Tara and Ryan Peterson’s wedding day took place in Huron, South Dakota – AKA where Jon and I live! And I gotta say, there’s nothing quite like photographing a wedding in your own town. The bridal party did hair and makeup, and put on their gowns and suits at the Best Western hotel, which is just a few blocks from where we live! Since we live in the town, I guess we just don’t check out the hotels that often! However, I will say that we were very impressed with the Best Western of Huron! The rooms were giant and everything looked super comfortable. Plus they had great big windows to let in a lot of light, which made our jobs a lot easier! 🙂 They were driven separately to their First Look location, where Ryan stood waiting for his bride. Do I even need to say anything about their first look? I think Ryan’s face says it all. He. Was. SPEECHLESS. As he should be, because let’s be honest. Tara was looking GORGEOUS that day!

Their wedding ceremony was held downtown in the historical Old Stone Church, which according to their website was built in 1887. It is the perfect location for cozy weddings in Huron! Look at the smile on Tara’s face as she hears Ryan saying his vows. There is something so joyful about her smile, it just makes my heart melt!

Another really unique thing about Tara and Ryan’s ceremony is that their friend, Jamie, was their officiant! This is one of our first weddings to have their friend marry them, and what a cool thing to think back on someday. It’s definitely a unique bond in your friendship that you’ll never forget.

One quality about Tara that I find so admirable is the personalization she puts into everything. She had personalized stemless wine cups for their bridal party. You could tell each detail at their wedding was picked out thoughtfully, especially with so many that had also been personalized with their names on it. I think my favorite thing, though, has got to be their berry cheesecake with the succulents on top, and the personalized cake topper. If this cake looked as good as it tasted, which I’m sure it did, it had to be one delicious cake. We fell in love with it the moment we saw it! Every detail was definitely unique and so thoughtfully and carefully chosen.

The Peterson’s wedding reception was held at a very special place to Jon and I, which is upstairs in the Campus Center. It’s so special to us because this is where we also had our wedding reception! We loved watching Tara and Ryan have so much fun with their wedding guests. You could tell this was a very tight-knit group of friends, and they were definitely ready to dance when the DJ started playing their songs!

Ryan and Tara, we had such a blast with you guys at your wedding. What a perfect October day to get married. We wish you nothing but the best!! Xoxo, Emma and Jon