laura and justin : destination wedding photography

There are formal weddings, there are casual weddings...and then there are Justin and Laura weddings. Their wedding took place in Dunlap, IA, a small town of just over 1,00o people. The wedding was gorgeous and emotional, of course, but it was also one of the most fun times I've ever had at a wedding! You'll see why soon. :)

How gorgeous is Laura's dress?







Sharing a moment with her soon-to-be father in law before the ceremony.


















At the reception, there's usually some downtime for the photographer while people are eating. I generally take that time to grab something to eat, download my pictures, and maybe borrow the wedding rings to get some detail shots. At their reception, I had finished eating and my assistant (and wonderful sister) Kimber had the downloading under control, so I went to find Justin and Laura to get the rings for the ring shots. Only...I couldn't find them! I looked around, and then noticed that not only were they not around, but the whole wedding party was missing! After some sluething, I discovered that they had all piled into a pickup truck and left. WHAT?? I had no idea what was going on. Finally, someone said that they thought the group had gone down to a nearby bar. In Omaha, that may have been a problem, but in Dunlap, well, there was just one main street with two bars. Five minutes later, I walked into the bar and discovered the missing wedding party.

On the way back to the reception, they piled into the back of this pickup truck. My sister and I followed in her car...and in order to get this picture, I was standing up in the car with my upper body outside the sunroof. It wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done, but I love this picture, so well worth it!

We returned to the reception to get on with some of the more traditional elements...





Yikes, what did Justin find in there??



Instead of having a garter toss, they had a garter auction...complete with a real-live auctioneer:





P.S. I did eventually get those rings shots. :)