On July 22nd Andrea and Chris got married at the Light of Christ Church in Independence Minnesota. Andrea and Chris both wanted outdoor photos on their wedding day. With the heat of a July wedding we wanted to make sure we could keep the couple and their wedding party comfortable so we suggested traveling to Lake Rebecca Park. Lake Rebecca Park is just a short drive from the Light of Christ Church. The above photo and the group photo below were both photographed at Lake Rebecca Park Reserve in Rockford. There we found plenty of shade for the reveal and the formal wedding photos. After we finished photos at the park we returned to the church to capture more traditional family photos at the altar. We choose to do the family photos at the Church in order to keep Chris and Andrea's grandparents and young niece and nephews comfortable in the air conditioning.
Following the ceremony we traveled to the Rockford Township Hall for the wedding reception. The Rockford Township Hall is a nice sized venue for wedding receptions. Couples can decorate the space as they like to make the space their own. Chris and Andrea used images from their complimentary Phodot Photography engagement session to decorate the venue and to design their guest book. Below is a photo of their welcome table with guest book. We photographed Chris and Andrea's engagement session last fall as the leaves were changing color. We encourage couples to pick a date for their engagement session that is in a season opposite or different then their wedding date. This gives couples time to order prints for their wedding and it is nice to have images that have a different look then the wedding day photos.
Chris and Andrea also designed their own cake & cupcake station decorated with signs, flowers and photos with frames. It made the perfect background for the cake cutting photos adding color, and texture. Much better than a dull, plain wall.
Chris and Andrea made use of both lit ceiling drapery and up lighting to decorate their wedding reception. Both elements add light and texture to their wedding reception photos as seen in these first dance photos. Below holiday lights in the drapery behind the head table add a twinkle to the kiss during the first dance photograph.
We love the county setting surrounding the Rockford Township Hall for photos. We like to make use of the pine tree line that is south of the hall for wedding party photos. At sunset we slipped out the backdoor of the Hall with Andrea and Chris for a few minutes. The photos below were captured near sunset on the country road that runs north of the Township Hall.
