Anyone with five senses could see how excited she was. Her sweet laughter floated to the ceiling as her hands & feet never stopped moving; busying herself with hair pins and mascara. He was less than a room away, but even so she knew that in her heart they were always one soul. He could be a million miles away but she knew that they would forever be one; just as they both had always dreamed they would be.

Kristina & Rob. The day of your wedding I woke up so thrilled to photograph your wedding. I knew when we first met that I wanted to be a part of your day because you were special and your love was so honest and true. I didn’t think it possible but that notion ran even more true on your beautiful day, surrounded by your fabulous friends as they toasted your new marriage. What an amazing couple you both make. xoxo

Ceremony & Reception Location: Oak Glen Country Club in Stillwater, MN
Flowers: Sweet Peas Floral
Cake: Buttercream Wedding Cakes
Chair Rental: Midwest Party Rental

i’m yours,
melissa

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It wasn’t just the way he looked at her; it wasn’t just the way he held the door for her and it wasn’t just the way he playfully took her face in his hands and kissed the tip of her nose. The day her she looked around and realized she couldn’t remember life before him was the day she realized that their love was big. It was bigger than all of the wonderful things about Kenny; it was bigger than all of the amazing things she felt when she was with him. When she realized that their love was her whole world, she just knew.

Megan & Kenny are the real thing; they are two people so rooted in love that it completely fills whatever space they are in. It’s a rare thing to find two people who are all things sweetness, humility and laughter but then combine those qualities and you have a love so powerful it truly takes your breath away. I know I sound totally infatuated with them as a couple and maybe I am because they remind me of how beautiful love is every moment I am with them. How at moments it will completely rob you of thought and coherency and at other times it will fuel actions and deep, deep commitment without fear or hesitation. This couple is all of that to me and after spending a day with their best and closest, they are those things to them as well.

To Megan & Kenny. I am so blessed and so honored to have been a part of your day. I love you both. A lot.

Ceremony & Reception Location: Marjorie McNeely Conservatory at Como Park
Bride’s Dress: The Loft Bridal
Bridesmaids Dresses: David’s Bridal
Custom Suits: Measure Custom Clothing
Flowers: Bachmans Floral
Catering: Lancer Catering
Cake: Buttercream Wedding Cakes

i’m yours,
melissa

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I feel a pull every year on this freedom-driven Holiday; a sense of obligation to honor, love and serve the people who spend (or spent) their lives dedicated to the service of keeping our country the land of American dreams and progress.

This year, I am spending my 4th of July spending time with a best friend I have missed dearly on an Army base in Kentucky. This holiday, while we enjoy sangria, berries and fireworks, her husband is deployed to Afghanistan protecting and defending this country we love in heat we know nothing about with threats we would care not to know about. More than anything I want to spend this holiday celebrating their sacrifice as a couple and the sacrifices of my family over their years of military service so that I can enjoy every day of my freedom as an American citizen.

To soldiers and veterans everywhere, thank you. There are no more words. Thank you.

Happy 4th to my love, my friends and the people I owe every thing to.

i’m yours,
melissa

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I’ll admit it; sometimes life isn’t as blissful and picturesque as I might want to think. Sometimes Life just flat-out throws a fist-of-doom at you right square in the stomach just to get your attention and prove a point. (Yup. I just used an analogy of Life being the equivalent of a street fighter. Pretty sure that’s who I’ve been trading sucker punches with the last few weeks.)

In the darkness of some cloudy days came one amazing ray of sunshine. Jenna of Eat Drink Pretty made my week and featured Kimber & Chas’s fabulous Utah engagement session. If you don’t follow the Eat Drink Pretty blog, you are missing out. (I mean that.) Between her panache for making the most gorgeous sweet treats, she also posts about one of my very favorite topics: entertaining.

I also found out that a couple of the photos I took of the JNP Studios Workshop Tablescape were published in Issue 9 of the online magazine Utterly Engaged. The tablescape was all about the manly-man so I’m sure they were – ahem – thrilled with the uber-girly squeal that escaped my lips when I first saw my name.

Even though it hasn’t been the kindest of last 30 days, I know how blessed I am to have my photography recognized by a blog and an online publication that I love. Blows to the stomach included, I realize I am living one hell of a charmed life.

I have so many fun blog posts coming up soon including the details of two spectacularly gorgeous Minnesota weddings. Look for those to hit your Google Reader this month, but first…I must go put Life in a headlock. He deserves it.

i’m yours,
melissa

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At the beginning of May I had my own little anniversary date; May 3 marked the date of my first official photo session. I won’t lie, I look back on those first photos in my portfolio and I cringe a little (a lot) but I also celebrate because I have come far since those beginning days. I have failed far more than I have succeeded thus far but out of that I have grown in knowledge, in skill and in confidence. And while I still have so far to go, it’s a little piece of joy to look back and be able to say that I am a totally different photographer today than I was back then. 

My hope for next year is that I can look back and cherish where I am right now; WHO I am right now because I think the recognition of how far one has come is important but remembering who you were is just as important. A year ago, I was holding myself back in protection from the fear of the unknown but today I am purposefully running full stride in the direction of fear and uncertainty. I know my failures will be numerous but that’s ok because playing it safe is no longer in my vocabulary.

I am so grateful to the clients and friends I have gained since the beginning of this journey. I have been entrusted with documenting one of the most important events in a couple’s life and I am being honest when I say I am totally honored by their trust. 

Saturday was the first wedding of my second wedding season ever and let me tell you, it set the bar pretty high; can’t wait to share. Until then, Happy Anniversary to me and a heartfelt thank you to my clients, friends and support system for pushing me and believing in me. I would not be here without you.

i’m yours,
melissa

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A couple weekends ago I got to fly down to my home state of Utah and photograph one of my best friends and her fiance and if I’m being honest, it brought with it an emotion that I didn’t really anticipate.

I think one of my favorite things about photography is not only do I get to witness the gentle, silly and loving moments in a relationship but I also get to document those same moments for a couple to see for themselves. More than almost anything I want my friends to lead lives filled to the brim with love and getting to witness Kimber & Chas so fully inundated is enough to make my heart burst but then I am priviledged to show them how they laugh together, how they look at each other with such love and even how they cuddle together. I can tell you from experience it’s an amazing thing see your relationship laid out in that way and to be able to show someone I am close to what they look like in love is downright powerful.

To my friends, thank you for hosting/feeding/loving me. I can’t wait for your wedding in October! xoxo

i’m yours,
melissa

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I hope you all appreciate the self-discipline that it is taking not to break into some random Katy Perry song about waking up in Vegas. Because really, it’s taking a lot. My second choice is Viva Las Vegas by the Vegas King himself but all I can envision are blinding sequins, thick eyeliner and lots of hip gyrating which was not the Vegas that I experienced. (Save for that one night… Airhorns & Lasers, I’m looking at you. If the two months it took me to write about my WPPI experience in Las Vegas are any indication of the equal overwhelming parts of goodness and madness, then truly there was an immense amount of goodness and madness.

If we did happen to run into each other chances are that you encounter me with wide-eyes and maybe even that faint scent of eau de franticness that comes with jam-packed days and late (late) nights. So, what happens when 14,000 photographers converge on one city for one gigantic trade show? A whole lot of fun and surprisingly not a lot of picture taking from this photographer.

But I actually did do things. I promise. I did.

. late night pizza parties at the hotel with some of my very favorite people.
. meet people I admire & look up to.
. fred egan & jory cordy mini workshop.
. t r a d e s h o w  o f  i n s a n i t y (it was just big and clearly overwhelming for me, ok?).
. many, many meals with new friends & old friends and everything inbetween.
. DANCING
. and the victor sizemore mentor session. (the only time where my camera took priority)

Sad for you, I’m saving the mentor session goodness for my new branding roll-out but I will share with you the one photo I brought back. Oh, and it’s a good one.

You are welcome.

i’m yours,
melissa

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I haven’t said this to many people but I consider myself incredibly fortunate to be a part of the photography community in the Twin Cities. I really do. I constantly find myself in awe of the talent of my friends and colleagues but more so I also find myself in awe of their humility and eagerness to encourage.

There has been a lot of chatter lately about what community in the photography industry means and how to live it. Well, this is me raising my hand in support of the environment that has flourished in the Twin Cities. It is a community that really is about community and being there for each other through good times and bad. We’re a community that takes silly photos of each other just because we can. We’re a community that pushes each other to succeed. There are very few times in life where I can remember feeling so swept up by a community of like minded peeps. (And before I sound too much like a cult member – onto the photos. Oh dear. Just…keep reading.)

One of the best parts of this community is the people and one of my favorites would have to be Callie Chappell. (For reals.) Callie is sweet, gorgeous and hilarious; pretty much the definition of a triple threat. Callie is also a Wedding & Lifestyle Photographer in the Twin Cities and when she emailed me asking if I would be willing to do some quick headshots for her, I literally jumped at the opportunity. And then I turned it into a full-fledge THING and made her go out in the 40 degree weather with her bare arms and legs, but this is what I do. We all know this.

Dear Callie, thanks for making my job easy. I adore you.

i’m yours,
melissa

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I wish I had photographed their wedding.

There, I said it. Nevermind that it was 7 years ago and at that point I was still in college persuing my dreams of psychology architecture interior design undecided communications. Nevermind all that. I still wish I had. You see, Jen & Casey have the type of love that invites people in; the type of love that is equal to a night of board games with your best friends. Comfortable, silly and over-the-top fun.

Jen & Casey, thank you for everything. Thank you for making me laugh (a lot) and THANK YOU for letting me in and see what you guys are all about. I’m so grateful to have met you.

i’m yours,
melissa

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Two months ago, I spent a day with a roomful of strangers all with a solitary goal – to grow and invest in their futures in the photography industry. We listened together, laughed together, some of us maybe-might-have cried together. Bottomline, we all experienced this huge leap of growth together; the word powerful doesn’t even begin to touch the surface of the experience.

I can tell you first hand – I didn’t fully realize the value of a workshop until I attended one myself. It’s so much more than the things you learn on a material level; it’s also about the friendships you make and the people who in turn can challenge you, encourage you and mentor you. It’s 100% about getting out of your comfort zone (and for me that meant getting out of my zip code) and giving yourself the time and opportunity to be pushed in ways you don’t normally allow yourself or even in ways can’t do yourself.

I challenge you to invest in yourself that way in 2010; whether it’s Jeffrey’s workshop or someone else’s workshop (I am biased – go to Jeffrey’s!) it honestly has been the best thing I have done for my business this year.

JNP Workshop
Jeffrey Neal

(The gorgeous couple in the photos is the stunning and talented Amy Tan and her beau JC. And neither is a model. Yeah, I didn’t believe them either.)

i’m yours,
melissa

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