Melissa Oholendt | Minnesota Wedding & Lifestyle Photography

It’s like the moment they became a couple, everything fell into place. A proposal, a wedding and in a few more months, a tiny little addition in the form of a baby girl and a slightly larger addition of a new home. In one year, 12 short months, they will have gone from a so-young-and-in-love couple to legitimate family complete with dog, cat and if I have anything to say about it, a goldfish too. For Kim & Nate, life is the most beautiful & complete it has ever been and I have to agree with them. It’s written all over their faces.

Kim & Nate. I love you both so incredibly much and have since that first day we met over wine & popcorn. I feel so honored to have been allowed to see you grow as a couple and as a family and can’t wait (can’t WAIT!!) to meet baby Anderson (who will most certainly be the most stylish little girl on the planet). Much love.

Ceremony Location: Minneapolis Sculpture Garden
Reception Location: Private Residence
Bride’s Dress: The Wedding Shoppe
Bridesmaid Dress: Butter by Nadia
Menswear: The Wedding Shoppe
Catering: Big Daddy’s BBQ

Massive thanks to the fabulous Monika Rae Photography who 2nd shot Kim & Nate’s wedding with me!

Theirs was exactly what a wedding should be. A gathering of the people who have loved and supported them for years and a day that was 100% about them. Even down to the smallest detail, everything about that day was reflection of their honest, hilarious & beautiful relationship but most importantly, their devotion to God and His place in their marriage. A (mostly) silent First Look inside an Abbey, a solid hour of photos with their closest friends, a tears & prayer filled ceremony committing their married life to each other and to Him, a chicken marsala crepe bar (come on now) and even the thunderstorm forecast that held off all day long until their getaway truck drove off the property. It was a day completely devoted to Brian & Lexy and it could not have been more astoundingly beautiful.

Lexy & Brian. Your capacity of love for each other and for God was truly (truly) inspiring for every single person in attendance. As you were taking communion, I had a chance to look over the crowd of people and the scene spoke volumes into the lives you two lead and the hearts you have touched as a couple & as individuals. Thank you a million times over for allowing Lizzie & I to be a part of your day. xoxo

Ceremony & Reception Location: Private Residence in Huntsville, Utah
Bride’s Dress: The Gallery by Lynette
Chicken Marsala Crepe Bar / Catering: Utah Celebrations Catering
Cake: Creative Desserts
Florals: Jimmy’s Flower Shop

Special thanks to my fantastic second shooter, Lizzie Misner Photography!

Here’s the thing about Alyssa & Matt; they make you feel as if you have known them your whole life and that the first time is the hundredth time. Really, it’s dangerous because 10 minutes with them and all of the sudden I heard myself say, “I really shouldn’t tell you this because you’ll think I’m insane…” as my brain is basically shouting, “STOP IT.” But then she laughs and it’s a genuine, whole body laugh that puts you instantly at ease and he smiles and makes his own self-disclosure funny enough to make you forget that you just spilled your guts to them. Again. Honestly, how did I get so lucky?

If I had to choose a favorite engagement session ever, this one would take the yogurt as hands-down my favorite of all time. Combining 3 of my all-time favorite things – yogurt with endless possibilities, an idyllic field of grass and sunshine and two people who love each other just slightly more than they love their dogs equals unbridled perfection. Lucky times infinity.

You can call it fate or destiny but with as many times that they should have run into each other on the University of Minnesota Campus and as many things as they have in common, they didn’t actually meet until the middle of junior year. Both had returned from their respective study abroad programs – his in Spain and hers in Italy – fresh with history, art & fluent in another language and even though they likely passed each other a million times in the Foreign Language building or played against each other on their frisbee teams, their story began at a party right before Christmas break. Tom traveled home to Chicago over break, and while their actual first date was delayed a few weeks, the anticipation served them well and as they say, they’ve been inseparable ever since.

If I haven’t said it enough on my Facebook page and Twitter, I will say it again here. I LOVE my clients. In addition to being some of the most attractive people in the country, they also are some of the most intelligent, cultured and hilarious people I have ever had the pleasure to know, let alone be charged with capturing their beautiful relationships & amazing personalities with my camera. I really could not ask for more.

Brittany & Tom. I will admit, the fact that your wedding is not until 2012 makes me the tiniest bit sad but that just means that we have an entire year to talk about our mutual love for Sophia Coppola’s version of Marie Antoinette and anything Apple. Can’t wait. xoxo

There’s just something about photographing my family that makes my heart happy. Love you guys.

To view Sarah & David’s gorgeous Birmingham wedding, click here.

She jokes that she robbed the cradle but if you saw the protective way he takes care of her, you would never know there was an age difference at all. At the beginning of their session, we encountered a little (lot of) mud and the way Patric kept a careful hand on the small of Katie’s back gave me this beautiful glimpse into their relationship. Their love is sweet and gentle and 100% all about them. They get lost in their world of themness (I’m making that word happen…) and what a beautiful & refreshing quality to have when so much of our world has become all about the show.

Katie & Patric. Your love and the tenderness with which you treat each other is inspiring. I can’t wait to share more German food with you, family style. It’s how we roll. Oh, and thank you for chancing the rain and getting semi-stuck in the mud with me. Our anti-rain dance needs to be on a world stage somewhere but even if that never happens, I am happy to have shared that moment with you both. xoxo

I wasn’t going to stop for lunch; I was going to head straight home and whip up a quick lunch and get back to editing but as if I had been forced by a tractor beam, I found msyelf pulling into the Chipotle parking lot. (That is my story and I’m sticking to it.) On my way into the restaurant I heard a soft-spoken, “Excuse me Miss.” I looked up from my iPhone and saw a man around my age, standing near the outside door. I stopped, thinking that maybe I had dropped something and he said quietly, “I’m really sorry to bother you but if it isn’t too much trouble, do you happen to have a dollar or two so that I can go buy lunch for myself?” I hesitated, looking at my wallet and then back at him and sensing my momentary pause, he smiled a defeated smile and said a barely audible, “I understand” and started to walk away. I’ve lived in Minneapolis for 5 years now and being approached for spare change is part of my every day life. But there was something about this guy. I don’t know if it was his quiet nature or the humility he showed but I found myself asking if I could buy him lunch.

In the 7 minutes we waited in line, I learned a few things about this man; one being that he had never eaten at a Chipotle in his life. I clearly didn’t hide my shock well since the next words he said were, “so then I guess you eat here a lot then?” (Understatement of the week and a smack in the face of how much I took that ability for granted.) He asked me if it was ok for him to get a burrito and once we got to the point of the line where they ask what salsas and extras you want on your burrito, he excitedly asked for them all and looked at me with a grateful smile. As we walked out of the restaurant together, he thanked me again and said, “By the way, my name is Moses. I hope I can pay you back for this one day.”

I walked to my car in tears, not just for the kindness of his words, but also because yesterday a friend of mine had tweeted about how she had payed it forward to the person behind her in the Starbucks drive through and today I was granted this amazing opportunity to do the same. Had I not stopped been tractor-beamed to Chipotle for lunch, I never would have met this amazing man who renewed my spirit and gave me way more than the $10 lunch I bought him. It’s so easy to write people off and forget how blessed we are to be able to eat not only well, but also to be able to eat every day.

So today. Today I am thanking God for placing that man in my life. For the reminder of how much I am blessed with and a renewed desire not to take it for granted. And today I am encouraging you to do the same. I didn’t tell you this story so you all would think better of me, but because I’m grateful that Quyen’s small act of kindness yesterday filtered past the hundreds of tweets my brain read yesterday.

Pay it forward; it doesn’t take much. Allow yourself to be shaken out of the ordinary and do something kind for someone else. It is contagious.

Their story has a “Choose Your Own Adventure” twist to it. Move to Japan for a year or go straight into law school. Fall in love with Brian or Japan (she chose both, for the record). Every time they choose love and adventure, in that order. And you can’t argue with that logic because look at where it’s gotten them. Deeply in love with a knack for making everything around them more fun just by association.

Emma & Brian, there are so many things I love you about you two (teaching us how to make sushi last fall is pretty high on that list) but what I love more than anything is your tendency to get lost in each other. It’s pretty magical and inherently rare. Don’t ever lose that. xoxo