Tag Archives: wedding day

Mara and Jeremiahs Love Story ~Mount Frontenac Golf Course

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JWPhotography 2016 - 1a

I met this couple quite few months ago for their engagement session, which was so much fun! They had me a tad worried when we drove down some random dirt roads and man-made paths, but the session turned out amazing, what an adventure that was! I had a blast with them and was looking forward to their special day!

Now, I feel like I blinked my eyes and it was already June 18th! The sun was shining and the drive down to Mount Frontanec Golf Course was a dream. Far enough away from the cities to have minimal traffic and no road construction. In June? I know! I think that was the best part of the drive! I arrived at Mount Frontanec Golf Course. I slowed down, thinking I was there when I pulled in, but then I realized it was still a mile straight up a HUGE hill. I later found out, this used to be a ski resort so this massive hill made sense. At the top of the very steep hill was, hands down, the most gorgeous golf course I have ever seen. To be honest, I have not been on many golf courses, as I do not golf. I have done a handful of weddings on them, but this one had a one-of-a-kind view. Being so far up on that ski hill they had a very unique and mesmerizing view of Red Wing, Minnesota. I made sure to capture some of the killer view, plenty to see below in the pictures!

I was greeted by the sweet owners and they were just the most helpful couple. They showed me around to some of the places to take photos and where everything was going to take place. I love when someone can show me around and let me know where the nooks and cranny’s are! When Mara arrived, everything went according to the plan. We hopped in the car and ventured our way back down the steep hill to head into Red Wing, where Jeremiah was waiting to see his beautiful bride. They decided to do a first glance before the ceremony, I love when couples do this so I can catch the grooms face! So glad she chose the river for her first glance, couldn’t have been any better if I picked it myself! After that, we all rushed back to finish up formal pictures, then it was time!

The ceremony was beautiful, the music, the dresses, the flowers, everything. The reception definitely was their style and the food was so good, I mean sooooo good! I LOVED the adorable cake toppers! When it was about time for Gretchen (my second shooter) and I to pack up, we were so lucky to get to take Mara’s ’68 Purple Mustang out to the beautiful bluff overlooking Red Wing. These were definitely some of my favorite shots of the day! Thank you Mara and Jeremiah for giving me the honor to capture your special day. It was perfect in every way. Thank you to Mount Frontenac staff and owners for being so amazing!

 

Tim & Renee’s Fairytale Wedding at The Cannon River Winery in Cannon Falls, MN

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  JWPhotography 2016 - 1

70 degrees, sun shining bright, light breeze, wine waiting to be poured and a beautiful view. These two love birds couldn’t have gotten married on a better day! But, before I go into the details of their big day, I thought I would share with you a little bit about these two. This is how they met and how Tim proposed!

“We met at my work–He started bringing his dog to the daycare that I worked at, at the time, and continued to bring him, just to see me! Tim proposed when we arrived to move all of our stuff into our new house.”

Renee started her special day at Regis Hair salon, in Apple Valley, with her favorite hair stylist! I love to capture all the fun getting ready shots, so many of them are spontaneous, and not posed! It really captures how much us ladies go through to complete the look of one of the biggest days of our lives! After her hair was all prettied up and she had that beautiful bride glow, we hopped in the car and headed to Cannon River Winery in Cannon Falls, MN. It was about a 35 minute drive from the St.Paul, so great that a place this gorgeous is just a short drive away! The winery has a quaint small town feel, plus, it is adorable and elegant at the same time, I can see why they chose this location. Renee finished getting ready there with her bridesmaids. Once she had her dress on we hopped on a shuttle that brought us to their secret vineyard about 15 minutes away.

Yes, I said secret vineyard, how romantic! We got there and words cannot begin to describe this place, it was just gorgeous! As you pull up the long dirt road, you see where the ceremony is going to take place, with a cute little shelter to keep the sun off guests, as they watch. Then, you look out and realize, all you see for miles are grapevines! With it being only the middle of May, the grapes and leaves were just starting to form. That touch of extra green definitely made the pictures pop! Tim and Renee had their first look in the shelter. Once we were done with pictures, the ceremony started. Everything was just perfect! We headed back to the winery via shuttle, no one was to drive out to the secret vineyard location, I thought that was fun! The rest of the night was priceless, filled with smiles, laughter and making memories. They had the winery decorated perfectly, the food was excellent and the DJ’s were a blast. There could not have been a better day or location for these two to tie the knot!

Thank you two for choosing and trusting me to capture your BEAUTIFUL wedding day! Congratulations again and I wish you both many, many years of happiness!

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Dakota & Evan’s Wedding at Stonebrooke Golf Club in Shakopee, MN

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Welcome to 2016 wedding season!

Thank you Dakota and Evan for being my first wedding this year! I cannot believe it’s already been just over a month since these two walked down the aisle! I met Dakota and Evan through their fabulous wedding coordinator, Jackie! I actually took her family photos and she referred me to them! When I finally got to meet them, we had some of the best burgers ever, at the Lions Tap in Eden Prairie, MN. YUM! I knew they were some pretty cool people when they wanted to eat there!  The day of their wedding was so beautiful! The sun was shining, it wasn’t too hot or too cool, it was a tad windy, but that is what hair spray is for! The entire wedding party was really into the shots, which is always a plus on my part! The ceremony was so beautiful, it was so bright and magical! The reception had such amazing natural light, it just makes my job so much more exciting! Then, to end the night with the bon-fire, just perfect!

Thank you guys for choosing me as your photographer, you couldn’t have asked for a better day! Also want to add, a huge THANK YOU, it is because of your sacrifices that I am able to enjoy our freedoms. So I just want to say simply, THANK YOU for all you’ve done and continue to do for me, my family, my friends and our country.

Now, here is Dakota’s and Evans story of how they met and how he proposed!

“We met our freshman year at Iowa State. We were both starting ROTC and met at the freshman orientation. We became friends quite quickly and began dating in May of our second year at Iowa State. In late May of our junior year, we decided to go to dinner to celebrate being done with finals week. Evan said he had to go to a scholarship interview first, so he went and I came to pick him up for our fancy dinner. When I got to the building of his interview, one of our good friends was waiting with flowers to escort me to Evan, who promptly got down on one knee!”

Plymouth Creek Wedding Expo ~ Plymouth, MN

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JWPhotography_wedding expo 2016

Yesterday I got the privilege to display my work at the Plymouth Creek Spring Wedding Expo! I have to first say thank you to Angie who put the whole event on, she did a wonderful job at coordinating and everything went so smoothly because of her expertise! I met so many new vendors here around the Twin Cities and a couple other fellow photographers I did not know and hope to work with in the future! Over all it was a wonderful show. The best part was meeting all of the beautiful brides, grooms, mothers, grandmothers, aunts and friends! You are what made the Plymouth Creek Wedding Expo fun and exciting! I loved hearing about how “he proposed” or just about your wedding planning! I had some great laughs with some of you and I feel like it we really hit it off. I look forward to possibly shooting some of your weddings in the near future!

Now to what The brides from the Plymouth Creek Wedding Expo are waiting for! I had a drawing for a FREE Engagement Session, no stings attached just a Free 1 hour engagement session with 15 edited digital images!

And the winner is….. Andrea Paulson!!!!!

Congratulations, I will be in touch with you soon!

Thank you all for entering into Jessica Wilson Photography’s drawing!I look forward to hearing more about the planning of your special day!

JWPhotography_wedding expo 2016

 

 

Lauren + Casey’s Wedding! ~ Bracketts Crossing Country Club – Lakeville, MN

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Lauren got my information from another one of my clients, another bride actually! She was so excited to work with me and I was equally excited to work with her. Lauren and Casey live in Florida but both grew up here in Hastings, MN. Because of the distance, I never got the pleasure of meeting Lauren in person before her big day; but just from talking to her on the phone the couple times I did, I learned so much about her from just by her voice. Lauren was super bubbly, extremely out going, the-glass-is-always-half-full type of gal. She seemed like someone that always has a smile on her face and love to put a smile on others faces as well. I could just tell all that from her voice!
When we finally met up together on the big day I was totally right! She is super sweet and one of the kindest women you’ll ever meet. Her smile is contagious. No wonder Casey put a ring on it! Their day started a little cloudy, which was great for pictures in that big open area, some people think that clouds will ruin a day, but I see the beauty in them, so I take full advantage! Then, like clockwork, the clouds rolled out- what you read next REALLY happened, I know it sounds unreal, but it happened: As Lauren walked down the isle the clouds moved aside and the bright, shining sun came out! I believe that God was shining down on these two that day and gave her that sunshine as a blessing. It was definitely meant to be. The sun ONLY came out for their ceremony then peaked back behind the clouds. Her whole day was just that amazing and I am so grateful Lauren and Casey trusted me to capture their big day.
Congrats again and thank you, I hope when you come back to visit, I get to see you too!

Love her wedding? Here is who she chose for her big day!
Venue and Food – Bracketts Crossing Country Club http://www.brackettscrossingcc.com
Photographer – www.jessicawilsonphototgraphy.com
Hair- Danielle Oehrlein
Make up – Ashley Bettis
Florist – Laurie Bettis
Cake- http://www.misssarascakery.com
DJ – Logan’s Entertainment https://www.facebook.com/DJ-Logans-Entertainment-OwnerDJ-183347228378818/

Heather & Charlie’s Wedding ~ Afton, MN Avonlea Farms

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If I had to use only two words to describe this wedding, it would be: rustic elegance. There is so many details and personal touches that go into these weddings. I think these are some of my favorite weddings to capture, and I think its because this is so close to my style. I felt right at home, almost like I put the whole thing together myself (I didn’t). I think Heather is a natural in front of the camera, some people are hard to capture and she is NOT one of them. It was so hard to narrow down her images, she is so photogenic that they all turned out so beautiful. The bridal party was so awesome, I was horrible at remembering names, but they all put up with me asking names over and over again. In Minnesota, they always say that the weather changes every five minutes… not this day! It was perfect all around. I always prefer the cooler days because of all the running, and Heather was pretty happy because her dress got hot and heavy very quickly so the cooler air was nice for her too. You can’t tell in her pictures though! I am sure Charlie was happy as well, since those suits get pretty warm too!

Finally, talk about an unbelievable sunset. I was inside the barn capturing the memories there, when I popped my head out the upstairs window to take some shots and I saw the amazing cotton candy sky. These skies just don’t happen everyday! I almost tripped twice running outside to get Heather and Charlie, who were already outside. I ran up to them so excited about the sun set, when Heather turned around and saw it she gasped and grabbed Charlie. We ran to the field, she was wearing boots so she could really run! We got everything set up, and WOW. I can’t even describe it. I think that this sunset is one of the best ways to describe Heather and Charlie. There isn’t a word for it, but its a moment that you see and all the feels come out.
Congrats again Heather and Charlie, I cannot wait to capture more of your precious moments!
Oh and the frog! Heather used to work with amphibians’ so when we saw the cute little frog hopping around, getting a picture with it was necessary!

Sarah and Charlie’s Wedding ~ Eko Backen in Scandia, MN

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If I could, I would do everything in my power to make all weddings run as smoothly and perfectly as this one. From timing, to weather, to the views and the guests, everything was perfect. Yes EVERYTHING was running right on time which, anyone who has ever gotten married knows that something is always late or behind or taking too long… not this day! And the weather?! Oh, you mean the beautiful 70 degrees, with that perfect amount of breeze blowing in the right direction to get AMAZING shots kind of weather, yes we had that too. The views, words cannot even begin to describe the breath taking view over a valley, that I had the honor of capturing at just the right moment on this PERFECT day. I have to send a shout out to the bridal party as well, you guys were so cooperative and I didn’t have to yell at you to smile, or look at me or stand straighter, you all so wonderful. Last, but definitely not least, the actual Bride and Groom, Sarah and Charlie, you two brought on this perfect day. You two are clearly perfectly made for each other and I am so happy for you. Thank you for choosing me to capture one of the most important days of your lives. I had an absolute blast and cannot wait to catch more of your lives in the future! Congrats again!

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Chris & Nikki’s Beautiful Wedding! ~ The Mermaid Mounds View, MN

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Meet newlyweds Chris and Nikki! They got married this last March and I was ecstatic when they asked me to capture their special day for them! A year ago when they moved to Lino Lakes our daughters became friends and we clicked right way. Watching my daughters friend so happy for her mom to be getting married was just so exciting to watch. It reminded me of my wedding day and seeing my daughters excited for the big day! The girls had so much fun jumping on the bed- great way to get all the wiggles and giggles out! Thank you for letting me capture your special day, everything turned out absolutely beautiful! I can’t wait to capture more of your family’s moments in the future!