A Bolt from Above

The story behind the film

The weather looked anything but promising for Jordan & Chandler’s rustic wedding at Almquist Farm in Hastings. It was honestly pretty scary driving there and watching the towering thunderheads move in. It seemed like the weather would washout any chance for an outdoor ceremony and video scenes, but we all had faith it would work out. And in the end, it worked out better than anyone had thought possible.

Going into the wedding, I already knew how big a role religion played in both Jordan & Chandler’s lives, but the weather really helped drive home this story. During her vows, Jordan mentioned how she had asked God to bring her a life partner, and that very soon after her prayer, she found herself with Jordan. So I symbolized this through early shots of lonely willows in the fields of Almquist Farm, and later shots of two sunflowers standing proudly together.

But I also wanted to show how those sunflowers got there. One thing Chandler told me leading up to their wedding, was that his father had passed away relatively recently. And while this was an extremely sad time for him, it was also a time of strength, because he was getting through it with Jordan. So I showed this in the wedding video by showing some rainy conditions, but also the lightning flashes that followed. I saved this lightning for the end to symbolize the divine intervention that led Jordan to him, and how together, they have unbelievable strength to get through anything.

So in the end, they look over the field together, now in the sunlight having weathered the storm. And then there’s a shot of the two sunflowers, standing proudly together. This symbolized how the bolt from above brought them together, and how the rain gave them strength to bloom.

Location: Almquist Farm, Hastings, MN