Judd Sather Photography Blog

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

Click here to view Jon and Megan’s Italian Album – the shopping cart icon will work once Jon and Megan have had a chance to view all the pictures. Their YouTube highlight video will be online in a few weeks.
Here’s their highlight video!

Wedding #5 in a 9-day stretch… here I come, Wisconsin! Hopefully they sell Mountain Dew along the way somewhere. 🙂 As the Studio J Tuscon bulleted through the early morning mist and rain, I was reminded that Joe the video guy set my GPS last night to a pleasant British accent that now said “Turn left in 447 miles” and “Recalculating” about 12 times in the McDonald’s drive through – so I shut her off.

5 hours later… To lower my blood sugar from my Snickers/Egg McMuffin/Mountain Dew/crappy coffee breakfast, I stopped just outside Elkhorn, Wisconsin at a quaint little ice cream shop and ordered a cholesterol cheeseburger and strawberry slush since I was still yawning at noon. Around the corner was the isolated country church when Jon and Megan were getting married. There were these really cool, tall windows in the older church for pictures of Megan and Jon and the bridesmaids (see shot above). A funny moment at Lake Geneva after the ceremony was when Megan was paged by her friends to “report to the office” during the dock picture above.

The reception was at the gorgeous Hawk’s Nest golf course – I saw a picture of Tiger Woods golfing there in 1999 with glasses on! Ever wonder why Wisconsin and Minnesota have such a high number of golf courses per capita when we are inside for so much of the year? Me too. Anyway, a great and fun wedding that wins the “best man speech of the year award” for Peter’s amusing ramblings “amongst the people” while he walked around the tables thanking his parents for raising “moderately responsible” young men – good stuff. Thier video on YouTube will be posted here in about 4 weeks. -Judd

Click here to view Aaron and Ellie’s Italian Album design!
Highlight Video Part 1!

Part 2…reception fun!

“Most animated dinner” award goes to Aaron and Ellie’s wedding – it will probably go down as the dinner with the most entertainment in my career – ever. Russ the DJ had people dressing up as hula dancers, Mexican hat dancers, the Rockettes, and WWE champions – and that was just during DINNER!

What a beautiful day, I actually felt comfortable wearing a long sleeved shirt; and the bridal party was exceptionally fun. We got the best outdoor shots ever for a rainy day! Special thanks to Allison and Alyssa for playing videographer and umbrella carrier for those shots. 🙂

A couple interesting parts of the day: 1) My childhood dentist, Dr. Phelps, was there from Spencer, Iowa (I still have 7 of his fillings in my mouth) and 2) We got Aaron the ringbearer to finally smile by all saying the name of his dog “Charlie.” So, when I wanted Ellie’s mom to smile bigger I asked her the name of her dog and unfortunately, they had just put their family dog to sleep a few days before… Oops. Foot-in-mouth syndrome. -Judd, Joe, Josh, and Amanda

Richie and Jessica’s highlight video on YouTube – part 1.

Part 2…

Click here to watch Scott and Heidi’s online Italian Coffee Table Album – the shopping cart icon (for proofing and/or ordering all prints) will work once Scott and Heidi have had a chance to look at all the pictures.

< Here's their holiday greeting card from last year! :)
I love the shot of Heidi spinning in her dress above! Scott and Heidi’s wedding gets the “Best Limo Party” award despite the fact Father Time was a little touchy on the brakes and the karaoke machine was off limits. What a fun bunch! First time I have ever been peer-pressured into tasting “Swamp Water” out of a Gatorade jug. Did you get a shot of that one, Becky?

The humidity had broken for Scott and Heidi and it turned out to be a really fun day – with a full moon as well! I loved the color of Heidi’s dress and the vertical jump she got in it at the park stop near their house (see picture above).

From the beauty of St. Ambrose to the fun at the reception, we got some really unique and energetic shots, including a couple of the Groomsmen getting up and faking a kiss when the table bells went off. And Danielle grabbing our video guy Josh for a spin around the dance floor; I’m sure the dance is still going strong as I type this at 10:30! -Judd, Chris, Joe, and Josh

I’ll also put their highlight video on YouTube here as well once it is complete.