Grand Forks | East Grand Forks | Fargo Wedding Photographer - Summer Wedding In Crookston
I first met Ariel last Fall at a bridal show and when I got to hear a little bit about their wedding plans up until that point, I knew I wanted to be a part of their big day! June 22 came extremely fast and the day began with steady rain showers which worried us because we all had high hopes of doing a majority of our photographs outdoors at various locations.
By the time everyone was dressed and ready to go, most of the rain had stopped and I was able to take the groomsmen and 1 groomswoman (groomspeople) outside and get some great shots in downtown Crookston. Then we hid the groomspeople as we sneaked the bride and her bridesmaids outside for some fun shots around the church.
As we were finishing, it started raining again which put a damper on our plans to head to a nature center for Ariel and Bryce’s First Look. We had a “plan B” for this to take place inside the church but when I asked Ariel what she REALLY wanted to do…she said, “Let’s go to the nature center!” (My kind of bride!).
The groom and I drove out to the nature center and the gate was locked! I had to find a place to stash the groom because the bride was about 5 minutes behind us and if he simply stayed in my vehicle...they would've seen each other. So he hid around the corner of a nearby building (outside in the rain). When the bride arrived and her father unlocked the gate, we had to cover the car she was in with umbrellas so we could move the groom into position. Once we did that, we had to have the bride's father drive her right up behind the groom because the grass was knee high and it was soaked from the rain! At this point, my feet were soaked and my pants were as well from the knee down. We finally got them both into position and the father (and other helpers) drove back out and we did their first look. All of that was totally worth it because the groom's reaction to seeing his bride for the first time was priceless!
The rest of he day was so much fun and everything else went off without a hitch! We DID have some slight coordinating to do as we literally stopped traffic to get a shot of the entire wedding party in the middle of the street in downtown Crookston…but other than that, everything was amazing!
The church was packed with friends and loved ones who all came to see Ariel and Bryce become husband and wife. There were plenty of laughs and tears and soon the entire group was partying and celebrating as the brand new husband and wife shared their first meal together!
It was quite the adventurous day and I couldn’t be more honored that Ariel and Bryce chose ME to capture all of these amazing moments! Congrats to the newlyweds!!
Venues: Trinity Lutheran Church Crookston Inn
Dress: LeAnn’s Bridal Fargo
Florist: Crookston Floral
Cake: Susan Winger
D.J.: Thunderbolt Sound & Light Show
Make-up: Evan Hartjen
Photographer: Shawn Morrissey Photography
