Aaron and Erin got married in Grand Forks, North Dakota at a wedding that was charming, heartfelt, and full of love. With a beautiful ceremony venue and a fun-loving wedding party, their day was the perfect way to spend a Saturday.

The two got married at Calvary Lutheran Church, which provided an intimate setting with a  gorgeous courtyard for their first look and their bride and groom photos. Their church’s many windows meant that the whole place was bathed in warm light for their ceremony, which featured several tear-jerking musical performances. Following their ceremony, the couple was greeted by thousands of bubbles blown by their loved ones before they hopped on a limo to their reception site!

Their reception took place at Alerus Center, which they decked out in greenery, candles, and navy blue accents. Their guests came ready to dance, and were happy to join the newlyweds on the dance floor.

Aaron and Erin, thank you for having us out to North Dakota to be a part of your big day!

Ceremony venue — Calvary Lutheran Church — Grand Forks, ND
Reception venue — Alerus Center — Grand Forks, ND
Officiant — Pastor Kirk Meseck  — Grand Forks, ND
Hair stylist — Paige Krause — Grand Forks, ND
Caterer — Alerus Center — Grand Forks, ND
Cake designer — Paola’s Pastries  — Grand Forks, ND
Decorator — BROOKE floral / events /styling — Grand Forks, ND
Florist — BROOKE floral / events /styling — Grand Forks, ND
Chair/table/tent rentals — BROOKE floral / events /styling — Grand Forks, ND

It has always been an adventure with Anna and Jesse. For example, during our first shoot together (for their engagement session), it rained. But they were not fazed by the weather and still trusted me to turn the undesirable conditions into an opportunity for unique umbrella photos. They stuck it out through the rain and once it stopped they threw off their shoes and waded into the St. Croix River for more awesome shots. I share this so you can begin to paint of picture of who Anna and Jesse are, and better understand how perfectly fitting it was that they chose to have a destination wedding in the mountains of Livingston, Montana. I flew my plane into the Big Sky Country and that ride served as a gorgeous teaser trailer for the events to come, but it still did not prepare me for the awe I would feel on Anna and Jesse’s actual wedding day.

Reflecting back, it’s still beautifully confusing to me how a wedding could be so simple, yet so epic at the same time. Anna and Jesse created this seemingly impossible contrast and weaved it throughout their entire day (whether they realized it or not). Their ceremony was held in a valley surrounded by huge, picturesque mountains, yet the ceremony set-up boasted only minimalistic decor. Their reception was similar. The venue was a charming wooden lodge nestled in the same valley. The guest list was small, but those present joyfully played yard games, ate great food, and danced the night away—get this—with their dogs. Everything was thoughtfully planned, but nothing was overdone. Anna and Jesse knew that the mountains would speak for themselves and that the small amount of people they invited were precisely the people they needed to make their special day, special. The couple didn’t fall into detail-crazed trap that many do, but instead focused on the big picture aspects of their day, which is what allowed it to stay simple yet still bring a significant and unique wow-factor.

Ultimately, Anna and Jesse’s wedding was an honest reflection their values and relationship. It was almost as if they simply invited their dearest friends and family into a more glamorous and deliberate day of their regular life. Jesse went fishing in the Yellowstone River. Anna got ready with a couple of her closest girlfriends while drinking out of cute personalized mugs. They even spent some quality time with their dog! Besides the obvious intentionality of getting married, Anna and Jesse’s wedding day was gorgeously natural. Not just because their most prominent decoration was a mountainous backdrop, but because their love is natural and they gave it room to breathe throughout the entirety of the day by creating a relaxed environment for themselves and their guests to focus on what was truly important—each other. And what a wonderful day it was, I cannot thank you two enough for allowing me to be part of it.

Vendor List:
Ceremony and Reception Venue – Yellowstone House – Livingston, MT
Officiant – Vicki Wiepking
Hair Stylist/Makeup Artist – Canyon River Spa – Bozeman, MT
Caterer – Just A Taste Catering – Bozeman, MT
Florist – Strike Farms – Bozeman, MT
Dress Shop – Che Bella – Minneapolis, MN
Dress Designer – Alvina Valenta – New York, NY
Chair/Table/Tent Rentals – Montana Party Rental – Bozeman, MT
Wedding Ring – Tiffany’s
Wedding Band – Brilliant Earth

I met Warren a couple years ago when I visited friends in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. He was in med school at the time, and was well known for hosting get togethers for his colleagues at the hospital. If you wanted a cool place to chill, you went to Warren’s.

Warren and Eileen continued their tradition of throwing chic parties by planning a destination wedding at the beautiful Venetian resort in Las Vegas.  In 2015, this was the wedding to be at. My mental image of the shotgun Vegas wedding with silk flowers in a theme chapel officiated by an Elvis impersonator has been forever changed by photographing Warren and Eileen’s stylish ceremony in the immaculately landscaped Venezia Courtyard, and their elegant Bouchon Bistro reception that featured a fresh lobster dinner and endless champagne.  Afterwards, the wedding party went out for some Vegas nightlife of course, at Marquee nightclub, where they danced the night away and even took a dip in the club’s hot tub after hours.

Eileen told me a little about Warren’s proposal…

“He HATES surprises. So much that he also hates surprising other people. So we had shopped for the ring together, he’d practiced putting it on my finger, his mother had selected an auspicious date for our engagement and we had a celebratory dinner scheduled with our parents and my sister that night.  Even with all that advanced notice I was speechless when he proposed.” 

One of the most special moments of the day according to Eileen was getting to share their first look photo session with Warren’s 94 year old grandmother.  “She loves having her photo taken, and Preston charmed her even without a shared language,” she said. “Preston’s ability to let us be ourselves and really experience our wedding made it such a magical day.  Every time it would occur to us ‘this would be a great shot’ we’d look up and there’d be Preston, already on top of it!”

Thank you for the compliments, Warren and Eileen! I really had an amazing time photographing your wedding! Thanks for inviting me to Vegas, and for being such gracious hosts! I wish you both the best in all the years to come!

Ceremony & Reception Venue – The Venetian and Palazzo
Hair – Canyon Ranch Salon
Florist – English Garden Florist
Caterer – Bouchon Bistro
Dress Designer – Tadashi Shoji
Tuxedos – Indochino
Limo – Elite Transportation
Jewelry – Van Cleef & Arpels
Afterparty – Marquee Nightclub