Emerson Center New Year’s Eve Wedding of Alia and Justin

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On the final day of 2021, I had the pleasure of photographing the Emerson Center New Year’s Eve Wedding of Alia and Justin in Bozeman.

It’s amazing how two lives can run parallel and, somehow, not connect until much later.

She hails from Ohio and he from North Dakota. They both separately found a love for skiing Montana’s mountains and attended Montana State University School of Engineering. After graduation, they both ended up in Salt Lake City and even lived on the same block.

Finally, they met while working for the same tech company and realized they shared a common zest for life.

On our first phone call, Alia kept saying that Justin is a ray of sunshine. He works hard, plays hard, and brings balance to her life. He is inquisitive. She loves how he is such a caring man who constantly sets the mood to make any situation fun. 

For Justin, Alia echoes his enthusiasm for celebrating life and he admires how she loves to host parties and celebrate their friends. He said, “She is an intelligent partner who can talk about anything and get to the root of any issue. It’s a love and relationship unlike any I’ve experienced before. To feel really cared for and feel completely seen and supported is incredible.” 

Now dating for the last five years, this couple has been adventure buddies and best friends ever since.

During lockdown, they became home owners and grew even closer. Justin’s plans to propose on a trip were canceled due to COVID. Ever the optimist and romantic, he pivoted, hired a private chef, and ended up popping the question to Alia over dinner in their home’s kitchen. 

Like many others, the pandemic impacted their plans for an in-person wedding. Alia and Justin weighed if they could safely have an in-person wedding. With so much uncertainty, they decided, on a whim, that this day was the day. They called their families and Justin and Alia married over Zoom. The celebration could come later. They knew they had both found their person.

Still, both felt that their celebration had been lost due to the pandemic, and they were keen to remedy that. After all, Alia and Justin married the person who fuels their sense of aliveness and adventure and they wanted to share that with their loved ones. 

When vaccines made group gatherings safer, Alia and Justin decided the best way to celebrate their union was to return to their college town. Their Emerson Center New Years Eve Wedding in downtown Bozeman would be the perfect canvas for their long-awaited celebration. 

For these two, candid, creative wedding photography was a high priority and they wanted to capture the emotions of their Emerson Center New Year’s Eve Wedding. 

With the outdoor temperature hovering around 6 degrees, Alia and Justin embraced the cold for their couple’s portraits. My assistant and I had a warm car with blankets, hand warmers, and hot coco that allowed us to explore the chilly areas around downtown Bozeman. Despite the chill, it was clear these two were thrilled to arrive on this day. They seized the adventure of the moment and enthusiastically tromped through the elements. Then, we headed back to the Emerson Ballroom to officially celebrate with their family and friends.

Under the talented direction of Events by Killian, Justin and Alia hosted their loved ones at their formal indoor ceremony, officiated by Alia’s brother. A three-course meal was followed by heartfelt toasts and raised glasses. Tsunami Funk brought the boogie to the dance floor and the guests danced the night away. Libations, playing in the photo booth, and a 1,000 balloon drop at midnight welcomed in the new year. It was the perfect evening they had been looking for and such a joy to be a part of. I could not be more thrilled for these two! 

These are some favorite photographs I made on their wedding day. To view their whole wedding day gallery, click here. 

Congratulations Alia and Justin! Here’s to many days of deep powder and your lifetime adventure with love! Happy New Year! -M

Featuring:

Band: Tsunami Funk, Wedding Cake: Sweet Pea Bakery, Catering: Gather, Floral: Karen’s Floral Artistry, Wedding Planner: Events by Killian, Rentals: Tailored & Tied, Gallatin Event Rental, & Montana Party Rentals, Signage: Wild Her Designs, Venue: The Emerson Center

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Best of 2021 Portraits Greener Visuals Photography

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I’m happy to present my Best of 2021 Portraits from Greener Visuals Photography!

2021 was a wonderful, whirlwind year. I helped some great couples and families celebrate their relationships and created a lot of solutions for business professionals to elevate their visual story brand. It ended up being one of my busiest years since I started Greener Visuals Photography back in 2002.

I feel so grateful. I loved the wonderful diversity of my 2021 clients and how their needs shaped and inspired my creative approach in my photography.

There were so many wonderful stories to tell.

This past year, I photographed an engaged couple whose excitement to be back in a movie theatre helped set the scene of their shared love of films. Another couple wanted to feature their relationship and life on the farm they are creating together. There were families who were adapting to unplanned changes and families who saw now as the moment to gather and start anew. Or documenting the annual family fishing vacation to the Gallatin River – a place that holds deep significance to every family member. It was so much fun to go back over the year’s worth of moments to find my favorites for my Best of 2021 Greener Visuals Portrait Photography highlights.

In hearing your stories, each of my clients shared that now is the time to celebrate the people that give their life meaning. Now is the time to celebrate your relationships and come together, because you can. I’m so glad that we could.

We so rarely have permission and time to slow down and really think about why our relationships mean so much to us. Sharing these stories of love heals and galvanizes.  In discovering what you cherish about your daughter, your partner, and future spouse, your mother, your pet, or your family, I get a chance to see them from your perspective, and truly understand what your relationships mean to you. As a result, I was able to create a completely customized photography experience for each of my couples, families, and business professionals that uniquely resonated with them.

It was a true pleasure.

Thank you to all of my clients for sharing your stories and allowing me to continue the work I love so much. I look forward to what this new year holds. -M

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Emerson Center Wedding Photo Booth New Year’s Eve

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Happy New Year everyone! Alia and justin’s EMERSON CENTER Wedding Photo booth brought out the smiles.

Alia and Justin created the perfect celebration to kick off the new year! Their New Year’s Eve wedding in downtown Bozeman included a three-course dinner, live funk band and a balloon drop at midnight ochestrated by wedding planner Events by Killian. In addition, they also added my Greener Visuals Photo Booth for their friends and family to play and create in.

In between dancing to the good tunes, their wedding guests adorned themselves wtih hilarious, random costumes to use in the self operated custom photo booth. With their custom Emerson Center Wedding Photo Booth, guests young and old playfully got wonderfully weird in creating their photos. I loved the energy this group brought to their experience. Above are some of my favorites photos that made me smile.

What I love about offering a Bozeman photo booth rental to my wedding clients is that it is totally customizable. No walls restrict where photos can happen. Any wall or scene can become a canvas for spontaneous creativity. Furthermore, you never know what kinds of funny moments are going to be captured throughout the wedding celebration. The photo booth is all operated with ease by you and your guests. The booth is easy to operate for guests and gives them the ability to capture endless unique and funny moments! With a bit of imagination, the possibilities are limitless.

I had so much fun with these two and their loved ones. I can’t wait to reveal the rest of their wedding day photos. Stay tuned for more incredible photos from this amazing couple’s celebration!

To view all of the fun photos from Alia and Justin’s wedding day photo booth, click here. -M

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Best of 2021 Wedding Photography

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I’m happy to present my Best of 2021 Wedding Photography!

Happy new year! It’s been this winter fun reflecting back on all of the great times I had with my 2021 wedding clients.

The pandemic of 2020 forced many brides and grooms to put their wedding celebrations on hold. Gratefully, the vaccine rollout of 2021 allowed more wedding couples to safely gather with their friends and family. Still, the ongoing pandemic continues to be a source of uncertainty for engaged couples. If a theme resonated for my 2021 wedding clients, it would be their capacity to be flexible.

Even in normal times, there is so much that goes on during a wedding that can surprise you. This past year had some unique challenges for my clients that they overcame.

For one couple, there was wildfire smoke blocking mountain views. After the pandemic forced another couple to have a Zoom wedding, their long anticipated wedding reception was dampened by rain. At another wedding, there was a rush to locate a spare suit for a family member two hours before the wedding. A groom on crutches could not dance but instead sang songs for his bride with the band playing behind him. One engaged couple started a CSA farm from scratch to grow their own food and flowers for their wedding day. Their hard work created wonderful accents to their story that they shared with their loved ones on their big day.

It just goes to show. You can plan all the things, set the tables and get everything “perfect” on your big day, but in the end, weddings turn out the way they turn out. They have a wonderful life of their own.

All of my wedding couples smiled at adversity and gracefully overcame whatever wedding day hiccup came their way. 

Having positive attitudes made each wedding an authentic reflection of who each couple was. Regardless of what happened, the true beauty of it was found by focusing on the bigger picture.

My wedding clients could finally celebrate their love alongside their friends and families bearing witness to it. What truly mattered.

For what is a wedding but a wonderful, sweet slice of society pie. A sacred event that celebrates the best things in life – our loving relationships.

As I sorted through my Best of 2021 Wedding Photography, I kept that thought in mind. As a Montana wedding photographer, you expect to find excitement from people attending a wedding. But this past year was different. You could tell that the pent up energy of the world made this year’s weddings more rich and rewarding. The societal faucet of normalcy was partially turned back on. A return to the ability to come together and feel human again. 

As a visual storyteller, it warmed my heart to see my 2021 wedding clients and their loved ones embrace this moment. To truly savor these time-honored celebrations that I think many of us have taken for granted.

Beyond the obvious celebration of two people in love, to me, weddings are one of the few places where the young and the old can get together and honor what matters most.

Weddings are a chance to show the youth the ways of community – this is how we act in the good times. These are the things in life we value. These are moments that are worth everything.

This year nothing was taken for granted. 

Personally, I’m thankful that I got to be in my element again; making people feel seen, laughing and joking with them, and photographing people being authentic and real. It was such a wonderful release for so many people. You could tell that the guests needed the celebrations just as much as the couples needed them.

I love witnessing the mixing pot of friends and family at a wedding. Most people know either the bride or the groom, but not many others. Strangers meet and mix. The stories start coming out. The laughter, fueled by good food and libations begins. Then the groups become one to dance and sing all the lyrics of a song with the people brought together by a newlywed couple. All awesome ingredients to honor and celebrate love.

The wedding event galvanizes a couple and their path forward.

This past year I was so grateful we could all gather. I’m proud to showcase my Best of 2021 Wedding Photography.

Looking forward to what this new year holds. -M

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