Judd Sather Photography Blog

Since our video computer was totally full last week, we decided to make a 7-minute demo video of the weddings we currently had captured. Special thanks to Aaron and Ellie, Matt and Lisa, Jason and Heather, Ben and Melody, Scott and Heidi, and Eric and Amber for the use of footage from their weddings for this demo piece. Check out the lightning at the end! Cool stuff.

Click here to watch Steven and Terri’s Italian Storybook album!
What a great day in Bloomington for Steve and Terri’s wedding – a little cool, 2 minutes of rain, and sunshine. It was a beautiful service with a memory candle lighting for the loved ones that had passed on as well as meaningful readings, plus a surprise vocal performance from Terri signing “From This Moment On” to Steven. I love the close-up overhead shot of the rings in the bouquet above.

The reception was lively with some old-school dance moves – The DJ played Billy Jean which is now my favorite wedding song. It’s always good to play later when nobody listens to the lyrics. A couple highlights included father of the bride Coach Gary making all the men go down on one knee and sing “You Are So Beautiful” to their women, and the men serenading Terri with “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ feeling” before the garter removal. Terri gets the “most unique bustle” award for the over-the-shoulder bustle of a very elegant dress and Steve gets the “I wish I had a husband like that” award for making all men look inferior for admitting (after being prompted) that he had once made a candlelight dinner for Terri – he’s a keeper! Maybe I just need to make more candlelight dinners… -Judd and Jessi

Click here to see their Italian Storybook Album!
What a fun wedding party! Rachel (personal attendant) wins the “most ingenious personal attendant award” for her tool belt full of personal items Lacey (or anyone else for that matter) could possibly need. Unfortunately, there were apparently some items in there that were against Lost Spur policy so she had to finally part with it later in the evening.

Click below to watch their Highlight video on Youtube!

We got some fun action shots on the the 6th hole with the wedding party (good wheels, Rachel!) and even did a short film of Lacey driving a ball off a tee in Jake’s mouth – the guy has trust. For the record, on a tee shot Lacey knocked it on the green and Jacob, well he nailed the trees on the right of the short fairway.

Great music as well by the ‘no smiling with teeth’ Tyler (groomsman) and his band. There were countless people who had massive smiles on their faces the entire day – Jacob looked like the happiest guy alive, and as Issac mentioned in his speech… “for the first time I saw Jake speechless.” That was after he said “everything went off today without a hitch, except for Jake and Lacey though.” YouTube video will be up in a few weeks. -Judd, Amanda, Joe, and Sherri

Click here to see the pictures from their reception.

Click here to watch their highlight video!

What an elegant day… from Sabrina’s dress to beautiful St. Michael’s church to the White Bear Yacht Club and live band, this wedding was first class. Funniest moment of the day (besides Alison’s “I love my sister so much” toast), was Sabrina sending her chair flying during the ceremony when she stood up. It rolled down a few steps before Christopher came to the rescue. Speaking of Christopher, he gets the “best singing groom” of the year award for his participation in the ceremony; I got to hear every word through our microphone (we just did videography today).

It was great when Sabrina was dancing with her dad and she said “I feel like I’m in someone else’s wedding.” I have to mention Kelly, the cowbell player, she rocked the house. Twice. Everybody needed more cowbell.

We took some late night dancing pictures and video after the photographer left so I’ll post them here when they are ready. Their YouTube highlight video will be here as well in October and you’ll see a couple of bridesmaids knock heads on the way out of the Escalade limo before the ceremony. 🙂 Have a great time in Austria you guys! Jealous. -Judd and Joe

View their Storybook Album here; click the shopping cart icon to view and order all prints.
RAIN… A sign of wealth and/or prosperity, or just a story to make couples feel better about rain on their wedding day? We’ll check back with John and Amanda in 10-20 years to find out. Amanda gets the “best bride attitude” for her “sass” (as she and Christina called it) in dealing with medium-heavy rain including jumping in and out of the tent to take bridesmaid shots, etc. But when you realize that she waited 22 months for John to come back from Iraq, I guess a little rain kind of pales in comparison.

John and the best man (Jon) were platoon leaders in the Red Bull Company that got extended from 18 to 22 months – the longest deployment on record I believe. I loved hearing during Jon’s toast how those two would bring up the old days in high school (Chaska) or “their girls” out on the battlefield to have a dose of home. It was great to see Jon and Christina (matron of honor) together again after I shot their wedding a couple years ago – she has only seen him for a few months since their wedding!

When bridemaid Colleen caught the bouquet, she was ECSTATIC. Never seen that before – dancing, jumping, and perma-grin for at least the next 5 dance songs. This was a very fun wedding and it seemed like the rain didn’t even matter. Where else but in Minnesota can you be uncomfortably sweltering hot one week and see your breath under a tent in the rain the next (I saw mine yesterday). As Amanda said, “Let’s take the shots out in the rain, I’m not going to melt.” Good sass. -Judd, Jessi, Joe and Sherri

Their highlight video:

Click here to view their Italian Storybook wedding album!
OK, Adam and Sarah’s wedding gets the “Aw, that’s cute” story of the year shared by maid of honor, Michelle (Sarah’s sister): in their early twenties (post-college now), Michelle shared a hotel room with Adam and Sarah on a family trip and BOTH Adam and Sarah brought with them their childhood sleep-aids. Sarah brought her “blankie” and Adam his “woobie” which was a small pillow. That’s how Michelle knew it was meant to be…

What a gorgeous wedding day – cool and overcast for their outdoor wedding at the Plymouth Creek center, perfect for photography! Sarah looked so elegant in her dress and Adam was the life of the party. Check out the super cool late-evening sky in the shot above and the “running across the labyrinth” one as well – good thing nobody got lost in the maze. Adam had a great line after dinner noting their “21st Century family: mom, mom, mom, mom, dad, dad, dad, dad” referring to divorces and re-marriages on both sides of the families – and everyone gets along! Sarah’s mom said they all had a “meet the parents” party to all get to know each other and break the ice – great idea! There were some great dancers at this wedding too – Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” doesn’t get played enough at weddings. Check back here in about 2 weeks for Adam and Sarah’s Italian album design; sign up for a free picture while you’re here (link above). -Judd and Amanda

Click here to view Ben and Melody’s Italian Coffee Table Album – the shopping cart icon will work once Ben and Melody have viewed and released all the individual pictures.

Their YouTube highlight video!

Reception!

Note to self: August outdoor wedding + 95 degrees + wearing all black = discomfort. I was considering the profession of painting (wearing all white) after about 20 minutes in that sun yesterday. Throw on a warm, chocking wet blanket of humidity or a 30 lb wedding dress (not me, but Melody) and you are good to go! It was a good thing the ceremony was concise – cool colors on the unity sand I might add in the beautiful backyard of the Botnen’s on the Hastings Country Club golf course.

Ben and Melody’s wedding was sandwiched between thunderstorms: the downpour that ended about 5am (which made Barb, Connie, and Melody a little nervous) and a surreal long-lasting lightning storm with a bit of rain that broke the humidity and dropped the temperature by about 20 degrees. That late-night lightning was a very cool backdrop to their Growing Up video and end-of-the night interview. Favorite moments: Carly and Josh’s heartfelt speeches, Jackie’s keen ‘beverage cart’ hospitality and knowledge of the Hastings Golf Course, and Scott the DJ setting off the fire alarms with the fog machine. During Josh’s speech he said that he “lived with his brother’s wife for a year” which was probably the funniest moment of the summer – brought the house down. But by far my favorite moment (and the award winner for this wedding): “Best robot dance by the bride” which goes to Melody for busting out the classic dance, hands down. -Judd, Jessi, Joe, Josh