In my mind, mid-September has always been the perfect time for a wedding. Even before I was married, I was photographing weddings at that time and thinking “this weather is perfect – not summer, not fall, just right.” Then, my husband and I got married mid-September because it was the only date that worked for the photographers I wanted. Now, I get to share an anniversary with this lovely couple you see here!

Lex + Heidi traveled down from North Dakota for a perfect South Dakota September wedding day. The morning was foggy, but by lunchtime the sun came out and shined so bright for these two!
After the ceremony, we had a full hour before Lex + Heidi were needed at the reception, so we went on a little adventure! :-)  Lex + Heidi – Thank you so much for having me at your wedding! I loved being able to create beautiful wedding photos that you will hopefully treasure as much as I treasure my own photos from September 15th a few years ago! :-) Thanks for letting me take you on a little adventure as well! I hope you had a fun couple of days here, and enjoy your honeymoon this winter!

David + Marcy could not have planned a more perfect September South Dakota State Park wedding. The details from Timeless Weddings & Events were so beautiful, as were the flowers from Jenny’s Floral. But my favorite part of David + Marcy’s wedding came from up above – the clear blue skies providing warm sunshine and the perfect breeze to keep everyone comfortable.

Also my favorite was David + Marcy themselves. After having photographed them twice for engagement pictures (because we just had so much fun the first time around and wanted to do it again), they were so at ease in front of the camera. So many last-minute wedding day details can be stressful, but the photo portions of the day were a breeze.

Can we take a moment to talk about Marcy’s dress? You see, she had ordered a beautiful mermaid-style gown with a tulle overskirt, but after alterations were made, she could hardly breathe, let alone sit down in it! So this beautiful number was off the rack, and the veil was made specifically for her. Marcy was comfortable and so she practically radiated beauty and confidence!! And her amazing updo by Tancy at Elite Hair Design helped boost that ‘beauty level’ up an extra notch. ;-)Memorial Day weekend at Sylvan Lake is nuts. Thank goodness for Photoshop! ;-) I loooooove stolen glances anytime throughout the day – especially during ceremonies when the officiant has said something that pulls a heartstring. Mary from Your Joyful Wedding creates and delivers the most beautiful ceremonies – it’s always a treat and an honor to get to work alongside her!! The plan for photos was to climb this rock immediately after their receiving line. The light was perfect, the amount of time before we had to get back to the reception was perfect, and the breeze was BEYOND perfect. Just you wait and see. :-)

Also, Marcy purchased her wedding shoes based on the fact that she would be climbing a rock for photos. My kind of bride right there!!! Poor David was stuck with slippery rental shoes. Oops!!
It’s very possible I shed a tear when I took this photo, and I know it has caused many other tears to fall since sharing it online a couple days ago. This is exactly what wedding photographer dreams are made of!!!
Okay so one more favorite thing about this wedding – the rock candy geode on the cake!!! David + Marcy – Oh man, how do I even begin to thank you for having me photograph you? I loved every minute of your wedding day, and I tried to savor it as best I could because I didn’t want it to end! Don’t be alarmed if I print up a few of these photos and put them up in my own home. Love you both, and I hope these first few months of life as newlyweds go smoothly with the move. Text friends forever, mmkay? ;-)

I have been waiting for the right couple to come along to explore some places near Sylvan Lake that I haven’t yet been to, and David + Marcy fit the bill perfectly! They had a free evening during their vacation, so we could be flexible with the incoming bad weather. They spent that morning and the day before hiking trails around Custer State Park, so I knew they could handle climbing around a few more rocks. PLUS they had already been in front of my camera once before, so there was less directing and less pressure (which means MORE FUN)! (Side note for those of you planning your wedding: have your wedding photographer take your engagement photos for this very reason!!!)

Huge thanks again to these two for making room in their vacation for a fun little photo shoot! I LOVED hanging out and I LOVE what we created!! Raise your hand if *you* want to go on a photo adventure the next time you come to the Black Hills! :-)

And in case you were wondering, we did have a *little* bit of fun out here! ;-)

When I asked Lex + Heidi a few questions about each other, he said ‘her blue eyes made him weak in the knees’ and she talked about how ‘he always makes me feel safe and secure.’ Plus, together they like to enjoy nature, which I think is the perfect compliment to me as a photographer because I LOVE photographing people in nature! They traveled from northern North Dakota (so basically across two states) for this session, and they will again for their wedding in September, so I was thrilled to capture her blue eyes and his strong presence in the beautiful hills of Custer State Park!

They were so fun and loving and comfortable in front of the camera. They are also good dancers – wait till you see him spin her (fun surprise video at the end of this post)!

Throughout their session, I kept waiting for this moment to happen naturally – Lex’s arm around Heidi’s shoulders. Holding her safe and secure as they walked along. :-)

Also, creating videos has been on my list of ‘things I want to do’ for a few years now.

The fear of the end product not being worthy of sharing, on top of the fear of missing moments I should be capturing in still-frames stopped me from even trying.

But then I read this book about being the best-possible-version of yourself, and how you should only compare yourself with your past self. In small, every day tasks (like putting dishes directly into the dishwasher instead of next to the sink) and taking steps to reach your personal goals (i.e.: making videos).

It’s a simple concept, but man it is doing great things in my heart!!

So… long story short… these clips aren’t extraordinary, but they are fun and I hope my couples love watching them because that’s all that matters!!

Five years ago, Gina spotted Ethan at a Johnny Holm show. Her friend knew his sister, introductions were made, and after a couple dances they ended up exchanging numbers!

I like to think they had a moment similar to this on the dance floor that first night. :-)