Claire & Mike | Hawley Western Wedding | Kris Kandel Photographer

I’ve been looking forward to this wedding ever since Claire first skyped with me from England last summer! We hit it off so easily, chatting about Europe and our love for our pets! Then last fall Claire flew over for a couple of weeks so we did their engagement session out on the farm where I got to meet Mike and the horses (check out those photos here). 🙂

So when the big day arrived I was pretty excited! (Isn’t that mirror shot sweet? Thanks to my mom for being my 2nd this weekend!!)

Mike was so excited to see his bride he didn’t want to turn around to wait for her to tap his shoulder for the first look, but kept his eyes focused on her walking through the door and down the walkway outside! You can just feel how excited he was to see her in the photos below!!

These two were both soooooo excited to FINALLY be married!!!! Claire joked about almost becoming a cat lady in a trailer. 🙂

So many fun western details for this wedding. I LOVED Claire’s boots, the colors were prefect for the wedding too!

Claire’s family flew in from England to be at the wedding. Her dad’s reaction to seeing her dressed up for the first time was priceless:

And her sister (MOH) had a pretty good reaction too, lol!

Bunny ears everywhere!

The day was a little backwards from how I typically photograph, the ceremony started at 11am, so as soon as we got the first look and family photos done  it was time to walk down the aisle! The flower girl stole the show with her cute reaction to dropping her petals by accident!

So many sweet moments as Claire walked down the aisle and shared a little moment with dad.

To go along with the western wedding theme they braided a rope of 3 strands instead of lighting a unity candle. 🙂

Congratulations Mr & Mrs!! You are officially hitched (and cuffed)!

After the receiving line we went back into the newly transformed church space that turned into a lovely reception hall! The crew and coordinators at Hawley Alliance Church sure were quick transforming the space!!

While guests visited with the couple I took that time to go out and do some detail photos of the rings. I thought Mike’s ring was amazing. I’ve never seen that detail on a guy’s wedding band before and I really liked it.

After most of the guests had left I took the wedding party outside for a few more portraits. There was only one tiny spot of shade left but we made it work. 🙂

Isn’t the sky amazing out on the prairies!! Sigh. One of my favorite things about living here. Open skies.

I think the guy’s had a bit too much fun roping up the groom, lol!

Bride & Groom portrait time!!

I love the playfulness between Claire and Mike, it’s so lovely to see couples just enjoy being with each other!!

And finally it was time to get out the horses! I think they were getting a bit tired of waiting around for us, lol!

The details on the tack was gorgeous! Some of it was even hand braided by Claire and Mike!

A beautiful bride and her beautiful horse.

It was so special to have Jazz there since she had to fly over from England and be quarantined for a month! But I know Claire is so happy to have here here in the states!

 I kind of love the next photo, something about it I can’t figure out what exactly, I just really like it.

Art. It’s so hard to pinpoint what you like sometimes, lol!

Both of the horses were soooo well behaved and easy to work with. Look at how great they stood with their ears up and everything! Good job training them Mike & Claire!!

After a few minutes of horse portrait time we headed over to the Hawley Parade were we hung out for a while waiting for the fun to start. Mike clearly enjoyed showing off a little bit to his bride. : )

And again, the horses did so great with extra noises and fire trucks blaring etc.

Time to ride the Hawley Parade!

I loved Clair’s mom’s reaction to seeing them in the parade in the image below (left). 🙂

And finally the last couple of images were taken back at the farm when the couple dropped their horses off. This is Claire’s dog that she also brought over from England, so it was pretty special taking these images!

Thank you so much for inviting me into your special (fun!) day! It has been such a joy getting to know you both, hearing your stories, meeting your lovely animals, chatting with your families. Thank you for making me feel so welcome on your big day!!

Kris Kandel | Fargo Wedding and Senior Photographer | Facebook Page