Kristine Paulsen Photography – Lifestyle Portraits, Editorial and Wedding Photography in Missoula Montana

This last Friday I photographed Neli and Vern’s wedding, which was just absolutely lovely. They’re such a sweet, nice couple and have a great love story to boot. Neli is originally from the Canary Islands, and Vern spent his childhood there with his family. However, they never met while he lived there. Neli had known Vern’s parents but had never met Vern. Fast forward some years: Vern traveled back to the Canary Islands to help celebrate his parents’ 50th wedding anniversary – which is when he met Neli and fell in love. And now, they are married!

To see their happiness and sheer joy was such a delight, and again, I’m just so grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of such a special moment in people’s lives.

These are a few of my favorite images from their wedding day. Congratulations, Neli and Vern! ¡Felicidades!  I wish you both the very best!

Neli getting her makeup done.

The ladies peeking out into the church area to see what Vern was up to.

Neli smiles at Vern.

Having a little fun after the ceremony.

We had a mini "after session" before the reception started. There were clouds but the rain stayed away!

This huge old tree was a nice prop. Isn't Neli just gorgeous?

So in love! Amor amor!

Kisses for the new couple!

Gettin' country at their reception.

Everyone was shakin' it to the music!

Holding each other tight during the song "At Last."

Cheers,

-Kristine

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Dip me in the water…

Lisa did more than “dip in the water” during our Trash the Dress session last Friday.  She reclined in it, and managed not to freeze!

Her photos are absolutely stunning, and I cannot wait to hear what her husband has to say about his present!  It was really a blast photographing for Lisa.  Her mom came as well (and did a great job keeping Lisa’s cute lab, Bailey, in line) and we all had our fair share of laughs.  (In case you are just stumbling across this and haven’t read previous posts – Lisa chose to do a Trash the Dress session a year after her wedding day, as a one-year anniversary/birthday gift for her husband, Tim.)

Take a look for yourself at the following selected photos.  I had such a difficult time picking out my favorites – there were so many – but these are the ones I came up with.  Enjoy!
-Kristine

Tim is a hunter, so Lisa thought it might be kinda fun to see what a gun prop would add to the photos – cool idea!  Not very often you see a bride with a gun!

I’m loving the hairlight in this photo.

Laughter!  Yay!  (I’m loving the Tevas here, too.)

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I’m so excited to have finished editing the photos from Jackie and Jonathan’s beautiful wedding in Cancun, Mexico.

What a wonderful trip it was! I met so many delightful people, and was reunited with old friends as well – plus, it’s just cool to do that in a place as spectacular as Cancun!

It was a busy day photographing the wedding, but everyone was in good spirits even when stressed, and the results were, of course, beautiful. It helps that Jackie and Jonathan are madly in love and this always shows through. While photographing the bridal party on the beach after the wedding, the clouds started rolling in, signaling an approaching storm. We were all a bit nervous, not being familiar with storms in Cancun, but boy, I was in love with those clouds. I think it really helps these shots just pop!

I’m including several of my favorite shots from my time in Cancun, coupled with several shots of me photographing Jackie and Jonathan’s trash the dress session (kudos to John C. for taking the shots of me taking photos).

Speaking of which – this was so much fun! Jackie had a second dress she used for trash the dress (and I think Jonathan had a different suit to use, too). We woke up early the morning after the wedding ceremony and hit the beach around 7:15 to catch some of the beautiful morning light.

Pelicans were diving for their fish breakfasts and crabs scurried around the pier while we set up. I know I had a blast, and I’m sure they did, too, as we all had plenty of time for fun and laughter during our shoot. Their photos, I think, are stunning, and mainly because Jackie and Jonathan were so gung-ho about doing all sorts of fun (or as some people might say, crazy) things.

I returned stateside the 30th of July and promptly shot another beautiful wedding at the Gibson Mansion in Missoula, MT, on August 1st. Ashley and Luke are a beautiful couple, and it was great to be a part of their special day as well. Friendly folks all around, and very relaxed and happy. I can’t wait to begin editing those photos, too! The Gibson Mansion is another beautiful location, and the light towards the end of the evening was just gorgeous. (Seriously, I was so giddy about the light on the cake – ooh how scrumptious-looking). I’ll post a few selected photos from their wedding as well.

Anyway, enough of the talk – let’s look at the photos! Scroll down to see a few of my favorites…or if you’d like to see them all, visit: http://www.kristinepaulsenphotography.com/jandjloose.html. (Jackie and Jonathan have given me permission to share.)

Hasta luego,
-Kristine

A storm was rolling in – but aren’t the clouds spectacular?

Poor Jackie – her dress was soaking wet and I’m sure weighing a ton! But it was pretty comical!

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Here’s another fun site I stumbled upon – some photos (and photographers) are definitely better than others, but it’s great for examples:

http://www.trashthedress.com/

And here’s a little screenshot to give you a taste of what you’ll be looking at on the site:

Like I said, I’m getting very excited for Jackie and Jonathan’s wedding and trash the dress session! Should be fantastic!

And, if you’re interested in doing a “trash the dress” session, whether it be on your wedding day or even several years after (like the couple in the photo above did), let me know – I’d love to talk with you about some creative options!

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I’m getting super excited to photograph Jackie and Jonathan’s wedding in Cancun at the end of July. They’re such a beautiful couple and fantastic people – it should be a lot of fun!

I mentioned to Jackie that she may want to consider “trash the dress” as an option while in Cancun, since she’s a free spirit and up for some fun. If you haven’t heard of it, trash the dress, sometimes known as TTD, has the bride pose in unusual circumstances…in lakes, sprawled out on the sand, sitting in trees, standing in train cars, etc., etc. It’s usually a bit hard on the dress, but can result in some stunning avant garde, high fashion photos that really take wedding photography to the next, more artistic level.

Check out the following links to see some examples:

http://www.bellagala.com/photography/blogs/troy/index.php
http://www.projectwedding.com/post/list/trash-the-dress-inspiration-post-em-ladies?page=3
http://www.altf.com/

There’s a lot out there on the web – google trash the dress to see other cool examples.

I can’t wait to post some photos from our trash the dress session!

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