South Dakota Wedding Photographer

Windy wedding on the homestead

Christine moved around a bit. On one of her vacations, she was figuring out where to live next. Ultimately, she knew she wanted land and fell in love with space of land in North Dakota. Walt came along with the journey along with her teenage daughters and son from the East Coast. Walt and Christine worked on the land. Falling harder in love.

The two decided to have their wedding where they had poured so much hard work and love into: their homestead. Walt worked on the barn to make it special for their day. Christine worked on homemade jewelry for her and her daughters.

On a windy, sunny October day in 2024, Christine and Walt got married on their own land surrounded by a few friends, and family. It was fitting that sunflowers were part of the decor on such a sunny day. The wind added a sort of editorial feel to their portraits.

Here are just a few photographs from their day. Their wedding day coverage was short and sweet with three hours. I was there from their first look through the family photographs after the first dances. Since my website gallery for blogs is 250 images, I didn’t include every single image. (Yes, image amount varies per wedding. Amount is determined by many factors.)

Singing through the moments

On the last day of summer, it just happened to be one of the windiest. As Midwestern’s, we talk about the weather because it’s our way of filling in the awkward moments when the wind is blowing hair around our faces. Much like hair being our face, some of us also do not like being in the spotlight. A wedding day can be a whole day of being in the spotlight. When Shandi and Tom had time alone, either on the dance floor or posing, Shandi would sing (either well or in humor) to ease to awkwardness of being in the spotlight. Her ‘robot,’ as she affectionately referred to Tom, and her smiled and laughed like it was ‘their way’ to ease awkward situations. When you meet someone that just ‘makes sense’ in your life, there are many ways you find peace in each other. If singing awkwardly with your other half is what makes you two laugh, keep singing.