Lane Weddings – the blog. – Omaha Wedding Photographer

For most of my clients, I’m the third or fourth item they cross off their wedding planning list.  Usually couples come talk to me right after picking their venues.  Truth be known, the location of the event is one of the more significant factors in the end result of clients’ wedding photography.

With this post, I feel like I’m actually snubbing some incredible weddings at some amazing locations. That said, here are my favs from 2009:

Nebraska State Capitol Building
My dear friends Scott and Jess put me in an amazing position to create awesome photos with their wedding in Lincoln. If there is another building in Nebraska with more nifty nooks and crannies for couples portraits, I don’t know what it is.  Every angle there is interesting and there are so many variations in architecture within the structure.  Scott and Jess, if you ever want to rent a tux and put your dress back on, I’ll happily spend another afternoon making photos!

St. Johns on the Creighton University campus
The building is just freaking amazing outside and in.  But I think my favorite feature is the green space behind the building that is private(ish), big and perfect for dress reveals and portraits.  Here’s some shots from Laura and Andrew’s wedding that features the building:

My inlaws front yard
Now the prior two locations are pretty sweet, but they also hold weddings there with a certain amount of frequency, whereas a certain farmhouse near St. Mary, Nebraska was the location of a one-of-a kind wedding reception.  Laura and Aaron had a lot of doubters among their friends and family about having their October 10 wedding reception in a tent pitched in the front yard of Laura’s childhood home when the forecast called for snow and highs in the 20s.  It might have been cold outside, but things were really heating up inside the tent for what was an amazing! wedding reception. This event more than any other of the year was the one where all night long people complimented how perfect it was.  Here’s a shot from each inside and outside of the tent:

Laura's father, Frank, saved some fireworks from the annual Fourth Of July bash held at the same site. Nice touch!

Estes Park
And though the three above locations were spectacular, I’d shoot a wedding in Estes Park and time, any day.  And even though rainy weather moved us indoors for Dana and Lance’s wedding at the YMCA of the Rockies, it was still a WONDERFUL destination for a wedding.  This years best location for a wedding:

YMCA of the Rockies, Estes Park, Colo.

I intended to start this look back at 2009 a little sooner, but cold weather makes everything move slower.  Or at least that’s the excuse I intend to use.

Oh-nine will prove to be a benchmark for my wedding clients; a year their family grew; the last year of a decade with no name.

Over Christmas I was looking at a collection of wedding portraits hung in the home of my wife’s grandmother.  It was entertaining to check out the changes in hair and formal-wear styles over the years. It makes me wonder when mullets will make their way back en vogue (there were plenty among Sarah’s cousins!)

I’m going to open my “Best of 2009″ series by paying homage to some of my clients who gave the finger to “typical” and embraced individualism.

I’m going to start with my dear friend, Dave.  When I met Dave “dbo” Baker back our freshman year of college at UNL, he had the shape of a hand dyed blue into his bleached hair.  Since then, Dave has gone through countless styles, countless hair colors and countless looks.  But one thing has remained a constant: Dave’s wonderful individualism. I was relieved to see some of that shine through in his wedding attire this October at the Bellevue Berry Farm.

Dave wasn’t the only groom this wedding season sytling some fashionable footwear.  I love these kicks Bryce wore to his Kearney wedding at last June at the Cottonmill:

While I’m on this shoe kick, I love Jen’s red shoes:

But the crimson in Jen’s attire wasn’t limited to her high heels.  Jen’s eccentric personality shone bright on her wedding day as she donned this stunning red gown, getting my nod as the Lane Weddings fashionista of 2009:

Sam and Jason were willing to travel far and wide to get great engagement shots.  We voyaged to the sultry rain forests in South America, the arid deserts of Africa, and finally dipped beneath the frigid waters of Antarctica where made some new friends.  As you can see from the photos, we had a great time and made some fun images.

I’m donating a portrait session and $300 worth of prints to the Arc of Nebraska’s Jazz and Jewels fundraiser Thursday at Zen’s Lounge in Lincoln.  The event will feature a silent auction, hors d’oervres, and jazz entertainment by Darryl White with Emcee Lauren Rock. Tickets are $30.

If you are thinking about getting a portrait session anyway, this would be a great opportunity to give to a worthy cause.  If you aren’t planning on getting a portrait session, you should still go.  Sarah, my wife,  used to work for Arc of Buffalo County when she lived in Kearney and vouches for all the good things the organization does for people with developmental disabilities and their families.

For more information, you can visit the Arc of Nebraska Facebook Page, or the event page.

So I feel aweful about this blog post.

You see, Kaycee is one of my absolutely sweetest, favorite brides.  She follows my blog, makes encouraging comments on my facebook page, she’s low maintenance, drop dead georgeous and hired me to photograph her absolutely spectacular wedding.  Basically it’s brides like Kaycee that make my job the greatest in the world.

So I repay her by making her wait more than 3 weeks before I give her a glimpse of her wedding with a blog post.

Ugh!

And a beautiful wedding it was!  St. Vincent De Paul is a lovely church for photos and I can’t say enough about Indian Creek Golf Course for a reception site.  Even though I’m late getting this blog out, I’m glad to report I’m a little early getting the photos done.  Kaycee and Steven, I can’t wait to see you tomorrow and show off your wedding photos!

Indian Creek Golf Course, Elkhorn, Neb.

St. Vincent De Paul church, Omaha, Neb.