Summer Shop Local Wedding Shoot- {MN Wedding Photographer}

In the fall local businesses teamed up to produce a styled wedding shoot featuring all services and products that can be used/hired locally to show what an amazing wedding one could plan by keeping all your business local. Fast forward to this summer and here we are with another shoot promoting shopping locally and utilizing our home-town businesses and services! For this shoot we really wanted to show a unique, eclectic wedding with lots of details to show you can really make a one-of-a-kind wedding like what you see in magazines right here in Fergus Falls. Wild Rose Floral & Gifts provided the beautiful fresh floral arrangements presented in vintage mason jars tied with beautiful raffia to complete the look. Majeco Creations provided most all of the propping for the shoot. Tables, chairs, antiques, jewelry and head pieces, etc. It is really a gold mine in there! One of the featured items above is a brooch bouquet, one of the newest trends in bridal options. You can purchase pieces from such places as Majeco, or you can utilize your own jewelry, or your mother's/grandmother's pieces, etc. This bouquet is SO gorgeous and if you do not have the time or energy to assemble one yourself, you can easily hire a floral designer to complete the look for you. Sew Perfect Bridal provided the beautiful gown for our bride model. Ben Franklin Crafts was involved with designing little crafty DIY projects and little odds and ends of decor. DIY projects are so popular now for your wedding day to really personalize the day. 715 Hot Heads provided the hair and make up application-- another stunning job well done by Lauren Carlson, owner of the salon. Forest Lodge Farms Bed & Breakfast was the setting for the shoot. I just cannot get enough shooting in out there. I am always excited to go back and find more beautiful locations to utilize. They also have an amazing chef ready to prepare and discuss wedding meal choices and he also can make cakes/desserts for you to choose from for your big day. Of course, photography services were provided by myself, Holly D Photography.

You can also be on the look out for a brand new wedding brochure with listings of preferred vendors and wedding information to be produced using these images and more. Keep watching for more details. If you are a vendor and wish to be involved in the next promotional shoot or want to be included in the preferred vendors listing, please contact Holly D via her website. To see more photos, just go to the Holly D Photography Facebook page and check the album!

One more word of special thanks to our models Erin Burns and Ryan Hintz and also to my amazing assistant Danielle Rund and Ashley Karsnia for all the help with the brooch bouquet.

Wild Rose Floral & Gifts http://www.wildrosefloral.com/

Majeco Creations 215 W. Lincoln Ave. Fergus Falls 218-998-2950

Sew Perfect Bridal http://www.sewperfectbridal.net/

Forest Lodge Farms Bed & Breakfast http://www.theinnatforestlodgefarms.com/

Ben Franklin Crafts http://www.facebook.com/benfranklincrafts

715 Hot Heads http://www.715hotheads.com/

Holly D Photography http://hollydphotography.com/

Mr. & Mrs. A {MN Wedding Photographer}

Once again--- SO hard to choose just a few to share on the blog. This day was full of laughter, love, and emotion. It was an absolutely PERFECT day to get married. Beautiful gowns, beautiful flowers, beautiful people :) And hey- it was even my birthday! All kidding aside, I so enjoyed getting to photograph this truly in love couple. They are so perfect for each other, it was so wonderful to be a part of them uniting their love. I just had to include the above photo with the rings in the little girl's hands. These are the wedding rings, along with a special daughter ring the bride and groom got for the bride's daughter to commemorate their new family together. What a beautiful touch! Congratulations and best wishes Mr. & Mrs. A!!! Enjoy your sneak peek!

Mr. & Mrs. T {MN Wedding Photographer}

love.this.wedding.......

Just because your event is not a HUGE wedding does not mean it cannot be utterly beautiful and filled with great details and touches the whole way through! I was SO thrilled to see all of the thought and care Samantha had put into her big day!! For starters, it was on the beautiful property of Forest Lodge Farms Bed and Breakfast. Hard to go wrong there! When I arrived the bride was enjoying chocolate covered strawberries, homemade croissants from scratch, and champagne in her beautiful suite, enjoying getting her hair and make up done by the talented Lauren Carlson of 715 Hot Heads. The salon was able to do several people's hair and make up right there on location. No travel necessary! So convenient! Then came the fine touches she shared with me from her beautiful lace parasol and fan to her compact all the way from France to her beautiful pearl necklace that had been kept in the family for several generations. The day carried on and on like this. It was a beautiful day weather-wise as well. We could not have asked for a more perfect day and venue. After the ceremony the guests enjoyed a WONDERFUL meal prepared by Forest Lodge Farms. From the soup course to the meal to the lavish chocolate and raspberry wedding cake and even a sundae bar with homemade ice cream! Wow! I was thoroughly impressed! I cannot wait to take part in another wedding out at this beautiful and unique location!

New Wall Art Down at Wild Rose- {MN Wedding & Portrait Photographer}

*this above cluster's right panel is technically supposed to be on the far left*

Hello! Just wanted to share some snapshots of the new wall art hanging up at Wild Rose Floral and Gifts here in Fergus Falls. These are stand out wall clusters and you can order them in a large variety of sizes/numbers from your portrait session. They are easy to hang and can fill small to large spaces very easily with those images closest to your heart. There is one special cluster of an engagement photo done in canvas. This is an even more upscale version of a standout wall cluster. Printed on fine art gallery wrapped canvas, one image is split across multiple frames (in this case three) for a very unique look! All of these pieces come ready to hang right out of the box. Instant room decor! Stop down and check them out for yourself and tell the lovely ladies of Wild Rose hello and check out their new gift items and beautiful fresh floral!

and the winners are.....

Congrats to the lucky winners- luck of a random draw of participants decided who won- Happy Mother's Day!

Ben Franklin Crafts $20 gift card-- Mandy Lee

Phatty Nattie's water bottle and one free month-long class of her choice-- Kelly Rotta & Heidi (blog entry)

Wild Rose Floral & Gifts $25 gift certificate-- Elizabeth Brown Werness & Adina Klemetson

Solhful set of fine art greeting cards -- Sarah Elizabeth Froslee Muchow

Holly D Photography $25 gift certificate-- Tara Price, Josiah Josephs, & Alisha Lindenfelser

Thanks everyone for participating- it was so wonderful to read all the great entries- hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day- Please get in touch with me with your contact information so I can deliver your prizes- thank you! hollydiestler@hotmail.com

Giveaway....TIMES THREE! {Mommy & Me Mini Portrait Sessions}

Ok- in preparations for the first annual Mommy and Me Mini Portrait Sessions being offered Saturday April 9th in conjunction with 715 Hot Heads Salon, Wild Rose Floral & Gifts, Phatty Nattie's, and Ben Franklin Crafts I am going to offer a give away each Friday leading up to the event- that gives you THREE chances to win one of three $50 Mommy and Me Portrait Gift Certificates! These are special gift certificates geared just towards this event. Want to get in on the action?

1. Simply become a fan/like each of the sponsors pages listed above on Facebook (including this one of course if you have not already ;) )

2. Leave a comment on each of the sponsors pages that you were sent over by Holly D

3. And last, some of you might remember this from the last contest-- change your Facebook profile picture to the Mommy & Me info photo located on the Holly D Photography Facebook page, I will also post it to the sponsors pages for ease of finding it. You must leave this as your profile picture until the event April 9th to qualify.

If you follow all three steps you will get yourself entered for a chance to win a $50 Mommy and Me Gift Certificate. This can be used towards your session fee or towards any additional ordering you might wish to do from the event. This does not apply towards salon fees, only photography purchases. I will be giving away three $50 gift certificates, you may only win one time in this contest. Each Friday I will randomly draw a winner from those who are participating and announce on Facebook and this blog. Good luck! :)

Shop Locally Wedding Shoot

Here are just a "handful" of favorites from the event that took place October 30th in Fergus Falls, our home town, where we featured many local vendors in a photo shoot promoting keeping business local for your wedding planning needs in the Fergus Falls area. Many businesses participated, including Sew Perfect Bridal, Mauk Jewelers, Wild Rose Floral and Gifts, Majeco Creations, City Bakery, 715 Hot Heads, Victor Lundeen Company, Bello Cucina, River Inn, Events by Laura, and of course, Holly D Photography ;) A special thank you to my models that day as well, Lauren Carlson, Katie Bigelow, Tara Wallington, Nick Suridis, and John Faber! A special thank you as well to my assistant that day Danielle Rund.

I was so pleased we got written up in Daily Journal- to view their article on the event, here is the link:

http://www.fergusfallsjournal.com/2010/11/05/local-businesses-unite-to-produce-wedding-catalog/#respond

I also ended up writing a short article for the Fergus Forum on the event and just some general info on local wedding planning- you can check that out here and hopefully will be doing more articles for them in the future on photography and wedding planning/trends!

http://fergusforum.com/2010/11/09/local-businesses-team-up-to-promote-shopping-local-for-weddings/