Exploring nature generally—and National Parks in particular—is a huge cornerstone of Email and Sam's relationship. While they lived in the Flathead Valley they would often camp and explore Glacier National Park. So Glacier was naturally at the very top of their list of locations they wanted to get married.
For the wedding day itself, they held the ceremony at the Apgar Amphitheater with Lake McDonald as the backdrop. After the ceremony, we traversed Going-to-the-Sun Road to stop at some of their favorite locations for portraits of just the two of them.
The following day, they held a reception with some of the more traditional wedding moments like first dances, a cake cutting, dinner, etc. at Haymoon Resort here in Whitefish.
Christoper and Nick were another couple I was fortunate to meet at the My Montana Wedding Expo back in January. They approached my booth with a unique request. They were planning an evening, outdoor wedding. Their timeline guaranteed that artificial light would be needed so they needed to see how comfortable I was working with artificial lighting. Great news, I'm super comfortable with it, it's something I don't get to do as often as I'd like because we get so many hours of daylight here during the summer months—not that I'm complaining—so I was all in.
The wedding was happening in Christopher's parents' backyard, it was planned by family members, and the food was prepared by the families, it couldn't have been more intimate.
Sometimes from the first discussion with a couple, you know your paths were fated to cross at some point in your lives. Anne and Kari were one such couple for me this summer. I was scheduled for a phone consult with them to discuss their wedding and to see if we might be a good fit. No biggie, and often these calls, even when they go great don't tend to last more than 30-45 minutes because you ask each other the questions you need to do, discuss the wedding plans, etc. and everything is groovy. Anne and I did all of those things in about 15 minutes, but then remained just chatting for almost two hours about life, art, and yes photography.
As the wedding day got a little closer we chatted on the phone again for over an hour, but this time it was primarily about the wedding day details and how best to tackle the day. And because it was on some family land I scheduled time to meet Anne's dad to walk the property and get a concrete lay of the land. At this point, it is probably worth mentioning Mr. Lehmer is a longtime fine art photographer, so I'll admit I was a bit nervous, but he couldn't have been more welcoming, and we ended up walking around the property, and chatting for a couple of hours. Naturally by the time the wedding day arrived, I pretty much already felt like part of the family, and it was such an amazing honor to be included in such a special, purposefully planned day.
And all of this is still ignoring the intimate dinner and reception with Rob & Halladay quist performing the music, a belly dancer, and ice cream!
I was so fortunate to be included in this wedding at the summit of Whitefish Mountain Resort. Norman & Tyler had a small wedding with around 70 of their closest friends and family who experienced a gorgeous day where clouds and rain stayed in the forecast the day prior and returned the day after. As you can see that was absolutely not the case during the ceremony. Instead of traditional formal wear, they wore traditional philippine barongs which provided a delightful pop of color into the proceedings and made it difficult to deliver too many black and white photos because they looked so great.
Venue & Catering: Whitefish Mountain Resort / Planner: Jess Smith / Associate Photographer: A Rose Photography / DJ: Jason Sleed / Officiant: Lynne-Spencer Smith / Bakery: Crooked Tree Coffee & Cakes.
