Rock the Dress | Megan Lane Photography

Mitch & Erica – Mountain Top Wedding – Holland Lake Wedding Photography

Posted by Megan Lane in Life, Joy, Laughter, Wedding Photography

Sometimes the things you wish to write about are so big and full of emotion that it’s hard to know where to start…. How to describe the relationship I have with my little sister – my best friend, confidant, cheerleader, voice of reason, semi-twin…? [Whew. Fan at eyes. Breathe. Smile. Breathe. Continue.] How to describe the relationship she has with Mitch – their joyful, fulfilling, love-filled partnership…? How to describe how it feels to stand on the top of a mountain with a waterfall roaring at your back, and say the words that help join two people’s lives? How to describe how it feels to witness God’s incredible creation all around you and His love, not only in the promise of the two people joining their lives, but also in all of the relationships around you?

Pretty impossible to describe. But truly awesome to experience.

On September 21^st, 2012 my little sister Erica got married to her honey Mitch. They planned an incredibly intimate celebration that was so very genuine and perfect for the two of them. They invited their immediate families (which made for a party of thirteen adults and one 4-year old) and they planned for us all to hike up to Holland Falls for the wedding ceremony and then for us to spend the weekend together at Holland Lake Lodge.

It was truly a celebration of those things that make life most rich: love and family, joy and laughter. We hiked to Holland Falls for their ceremony and then “yahoo-d” and cheered for Erica & Mitch’s first kiss as husband and wife. We drank Champaign on top of the world and Scotch back at camp. We played beanbag toss & frisbee in the sunshine and paddled our canoes and kayaks on the breathtakingly still lake. We ate LOTS of super yummy food at the Lodge and sang & danced by the firelight. We hung out in our jammies and swimming suits during the day and got dressed up for dinner (well, us girls got dressed up, the boys got to wear whatever they wanted;). We laughed and laughed and laughed [and laughed] and we cried happy tears for two of our most favorite people in the whole wide world.

Erica and Mitch – there are not enough words for me to express how happy I am for the two of you, and how very much I love you. Blessings blessings blessings upon this happy happy union. xoxoxx

And now, because I can’t help myself, here is a *tiny* bit longer blog post than normal…:)

The happy bride (this is her “eeeeeeeek!!!!! I’m so excited!!!!” face:)

Mommy & Daughter

(this one gets me every time…oh *sniff*)

Seeing my sister so happy…well, there really aren’t words…tears maybe, but no words:)

(and are you all so proud of me for not just blubbering like an idiot through this whole day?!?!?!?! Whew.)

And I think the Groom is equally happy:)

Gorgeousness.

Ug. I loooooooove this picture [and how about this dress!!!! which we found during an AWESOME trip to Eskay Bridal in Bozeman, MT – a little shout-out to those girls who helped us – thanks for such a fabulous experience ladies!:)]

This one makes me smile. Every. Single. Time!:)

Awwwwww….

And a few more of the happy happy couple….

Two of my favorite girls in the whole wide world!

So different to be on THIS side of the camera!!!:)

The beautiful hike up to Holland Falls.

The Hand-Off:)

The Prayer.

The Top of the World.

The Laughter.

The Love.

The Flower Girl!:)

The Happy Couple.

The WHOOOOOOOOHOOOO!

And then the next day we did a Rock the Dress session in Holland Lake.

Yeah.

****swoon****

And just a couple more:)

I love you two.

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Matt & Nichole – Rock the Dress – Helena MT Wedding Photography

Posted by Megan Lane in Wedding Photography

When Matt & Nichole got married three years ago they didn’t end up with many pictures of just the two of them from their day – so when Nichole heard about our Rock the Dress sessions (basically just a chance to get dressed back up in your wedding dress and, well, Rock It baby!:) she got in contact with me right away. She was super excited to get some amazing, romantic pictures of her and her hubby – and, of course, super excited to play around in her dress again!

She and I quickly bonded over the fact that neither of us *ahem* dry cleaned (or even folded) our dresses after our weddings (have I mentioned that I would LOVE to do one of these sessions myself?!?:) and after chatting and exchanging emails and texts to prepare for their session, I knew that we were going to have a seriously awesome time. And I was certainly not disappointed! These two were so much fun to work with – and I think the pictures speak for themselves (seriously – oh.my.GOODNESS!!!).

This first one gives me chills….

I love the curve of their bodies here – and the contrast of Matt’s hand on Nichole’s waist.

Romantic??

Check.

Fun??

Check.

Totally cute & in love??

Check check check!

I absolutely love all of the contrasting textures in this photograph.

Gorgeous much??

And, yeah, just love everything about this photo. Love love.

Love.

Thanks for such an AWESOME session you two!! Can’t wait to share the rest of the pictures with you!!!:)

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Kevin & Kirstin Rock the Dress – Kleffner Ranch – Helena MT Wedding Photographer

Posted by Megan Lane in Wedding Photography

When I posted last week about Kevin & Kirstin’s wedding I mentioned that we got to do an awesome Rock the Dress session on Wednesday that week after the wedding. But awesome is a little bit of an understatement…. Because in reality it was craaaaaaazzzzzy amazing-awesome! For reals—amazing:)

Since we didn’t have a chance to take any outdoor pictures on Saturday with Kevin & Kirstin at Kleffner Ranch (due to the rain) we decided that meeting at Kleffner would be the best plan. And allllllllll day Wednesday I literally watched the weather out my window and just prayed for a halfway decent evening so these two could get the pictures they were hoping for. And **oh! happy dance happy dance** the weather was PERFECT. So was the light, and the sunset, and this couple, and…well, just about every-dang-thing about this shoot.

So we frolicked in the gorgeous light (yes, I just said “frolicked” – and I’m sticking with it), and waited for the sunset, and played around with piggyback rides and laying in the grass and spinning in the field—and I was in photographer’s heaven! I’m pretty sure Kevin & Kirstin were having fun too:) And then the sunset arrived and it was ah-mazing and I did another happy dance (I’m pretty sure the full whooHOO dance was in my head…but there may have been a real-live impossible-to-squelch hop-and-a-skip out there…just sayin).

So I don’t know if I actually swooned after taking this image or not – but I’m pretty sure I got light headed at the very least….

Doesn’t Kirstin look like some kind of fairy/woodland nymph princess here??? ohmigoodnesslovelove

These two are so awesome – and so very much in love.

Just a little rock-dress-love detail….

Methinks their babies are going to have gooooorgeous eyes!

What? Gorgeous light? Oh, I didn’t even notice…:)

And they lived happily ever after….

Kevin & Kirstin – it has been so so SO much fun!! You need to come back to Montana SOON so we can take more pictures—or just hang out and have a glass of wine:)

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Andrew & Mindy Rock the Dress – Marysville Ghost Town – Helena MT Wedding Photographer

Posted by Megan Lane in Wedding Photography

What do you get when you cross a ghost town, a gorgeous wedding dress, lots of mud and snow, and a fabulously fun couple? A rockin’ Rock the Dress session, that’s what!

[some of you may be thinking “Rock the…wha???” – basically a Rock the Dress (RTD) session is just an excuse to for the bride to wear her wedding dress again and for the couple to have fun cutting loose and taking pictures without any of that “Big Day” pressure or stress. Sometimes these sessions are called Trash the Dress Sessions but I think that sounds REALLY scary—we’re not going to Trash it, we’re just going to Rock it!:) These sessions are waaaaaay fun and I really really want to get dressed back up in my wedding dress and do one with Scott…. Hmmmm, maybe this summer for our 8th anniversary!:)]

Anyhoo, Andrew, Mindy, Hercules (their oh-so-cute bulldog) and I went up to Marysville last week for their long-anticipated RTD Session (Mindy and I have been throwing around ideas for this shoot since, oh, waaaay before their wedding last summer:). We were hoping for snow but didn’t really know what to expect as we headed up into the mountains. As it turns out, we had this crazy combo of snow drifts and mud that was the perfect complement to the half falling-down ghost town ruins. So so cool!

Now, this particular RTD session would not be for everybody…because, well, it was muddy…reeeeaaaaally muddy. But Mindy’s attitude was “Mud washes.” And let me tell you, she embraced that attitude wholeheartedly from the start of the session (“Herc-just-ran-across-my-entire-train-with-his-totally-muddy paws”) to the end of the session (“I-can’t-feel-my-toes-in-my-purple-platform-pumps-but-I’m-not-going-to-say-anything-cause-I’m-tough”). Suffice to say that between the beautiful sunshine and bluebird sky, the awesome juxtaposition of satin, snow, and mud, and Andrew & Mindy who always make me laugh and who make me say things like “ooooohmigoodnessIlovethatIlovethatdon’tmovedon’tmove” I was in photographer heaven:)

See what I mean!? Rockin.