Congratulations Hannah & Tommy!! I’m so glad we got to be a part of your day! You planned such an amazing wedding and savored every moment with your family and friends! Every JJP couple is super special to me and I really love them all. Tommy & Hannah are a special kind of exceptional. They just really love deeply and care about people! No wonder they had so many in their bridal and that so many people were so excited to get “Table Photos” with them before dinner! Pondview was the perfect location and their new ceremony site is stellar! The DJ’s outdoor sound was the best I’ve heard y ..read more

Congratulations to Alyssa and Peter!! I’m so honored to have you choose me to photograph this amazing day and momentous occasion for you. It was a joy for me and Moriah to spend the day with you both and with your fantastic family and friends! You planned a wonderful day and the weather was perfect! I love asking the bride and groom a few things….Here’s what I’ve learned and can confirm that these two are in love and going the distance! When and how did you meet? We went to the same school since Middle School and knew of each other because we were both in band, but we didn't talk much until D ..read more

Trudy said to me on the wedding day, “I’m so glad we found you.” (insert puffy heart and tears!) Trudy and David, I’m so glad you found me too! Liam and I were so glad to not only photograph your wedding but to also photograph your engagement session together! I’ve never had one of my couples know both the primary and secondary photographers on the wedding day - I kinda want to think it made a difference for everyone. Trudy, David, and Trudy’s mom and dad preferred to meet in person for the initial meeting and consultation instead of over the phone or Zoom. It just happened to work out that I ..read more

I don’t know who was more excited for this wedding, the bride or me! Shannan and David booked me at the end of 2020 and as one of my #jenjensenbrides she has been amazing! I think she has a gift of encouragement because all along as we approached their wedding day I could not out-encourage her. She is one of those brides photographers dream of having! I have wanted to shoot at Brule River Barn for probably 8 years and when I knew that was the venue, I almost wanted to pay her to let me be the photographer! Shannan & David’s engagement session was in Duluth and they were amazing! They relax ..read more

About 10 days ago, I had my last day at a full-time with benefits, really great job. I didn’t really tell anyone online about it. I really did feel like I was living a secret life before you. Let’s back up a bit. Cooper was born in 2009 and was THE WORST fussy baby of all four of our fussy babies. He seriously (and I’m not kidding) screamed bloody murder if he wasn’t being held by ME. Just me. No one else. Just me. Insert balling, crazy faced emoji here. We teased that because I induced him a week early by choice, he was getting back at me for taking him out of his safe space in me too early ..read more

I received a phone call from the sweetest lady recently. She told me her story of why she was looking for a photographer and how she found me. We connected on many similarities in our lives and I knew she would make a wonderful Jen Jensen Bride! These two previously widowed, beautiful people, met at Bible Study at Lakes Free Church in Lindstrom, MN. They instantly had connections in South Dakota. Actually Phil pastored the church that Pam met Jesus in…about 10 years before Phil arrived there. Their crossed paths continued all the way to learning that they lived in the same senior living home i ..read more

One of the things I love is getting to know my couples. Pre “C”, we would meet for coffee and hang out and look at albums and talk through their dreams for their day. During “C” a lot of things were booked online site unseen. I hadn’t met Tegan & Tayler before their wedding day. That is SUPER rare! We usually at least have an engagement session beforehand if not the meet up as well. Their circumstances changed from me shooting a part day wedding to full-day coverage but it was after they no longer needed engagement pictures. No matter what though, I give them a questionnaire to fill out to ..read more

Several years ago, Chelsea started bringing this red headed, bearded guy named Nick to our extended family parties. I wasn’t so sure about him. He was a bit quiet. I wasn’t sure if he was just her friend or her boyfriend, at first, but he kept coming around. I remember asking him about his work and finding out what great work ethic he had…something the Muetze family would approve of…and how he was still a hard worker even though he had a really bad back. The longer he hung around and the more times we saw him, I could see how much he really loved Chelsea and her son Joey, he seemed level heade ..read more

My sister in love had a wonderful birthday surprise this past weekend. Her daughter and husband and more planned it all out and she HAD NO CLUE! We met at Pal Joey’s in Batavia, IL. My brother Brian drove up from Tennessee separately and Missy had no idea! They are a great couple! They’ve celebrated 32 birthdays together (I think that’s what Brian said!). It was wonderful to see so many friends and family come out to love on her and hang out! I do wish I would have taken more photos. I trust many others did ..read more

Generally I have answers from the questionnaire that I give my couples to fill me in on their story that I use for the blog post…or during an in-person consultation I get to hear the full story and I take notes. Somehow, I think because of the weirdness of the past 7 months and distance and because I’ve known these two for about 7 or 8 years and photographed Kamie for her senior photos, her family for a portrait session and her younger brother for his senior session that we just knew we’d be fine together. When I looked at their details tonight again this is the answer to the question: How and ..read more