Jay and Vanessa’s pretty images from their Rusty’s Hitchin’ Post Event Center Wedding in New Richmond, Wisconsin!
Up on the hill.
It’s not very often that you get to attend the inaugural event at a brand new wedding venue. That’s exactly what happened when Jay & Vanessa booked their wedding at Rusty’s Hitchin’ Post Event Center in New Richmond, Wisconsin!
In fact, when Jay & Vanessa reserved Joannie & me as their wedding photographers last July, they hadn’t even broken ground yet! When Joannie & I arrived Saturday morning for Jay & Vanessa’s Rusty’s Hitchin’ Post Event Center wedding, the owners were still putting the finishing touches on some of the landscaping!
It probably goes without saying, but when you get to be the very first at doing something it’s always kind of a special feeling. First can only happen one time. Like we strive to do for every wedding we photograph, we want it to be photographed as thoroughly as possible and if you can, you want to pull out all of the stops while doing so. That’s what Joannie & I set out to do for Jay and Vanessa’s Rusty’s Hitchin’ Post Event Center wedding.
Hot, Hot, Hot!
As wedding photographers (and brides & grooms), the first thing you want at any outdoor wedding is decent weather. Ideally, that consists of no rain (or snow here in MN), comfortable temperatures, a light breeze and a nice overcast sky so we can work anywhere you want to. Well, last Saturday we almost got two of the four!
It didn’t rain and it certainly didn’t snow! The breeze was light to moderate and although it was a bit hard on hairdos at times, it felt heavenly as it was well over 90 degrees outside with a totally blue sky! The nearest substantial clouds we could see were probably over Duluth, MN!
That meant we had our work cut out for us and we were going to have to improvise much of the day. Our new golf cart light stand, “Lightning McQueen” was in for a workout as was our new state-of-the-art WITSTRO MoLight AD360II lighting system.
A New Barn Wedding
Jay & Vanessa wanted as much emphasis on the barn as we could and that turned out to be a very good thing. Besides having the dinner & dance in the barn, we also used it as a backdrop, a prop, and for much-needed shade too!
We also used The Hitchin’ Post’s brand new barn as the backdrop during their first looks (for both Vanessa’s dad & Jay’s) and for some of Jay & Vanessa’s formal wedding portraits too.
As mentioned, because it was so sunny, we decided to use the barn for its very welcoming shade. So we photographed all of the family and wedding party portraits with the barn as the background. Thankfully the barn is pretty good size because one of the family photographs had nearly 60 people in it!
Jay & Vanessa’s wedding party.
At the conclusion of their wedding portraits, it was time for these two to become newlyweds! Their wedding ceremony was really beautiful, a bit on the hot side, but very pretty. Vanessa’s father even married them!
After the ceremony, everyone enjoyed cold refreshments, some welcome shade, and lots of fun during the social hour. A nice homemade dinner followed (fresh pasta, handmade meatballs and Italian sausage made by family members) and their fun wedding dance after that.
Toast-n-kiss!
The Old At The New
In between dinner and the start of their dance, Joannie & I took the wedding party out for some photos now that the sun was beginning to set. Rusty’s Hitchin’ Post Event Center wedding venue has several pieces of antique farm equipment as decorations on the property and one of them is this awesome old truck!
Wedding party on an antique truck at The Hitchin’ Post.
Moments before their wedding dance was to begin, Mother Nature decided to put a few perfectly placed clouds in the western sky giving us the potential for a nice sunset. Low and behold, a short time later, we had a pretty sunset!
A beautiful sunset.
Once the sun had set, their fun dance got rolling and it started to get much more comfortable outside. Lots of guests enjoyed the evening out on the large patio where we were taking family and wedding party photos just a few hours earlier.
The first dance.
Light Painted Wedding Photos
Later in the evening, Jay & Vanessa took a little stroll with their wedding guests holding hundreds of sparklers by the parking lot. Cool!
More sparklers!
Sparklers!
That was the end of the day for Joannie & myself, but I still had one more thing up my sleeve before we said goodbye. We set up for the special sparkler shot you see below. It was not as easy as it looks to create, but I’m so glad that we did!
It involved about a 10-second exposure while firing our flashes at just the right time. Joannie controlled the camera and flashes during those 10 seconds, I ran through the photo with two sparklers, stopping in front of Jay & Vanessa while attempting to light paint a heart shape and then continuing out of the frame afterward. We made several attempts and the one below turned out pretty cool.
Fun with sparklers!
Jay & Vanessa, Joannie & I are so happy that you selected us for your wedding photographers. We had a great time with you and your wonderful family and friends. We hope you’re enjoying a relaxing honeymoon and we look forward to sharing the rest of your awesome Rusty’s Hitchin’ Post Event Center wedding photos we’ve created for you when you return. – M&J