Highlights from the beautiful Saint John Lutheran Church wedding of Chris & Katelyn!
We’ve had perhaps our busiest wedding season in our 30 years as a professional wedding and portrait studio. Chris & Katelyn’s Saint John Lutheran Church wedding was the fifth wedding we photographed in just 13 days! What a wonderful wedding celebration it was too. Their wedding day was filled with wonderful family, friends and several great locations for wedding photographs too!
Their St. John Lutheran Church wedding was located in Belle Plaine, MN. It’s a good old-fashioned classic church with beautiful stained glass windows and a wrap around balcony that you don’t see very often in church architectural designs.
Chris & Katelyn’s wedding party on the front steps.
Weather-wise, what was supposed to be a day with some rain possible, turned out to be really nice all day long. Joannie & I arrived and set up for Chris & Katelyn’s first look which happened right there in the center aisle of the church.
We were able to create many classic wedding portraits at the altar, some fisheye fun in that center aisle, on the front steps of the church and more wedding portraits of Chris & Katelyn in the shade outside too. All this before we even got to meet the wedding party!
Wedding party photos followed, both at the altar and back outside once again on this beautiful summer day. Afterwards, back inside, it was the families turn and we were able to do a great variety of family portrait combinations, with many cute ones of the little ring bearer, Noah, and their adorable flower girl, Mavis.
A Funny Wedding First
As I always try to do with the little ones at any wedding, I do my best to be silly and give them lots of attention so I have an ally when I need them to be cooperating for me. It usually works very well. Well on this day, it worked maybe a bit too well!
During the wedding processional, Mavis and Noah weren’t too excited about going down the aisle together all alone. Grandma did everything she could to get them started down the aisle. Finally, Mavis went ahead (very slowly) and made it down to the altar. Noah, on the other hand, made it as far as me (about 6 pews down), where he proceeded to stop and give me a big hug! And he didn’t let go! His mom, the maid of honor, had to come and get him and help him the rest of the way.
I’ve had ring bearers and flower girls do lots of cute things all of these years while walking down the aisle, but this was a new one for me!
Everybody In!
After a pretty St. John Lutheran Church wedding ceremony, these two were now “officially” newlyweds! Just moments afterward, everyone gathered on the front steps of the church for this fun group shot.
Everybody!
Do You Bring The Bug Spray?
Joannie & I followed the limo to Minnesota Harvest Apple Orchard for what had to be the “Mosquito capitol of Minnesota” on this Saturday. They were just swarming us! We stayed there long enough to get bitten up pretty good, but what great wedding photographs we created there in a such a short period of time!
The wedding party at Minnesota Harvest Apple Orchard.
The beautiful driveway at Minnesota Harvest Apple Orchard.
We still had some time, so we were off to a new location that I’ve not heard of before, Lagoon Park in Jordan, MN. What a pleasant surprise that was! The park has a very pretty waterfall and much more, and it just happened to be the place that Chris proposed to Katelyn! Nice!
Chris & Katelyn enjoying the falls at Lagoon Park.
After our stop there, it was off to the Holiday Inn & Suites in Lakeville for a wonderful, reception, dinner & dance! Joannie & I had so much fun capturing all of the festivities, including what turned out to be a pretty awesome wedding sunset photograph taken right next to the parking lot there. But you would never know it.
What a sunset!
In closing, Chris & Katelyn, thank you so much for the honor of being your wedding photographers! We totally enjoyed our time with you on your St. John Lutheran Church wedding day and look forward to creating a very cool wedding album when you are ready. Thank you! – M&J
“Saint John Lutheran Church wedding” – ©2016 Michael Anderson Photography.