Portraits by Bobby McFall

A gorgeous day, an amazing couple, and two awesome kids (who love to dance). It really couldn't have been much better. I met Melissa and Paul well over a year ago following the Belle Plaine Wedding Show. We got to know each other during their engagement session that included Paul's two children, Rylie and Gannon. Congratulations to all!

I am again very grateful for Tammie Mohr's assistance. She's exceptionally talented, and her contributions are much appreciated!

(I apologize for the short content - I have a very long to-do list today and need to get to it.) And one other quick disclaimer - these photos are pretty much straight out of the camera with the exception of cropping, and the few I changed to black and white. All will be color corrected as needed in the coming weeks.

Nikki, the stylist, worked non-stop from 6 to noon styling everyone's hair.

Rylie and Gannon had a special gift for Melissa - diamond earrings. Pretty sweet :)

Melissa's a scrapbooker, and made gift boxes and tags for her attendants.

The "First Glimpse" is one of my favorite parts of the day.

Paul wasn't without a surprise or two of his own. Remember the comment about Melissa being a scrapbooker - well Paul had a confession that accompanied his gift - he took a photo from one of Melissa's scrapbooks to add to his gift. And he insisted on assembling the gift bag himself. Sweet!

Melissa's dad, Greg, loaned them his 1919 Ford for the day. I could have spent hours doing detail shots!

Melissa's grandpa with her godchild, Gavik (I think I spelled that correctly.)

Gavik and his dad came all the way from Alaska for the wedding.

I took an awful lot of photos of Gannon and Rylie at the reception/dance. They seldom left the dance floor, and were a blast to watch!

The song playing was "Fishin' in the Dark" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. You guessed it - "lyin' on our backs and countin' the stars..."

This will be a photo-heavy blog post. It's hard not to post a lot of photos when there were so many stories, so much fun, and an overabundance of creativity!

When Mallory, Luke and I got together for their engagement session last fall, I knew their wedding would be a blast, and I had a pretty good feeling that it would be well-organized. I also learned about their yellow and black color scheme, and learned that Luke could be full of surprises.

Last week we met to discuss the schedule for the photography, and I knew we would be under an exceptionally tight pre-ceremony schedule. There was virtually NO wiggle room. We had to make a lot happen in a very compressed time frame.

Fast forward to yesterday (is that possible?). WE DID IT!

I need to extend a very special thank you to Tammie Mohr for "shadowing" me yesterday. Tammie and Brian were married two years ago, and I photographed their wedding. An exceptionally gifted web designer, photographer, and card maker, Tammie asked if she could shadow me while she considers delving into the exciting world of wedding photography. We couldn't have stuck to our schedule without her, and I can't wait to share some of her images. From arranging shots to fanning Mallory with her reflector to making hundreds of images, her assistance was much appreciated!!

Mallory and Luke chose their vendors well -

Hair and Makeup - Indulge Salon and Tanning
Videographer - Saved by Grace (Chad and Denise)
Flowers - Village Flower Shoppe/Perry Dauer
Cake - HyVee Hilltop of Mankato
Decorations (such a small word for the impact this had) - Silk Expressions
DJ - Music in Motion
Live Entertainment - Fish Frye
Reception Venue - Verizon Wireless Civic Center
Limo - Living Life, Madison Lake

A beautiful bride prepares for the first glimpse.

Emma might be dreaming of when she becomes a bride.

The flowers - simply beautiful!

Their first glimpse - Luke twirled Mallory for a better view.

The wedding party

It was important to the couple to recreate an image from Mallory's grandparent's wedding. We did it!

If I had a complaint about any wedding day, it would be that the couple has little opportunity to spend any time together - just the two of them. By asking them to take a short walk in the garden at Sibley, they gain a tiny bit of time.

Temps in the low 90's; guys in tuxedos, little to no breeze. You talk about good sports!

The party - gathered

Special request from Mallory's dad - he asked me to make a sepia tone image for the owner of this 1956 Ford who graciously allowed it to be used for wedding pictures.

Mallory's mom made close to three hundred of these bells strung through wine corks. She made many of the decorations for both the wedding and reception as well. Talk about creative talent!

Mallory, stealing a moment alone to practice her vows.

They do!

Luke made the bean bag games. Someone suggested they compete for control of the remote. On Luke's first toss, he won!

Fish Frye performs while the reception gets underway.

Luke and Mallory are headed to Hawaii for their honeymoon, so the wedding party dressed up accordingly for the grand march.

The dads and Luke - unbelievable!! Instead of the usual slide show shown at receptions, they created a video of what would happen if guys planned the wedding. It was hilarious, and then heartwarmingly emotional (getting teary-eyed just thinking about it...really!). Read on...