Pat + Mackenzie are truly the sweetest people EVER!! They are both so calm and quiet and they are always holding hands and stealing glances at each other. :-) Their wedding was so perfectly them – the sun shining brightly and lots of family and friends to celebrate with them.

The wedding was held at the Ellsworth Air Force Base, which I found pretty easily. It was the chapel within the base that I had a hard time finding. Thankfully I had been in contact with Mackenzie’s mom ahead of time and she told me to call her if I had any troubles. So here I am. Driving around the base with a huge “VISITOR” sign screaming from my dash looking totally clueless. I try not to make eye contact with anyone else at the base as I drive around in circles. So I call Mackenzie’s mom. “Hi Natalie. It’s Laura. I’m lost.” Turns out it is pretty much right next to the entrance gate. Right under the HUGE water tower. Don’t ask me how I drove right past it.

I found the girls getting ready – let me rephrase – I found Mackenzie helping the girls get ready!! She is seriously the most helpful, selfless girl I’ve ever met.

And then her mom comes in to help Mackenzie get ready “Oh, good! Laura made it!!” :-)

I love watching brides get ready.

I love watching bridesmaids interact with the bride as she’s getting ready.

It’s the moment where a girl really turns into a bride and all the bridesmaids realize “ohmygooodness you’re getting MARRIED today!!!!!!!”

And these girls ROCKED their serious/sassy look! Except for Kyli. She’s just too sweet to be fierce. ;-)

Story time!!!!

So when Pat proposed to Mackenzie, they were taking a walk behind her parents’ house. And snacking on Peachie O’s. Mackenzie’s favorite. (and mine, too) So Pat hands her a Peachie O, but not just any Peachie O, a Peachie O with a RING IN IT!!!! :-) So on Saturday, before I leave town for the wedding, I swing by a gas station to pick up some Peachie O’s. For pictures. And for me to snack on. :-)

LOVE this photo of the Our Father – with Fr. Paul’s hands around Pat + Mackenzie, plus each of the fathers’ hands reaching towards their children. :-)

First kiss as Mr. and Mrs.!!!!!!

Their reception was held at the beautiful Black Hills Receptions.

While I stole the bride and groom for photos, all the guests enjoyed a nice cocktail hour – a note to anyone choosing to do your photos after the ceremony, make sure your guests have something to do while you’re taking photos! This makes the time go by much faster, and (hopefully) people aren’t just waiting around for food! :-)

Pat + Mackenzie had this crazy awesome dance to start the evening off right. Everyone at the wedding lined up and danced around the whole tent, weaving around tables and each other and finally circling Pat + Mackenzie, where everyone then watched them dance their first romantic dance as a couple:

Pat + Mackenzie, thanks for being so adorably SWEET!!!! :-) Your wedding was truly beautiful and I hope you two live happily ever after, just like in the fairy tales! :-) Also, have fun at LEGOLand. And the San Diego Zoo. :-)

I don’t even know where to begin describing how much fun I had at Bryce + Brittany’s wedding…. Everything was so great!! We didn’t have to battle the wind like we did for their engagement session, they didn’t stop smiling once all day long, their first look was ADORABLE, and so was Bryce’s surprise wedding gift to Brittany, their ring bearers were the cutest boys EVER (right after my nephew), a few tears were shed by all (including me), their reception was a blast, their first dance was super sweet, their families are awesome, their flowers were incredible, seriously, EVERYTHING was so great!!!

Bryce + Brittany were married at St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church in Sabin, MN. Brittany and her bridesmaids got ready in a room with lots of books and windows on two sides of the room – Brittany, I don’t think I properly thanked you for picking the room with the most light to get ready. You’re a doll. :-)

She was even helping her bridesmaids get ready – gotta love a calm, selfless bride!!!

Seriously, so calm!!! And beautiful!!!!

Have I mentioned that I LOVE first looks?! Look how excited they are to see each other!!!!

These next photos make my heart skip a beat every time. Before Brittany came in for their first look, Bryce said “I had an extra band soldered on her ring for her wedding present. She doesn’t know about it. She’s gonna FLIP and I wanna make sure we get photos of that.” FLIP she did and photos I got!!! Nice work, Bryce!!!

Talk about a glowing bride!! Brittany, you’re gorgeous!!

I absolutely fell in love with everyone’s flowers – Sherri, you are AMAZING!! Sherri was in the kitchen whipping up bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres like nobody’s business while everyone else was getting dressed and ready for the day.

Dear Bryce, this is the closest to John Deere green I could find for you. :-)

See? Sooo adorable!!! Briley and Cooper, you are the cutest twin boys I have ever met! Bryce, you are such a lucky uncle!!

Guess who’s excited to get MARRIED?! :-)

Sometimes I wish I could hear what they’re saying to each other…

Ridin’ the ‘cool bus’ over to the reception!!

Their gorgeous reception was held out at The Seasons at Rose Creek in Fargo, ND.

Bryce + Brittany played this great kissing/trivia game at their reception – when people clinked their glasses, the dj (Dude Walker’s Music on Wheels) picked someone out in the crowd to answer a trivia question about the couple. If they got it right, they had to show Bryce + Brittany how to kiss. If they got it wrong, Bryce + Brittany had to show them how to kiss. Pretty entertaining if I might say so, myself! :-)

Showing how their parents are supposed to kiss:

Brittany and her dad:

Bryce and his mom:

Penny – you’re amazing. Not just because you wore these shoes all day long… but it does give you tons of bonus points from me! :-)

Sorry, Bryce. I had to. You’re just so good at singing Taylor Swift. :-)

Note to self: spend some more time out on the boat. I look like a ghost next to all my brides!!

Bryce + Brittany – thanks so much for having me as your wedding photographer. I seriously had SO MUCH FUN at your wedding!! I loved capturing every moment of your wonderful day! I’m actually kinda bummed that I don’t have any more excuses to take photos of you two!!

I hope you’re having a great time on your honeymoon!! Bryce, enjoy your new mountain bike. Brittany, take some time every day to look at your extra bling. And like your grandmother said, look at the ‘kissing book’ if you ever need to remind yourselves how much you love each other. :-)

AND funny story… as I was saying goodbye to Bryce + Brittany at the end of the night, Bryce invited himself to my wedding. “You’re so great and your wedding is going to be so much fun and I want to be there!!” Okay, Bryce. You win. You and Brittany are officially invited to my *someday* wedding. :-D

Note to self: pant-suits are RIDICULOUSLY warm for July weddings in South Dakota. I’m on the search for new, non-bridesmaid-looking dresses to wear for weddings. If you have any suggestions other than Target’s clearance rack, let me know! :-)

Other than the heat, Dave + Melissa’s wedding day was wonderful!! And I got a little carried away with their ring shots…

Hello, gorgeous!!

I am in LOVE with the front of this church:

Their. Flowers. Were. HUGE!!

The bouquet was bigger than Melissa and the guys bouts were tipping over! Nothing screams summer like giant yellow roses!! :-)

And check out these ups!!! I am SO impressed with Dave’s brother, the best man, directly to Dave’s left. And the last ‘big girl’ bridesmaid on the right. Nice work, team! This one wasn’t even Photoshopped together!!

Gotta love super-shy flower girls and ring bearers! :-)

Bubbles!!

They were pretty excited about kissing. They snuck in a couple during the ceremony AND didn’t hesitate a second when everyone started clinking their glasses the moment they got to the head table. Guess who’s excited to be married?! :-)

If I had not needed to sleep that night in preparation for my next wedding, I would have been ALL OVER this coffee bar!! Four different flavors of syrup, cream and sugar galore! Heaven! :-)

And, my portrait with the happy couple:

Congrats, Dave + Melissa!! I hope you had a great night dancing and eating the first piece of your cake!! (Dave tried to convince me to take a bite of cake before I took off, as long as I cut it out of the back side so no one would see. Right, Dave. Like I’m going to cut the first piece of YOUR wedding cake. Don’t get me wrong, I love cake, but I promise to never go so far as to dive into the wedding cake before the couple does. Never ever. :-))

Because I love to share… here are a couple sneak peeks from the weddings I photographed this weekend!!

Dave + Melissa on Friday:

…and Bryce + Brittany on Saturday:

More images to come later this week! :-)

Another Black Hills wedding for my portfolio!! Woop woop!! Seriously, can you get any better backdrops for wedding photos? I love me some mountain and forest goodness!! :-) Ryan and Annalee put together such a beautiful wedding this past Saturday – simple elegance is my favorite!

hair by Salon One

flowers by Victoria’s Garden

ceremony at Calvary Lutheran Church in Rapid City

transportation by Presidential LImousine

cake by Piece of Cake

dj Complete Music

reception at K Bar S Lodge in Keystone.

Everything was B-E-A-UTIFUL!! Including the wonderful couple. :-)

Dear Annalee, just in case no one has told you this lately, you’re gorgeous. :-)

Since Ryan + Annalee waited to see each other until the ceremony, we got to do ALL the photos out at K Bar S Lodge!!

The guys were too much to handle… here’s their ‘backstreet boys’ pose:

Ryan + Annalee – I love you for sitting down in the grass in your wedding clothes.

You might just be my favorite.

Just don’t tell anyone else, k? :-)

After Annalee danced with her dad and Ryan danced with his mom, they switched and danced with their new parents! I thought this one was super cute of Annalee and her new father-in-law!! :-)

And thanks to my lovely assistant, Hannah, for taking this photo of me and the newlyweds!!

Ryan + Annalee- I hope you’re having a FABULOUS honeymoon!!! I wish I could take a vacation for 8 days!! :-) I had a great time at your wedding on Saturday! You two are such genuine, beautiful people and I wish the best for the both of you in your married life!!

Hannah- Thanks for being a great assistant! I had such a fun time joking around with you, and I really appreciate all the extra images you captured!!

My hair- Really? You’re gonna let hot weather beat you up every time you’re curled ever-so-nicely? Ponytails are so not flattering on me. Next time, hold your curl and stand up to the heat!!

p.s. If you’re on facebook, feel free to tag yourself over on the fan page!!