I just got the news today – I’ve been selected to receive the prestigious WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2012 for wedding photography! This annual award recognizes the top local wedding vendors from the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Project Wedding, Brides.com, Martha Stewart Weddings, and Weddingbee, who demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism within the wedding industry. While many industry awards are selected by the organization, I was selected based on the awesome reviews from past newlywed clients. This recognizes the best local wedding vendors across different wedding categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, based on their overall professional achievements throughout the past year.

I’d like to take a moment to thank all my wonderful wedding couples who have taken the time to review my business on WeddingWire. Thanks to your positive feedback I was able to receive the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ for 2012!

If you’d like to check out what my brides had to say about me, simply visit Kristina Lynn Photography & Design’s WeddingWire Storefront here.

Amanda & Jeffery’s wedding had some really personal touches, such as one of her garters which was actually the one her mom wore down the aisle. I think my favorite detail images of the day were of her dress. The rich wood tones of the sanctuary provided some nice contrast with her white dress  (and the lighting was amazing!). I also loved the girls’ bouquets which had some fun design elements  worked into them.

It was such a beautiful day for a beautiful wedding!

The campus had so many great places to photograph I love finding nooks and crannies that are full of character to photograph in, like the back alley way. Now don’t get me wrong, it was a little gross in the alley, but hey, sometimes you just have to take one for the team in the name of awesome photography! I also really LOVE the super contemporary backdrop that the Iowa Advanced Technology Labs building provided. And I must say, Nick and Meggie were troopers for going along with my idea since it wasn’t exactly the coolest day and sun beating down on the metallic surface didn’t really help the situation at all. But I think the end result was worth it! Couples that are up for anything really make my day – here’s hoping that their wedding day is just as fun as the engagement session!

Next we headed off to The Guthrie Theater, another famous landmark in the Twin Cities. The thing I love about The Guthrie is that there are lots of different areas to choose from so you can create a more formal look or use some of the surrounding areas for more of an urban feel.

I had so much fun photographing Kelly & Nolan’s engagement session. I can’t wait for their wedding day in October!

Miriam & Anthony’s First Look was so heartfelt and full of love. I was getting teary eyed just photographing it!

Yes those are little piggies in the bride’s bouquet. She absolutely LOVES little pigs and wanted to incorporate them into her day. I love personal touches

This little girl was so darn adorable! She was practicing carrying the bride’s train down the aisle. Too cute!

The wedding party was awesome – totally laid back and up for anything. When you have a wedding party like this, you HAVE to do some fun photos!

With my engagement sessions I like to take the couple to a fun location outside of the studio. This is our chance to play around, get some fun images and get to know one another. I knew right off the bat that Heather and Mike were not the back alley/grunge type of a couple but more of the relaxed/nature setting type. I knew I wanted to take them somewhere different, somewhere I had never been before and instantly thought of the Minnehaha Falls Park in Minneapolis. I had seen some amazing photos taken there and decided the green grass and trees would make for some excellent backdrops for the couple. We had everything planned out – Mike would come up from Iowa for the weekend (like he does most weekends….now THAT’s LOVE!) and we would go out on Saturday morning for the session. But of course, Mother Nature had to rain on our parade…it was SUPER cold and rainy all day! But never fear – Sunday turned out to be an amazing day with sun shining and temps almost back to normal!

I had such a blast wandering around Minnehaha Falls Park with Mike and Heather, exploring the new location and creating some intimate portraits of the couple. I can’t wait until their wedding day!!! We’re going to have a blast! Thank you Mike and Heather for being such an adorable, fun couple If you’d like to see more of Mike and Heather, check out my facebook page.

This year is the first year that I’m officially doing weddings on my own for the studio and so far have three on the books. One of them is my cousin, Amanda’s, wedding back in Clarion, Iowa. Their date is set for the end of June so it’s definitely time for their engagement session When I was home over Easter, we set aside some time to do their photos around Clarion. We hit up some of the local “landmarks” like the Gazebo and went out to Lake Cornelia. I also found this amazing rusted stair case in one of Clarion’s alley ways. It was quite an adventure, I must say, as I braved walking into some prickly weeds with only flip flops on….ah what one must do for great photography! I had a blast photographing these two and can’t wait to photograph their big day! Now on to designing a fantastic guest book to go along with their custom designed announcements. Thanks you two for a wonderful afternoon!