we meet
or what jobs we may or may not have
That we will have each other.

You:
To tell me to slow down and think for a minute.

Me:
To tell you to hurry up and jump.

And we will:
We will jump.
We will bicker.
We will disagree.
We will laugh.
We will cry.
And we will do it together.
With trembling hands
we will take chances.

When people ask us why,
Or how could we,
Or tell us
that they could never do what we were doing,
We will tell them:
“It is because we have each other.”

We will fail,
And we will triumph.
But we will have done it together.

Before you I was;
With you I am.

I am the best possible version of myself.
Because of you I am fearless.
Because of you I am hopeful.
Because of you I am.

Because of you
It doesn’t need to make sense.
Up could be down,
And down could be purple,
And when we’re together
it IS.

When I speak in rhymes,
Or in tongues,
Or in Kanye lyrics:
You get it.

When I tell you
That two crickets in a thimble
Only chirp
because the thimble’s made of stars,
You’ll say: “I know, right!”

Because when we’re together
Everything makes sense.
If it rains hammers;
We will pull out an umbrella.
If the ground turns to marbles;
We will walk without breaking stride.
If the sky is ablaze;
We will watch it burn
With campfire eyes.

Sara & Shawn | Minnesota Wedding Photography

So often I hear couples say we didn't want to risk it in terms of having an outdoor ceremony, and I hear you.  Weather does complicate things.  But I am telling you, it is always worth it.   As I drove out to Alexandra and listened to the storm warnings broadcast from the radio, I prepared for rain on Sara and Shawn's backyard outdoor wedding.  But Sara and Shawn were committed to making it work, regardless of storm clouds.  Over and over throughout the day they reassured each other as well as family and friends, Option A.  And while that meant doing formals in the rain, and bracing the tent walls as huge gusts of wind threatened to take us away, it also meant the sun peaking out right as they were pronounced husband and wife and the most beautiful sunset full of chilly cuddles beneath a cracked open sky.