Jamie and Debbie

- Jamie and Debbie -

This weekend's wedding was located at the beautiful Unicorn Castle, a ways down Deacon Road in Iowa (if you're ever heading there, don't drive too quickly down US-34W, you'll miss it). This was my first time at the castle and it quite literally was 'a castle', complete with shields, knights, elaborate chandaliers - the whole sha-bang. Fortunately for me, my wonderful second-shooter Machaela had been there before (find her on Facebook - Machaela Morrissey). While she took care of most of the set shots for the family and what not, I was allowed to roam the castle and look for picture-esque locations.

- My first assignment was shooting the dress. I was having a little difficult hanging the dress and getting a decent shot from the balcony of the castle, so I decided to drape it across a chair and use the window to light it -

- The rings were a unique one. Originally I had planned on doing the typical 'bride's bouquet shot', but as I wandered towards the ponds, I spotted this beautiful, vibrant water-lily. After about five minutes of meticulously fishing it out of the water (and away from the disapproving looks of a couple frogs), I was able to get my shot. Notice the size of those rocks! Nice job, Jamie! -

- As with many guys, Jamie was not a huge fan of taking hundreds of pictures, especially when this area of the castle was a humid 95-degrees. However, as we both agreed, it's not that guys don't like taking pictures, we just don't like pictures that don't make us look cool or manly. Fortunately, this 'King-of-the-Castle/Godfather-esque' look worked well to please the both of us.

- Unlike many other weddings I've been used to with the 'first look' of the bride and groom, Jamie and Debbie decided to not see each other at all prior to the ceremony. When the shuttles that brought the guests to the ceremony ran a little late, Jamie and I had a lot of time to ourselves.

Here's Jamie practicing his 'special' face haha -

- Dude picture -

- Here's one of Debbie's formals. Her red lipstick really popped and complemented her red roses. Husker wedding! Go Big Red! -

- Debbie really did have an infectious giggle that made for fun times -

- Along with being at a beautiful location, we were absolutely blessed with fantastic weather. Notice how the back of Debbie's veil got some nice back-lighting from the sun -