Diane and Nate were married today!

When I photographed Diane and Nate for their engagement session, I asked Diane what her wedding was going to look like.  She said, “sparkles and glitter…as much as I can get”.  And she wasn’t joking.  Diane put bedazzel to shame!  She spent months gluing rhinestones on her shoes, flip flops for her bridesmaids, her cake topper, and countless other details.  And everything looked beautiful.  She had such precision in her work that I had no idea it was DIY.  Nate liked everything as well, especially Diane’s gorgeous sparkly wedding dress.  At their first sight the first thing Nate whispered to his bride was, “You look stunning.”

The ceremony took place at St. Joseph Parish in Owatonna, MN.  The cathedral was full of friends and family, and Nate’s cousins did a fantastic job performing the music.  I think my favorite part was before the ceremony when Diane’s dad asked me if his jacket should be buttoned when he walked her down the aisle.  It was so obvious that he was SO proud to have this moment with Diane and wanted it to be perfect.  The ear to ear grin on his face was contageous.

Diane and Nate picked a very chic color combination of guava and gray (and sparkles of course) and the guava color looked amazing in outdoor pictures.  Combine that with a cool breeze (so groomsmen didn’t overheat) and a fantastic sky filled with clouds and it was picture perfect.  After some outdoor pictures, we took the party bus to a local bar and partied Owatonna style!

The reception was held at the Monterey Ballroom.  The tone of the night was set with the grand march.  With Black Eyed Peas playing, the whole wedding party did a fabulous choreographed dance that had the crowd roaring!  Since the reception was full of kids (I have NEVER seen so many kids at one reception before and they were all related!) Diane made an effort to have fun food and activities (and later music) that catered to a younger age of guest.  While the kids munched on chicken fingers the head table was treated to white glove service that was very impressive.  The food was delicious and I must give props to the Monterey Ballroom for efficiency and knowing how to get a large crowd through a buffet line!  That is no small feat! 

The end of the night had Diane and Nate’s first dance “in the clouds”, cake from Perfect Day Cakes, plenty of fun music to entertain the packed dance floor, and even a couple games.  Diane and Nate obviously had their guests in mind and paid a lot of attention to the entertainment…and it was obvious that everyone was having a blast.  I can’t wait to see what Up Stage Studios, the videographers for the day come up with, they are going to have some fun footage to edit through!

Here are our favorite images from the day, enjoy!