images that embrace your personality
I met Brandon and Juli met me in Stillwater for family pictures today! The rain stayed away long enough for us to not only get portraits done but for the boys to play and enjoy themselves at the park.
Super Jacob!
Mom and Dad get some pictures, too!
Jacob is such a fantastic big brother, it was fun watching these two interact!
I had a wonderful time with you four today! Enjoy your sneak peek!
Yesterday, I photographed a styled shoot by Blomma Designs. Erin is unapologetic about her love of the 80s (I heard a rumor that she owns a fanny pack!) and wanted to do an 80s influenced wedding shoot before leaving for her new home in Alaska. It was our last hurrah together, so we wanted it to be fun! Erin chose a bright and vibrant neon color palette and made the look more modern by using neutrals for the jewelry and clothing. Our lovely bride wore a vintage gown from Andrea’s Vintage Bridal and cute black booties. The guys got a touch of neon as well with their suspenders. Christine’s Floral Touch designed the flowers and did a fantastic job keeping things bright and textural. For the hair and makeup, Brett Dorrian Artistry Studios put a great coral color on the bride’s lips and put her crimped hair up in a modern bun. The look was just dynamite.
This is my favorite shot of the day.
After pictures at First Ave, we head over to 110 North Loop Loft for some reception pictures. Glam Doll Donuts set up the most beautiful neon tower of donuts, and Patrice Soehnlein designed an invitation suite that includes records and cassette tapes.
Boombox cuff links? yes please!
110 North Loop Loft has a great feature, a large garage door that opens up to allow a food truck to serve the event. For this shoot, AZ Canteen stopped by to make us some delicious food!
Check out the reflection!
At the very end of the shoot, Erin pulled out this crazy 1980s wedding gown for a bit of dress up fun.
So what do you think of the shoot? I love how fun it looks and how fun it was to shoot!
Adam and Jessica were married on Saturday! (due to a huge power outage, I just got my computer back…so sorry this is a couple days late!)
On a warm, humid, post huge thunderstorm Saturday, Adam and Jessica tied the knot. They wanted their wedding to be elegant and simple, and made the perfect decision to have Todd from Bungalow 6 Design make that happen. Using purple as the main color, Jessica chose summery dresses for her ‘maids and a killer statement gown with a ton of texture for herself, both from The Wedding Shoppe. That gown was a show stopper!
We had lots of prep time and two cute little ones to get into wedding mode =)
This was the first time Adam saw his bride. He couldn’t stop talking about how gorgeous she looked.
This was such a high spirited group!
After pictures, we headed to The Lafayette Club for the reception.
The ballroom looked amazing! The outside was brought in with large trees hung with candles. Everything was in purple and silver and bathed in candlelight.
Adam’s dad read the guests a book Adam wrote when he was young.
The first dance was choreographed and so fun to watch! After the first dances, Instant Request got the party started!
The night ended with a beautiful sunset and one happy group of family and friends!
Adam and Jessica, thank you for having us be a part of your day! We had a fabulous time and hope you enjoy your sneak peek!
Though John and I love shooting weddings, and it is truly our passion…my other love is photographing food. I enjoy shooting foodie events because the presentation is gorgeous, the guests are always gracious and in high spirits, and I pick up some education along the way. This week I photographed two events. The first was Thomas Keller‘s book signing at La Belle Vie, and the second was the private opening of Marin, the new restaurant in Le Meridien Chambers.
Thomas Keller’s new book, Bouchon Bakery, is so beautifully photographed and a true work of art. His book signing drew in an enthusiastic crowd of long time fans and some of the most celebrated chefs in the Twin Cities.
Chef Mike DeCamp and his kitchen put together the most delicate bites of food. There was so much variety and the guests were lining up trying to get a sample.
Andrew Zimmern came to the event to host the lively Q&A.
It was a lovely night!
Two days later, I was back among chefs and beautiful cuisine at Marin’s private opening. The new decor of the space is comfortable and warm, the food is divine, and the farm to table style menu caters to all kinds of dietary restrictions, they even have the nutritional information on the menus…love it! The bar is gin focused, with a cute periodic table of gins and flavors to add. They grow their own garnishes right on the patio, and the bartenders are very informative. Besides the main dining room and patio, there is a lower level library perfect for a romantic date or private party. You can tell the spaces were lovingly planned. This is a fabulous concept and I think this restaurant is going to take off!
Darling garnishes at the patio bar.
Today’s Day in the Life session took place on the most lovely Father’s Day. This outdoor loving dad got to choose the activities, so we spent the day fishing, playing in the water, and dining al fresco. Since Taylor and Emily recently sold their home, this session also served as a nostalgic goodbye to the home where they started their family.
We started the day off with mass at the Basilica, and then it was off to the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market to buy ingredients for dinner.
The girls had a great time finding the correct produce.
Back home, the we had a quick family portrait session on the patio.
Then mom and dad announced they had a surprise for the girls. And they told them they were going to have a baby!!!! Evie’s reaction was amazing!
It took Cece a minute to understand what was going on. But when Taylor said she’d be a BIG sister, she got REALLY excited!
And what is even more fun is that no one in the family knows about the baby, so this blog is the official announcement. SURPRISE!!!!
After all of that excitement, it was time for smoothies, which also got an enthusiastic reaction.
A little down time before heading out to the lake…
…and then time to sing Wheels on the Bus as we took the trolley to the beach…
…what a seriously BEAUTIFUL day!
After all of that fun and play, we went back home and someone did NOT want to take a nap…
…so they got a bath and a little down time instead.
Time to make dinner! Grilled pizza! YUM!
During dinner a sudden thunderstorm came through…it got cold and windy fast…the perfect excuse to get into warm jammies.
After a full day of good food, lots of sun, and all kinds of activities, it was time to snuggle up and go to bed.
Taylor and Emily, thank you so much for having me be a part of this special day! It was such a blast! Enjoy your sneak peek!
Heather bid on portraits with us at a silent auction and I’m so glad that she won! I got to meet her sweet family this morning for a vintage themed session.
She brought plenty of props to keep the boys busy, plus Grandpa was there to herd them in place and armed with bribes of candy. We took it easy, let the boys play, and got some really fun images!
These boys have lots of personality =)
Sometimes I wish I had a video camera aimed behind me to see the crazy dances parents do to get their kids to smile!
The joy of flight!
Mom and Dad even got a few pictures together…how cute are they?!?!?
And after all that hard work…the reward.
Hope you enjoy this sneak peek! I love how the portraits turned out!
Matt and Emily were married today!
This fun loving couple chose a garden wedding at the St. Paul College Club, with flowing dresses and pops of purple. This Friday evening wedding was relaxed and easy going, the weather even cooperated and held off the rain until late into the night.
After the first sight, we took portraits of the couple around the grounds of the mansion. Matt couldn’t keep his eyes off of Emily and kept sneaking little kisses, it was so sweet!
The good lookin’ wedding party =) Sweet Peas did such a lovely job with the flowers, everyone looked great!
After pictures, it was time for the ceremony.
Judge Armstrong did a great job, and kept everyone smiling.
For the reception, these foodies had quite the culinary adventure planned. NO ONE left this party hungry. A variety of delicious hearty appetizers consisted of the first round of dishes, along with a candy buffet. Desserts came out later, followed by a late night snack of cheeseburgers and a nacho bar. Everything tasted fabulous and the guests partied so hard, they needed that constant stream of nourishment just to keep going!
There was a very energetic bouquet toss…
Matt and Emily spent the night surrounded by their friends and family…you could truly feel the love!
Matt and Emily, I hope you enjoyed your sneak peek! Thank you for having us be a part of your day!
Dani Tietjen is a blogger, author, mother, wife, inspirational speaker, and missionary. She travels all over the US speaking to youth and church groups about love, mercy and identity. Her blog is full of anecdotes about her life and she has such a generous heart. She also really loves dressing up…and twirling…and reading…and laughing…and we did pretty much all of these things for her website photoshoot yesterday.
Dani came up with a great theme of creating a pretty little reading nook in the woods. When she was done creating the set, I immediately thought of the word “gypsy”. And that word fits her, she is creative, grows a lot of her own food, creates all kinds of art, has a homespun natural twist to her designs, and likes a slightly weathered well worn look to her furniture. She did a fantastic job, and I was so excited to photograph all of the details!
She hired Brett Dorrian to come and doll her up, and we had a fun time in my studio getting ready. She did an amazing job on Dani, emphasizing her gorgeous eyes and giving her hair lots of texture and interest. Then Dani got into her SKIRT. Holy moley, you’ll just have to look at the pictures…
At the end of the shoot, I asked her to just twirl and have fun in her gorgeous skirt, and I love the results =)
What a fantastic session! Dani, I hope you enjoy your sneak peek! Thank you for letting me be a part of this creative process!
Whenever Studio Laguna photographs a destination wedding, we shoot a day after session. We call ours the Reprise Session, and they can involve anything from full on trash the dress to just an extra hour of portraits without worry that the dress may get a bit dirty. Since we had the mountains, rocks, and pine trees at our disposal, we went into the woods…letting the formal attire contrast nicely with the rugged outdoors.
Kate’s childhood home is tucked into the woods with a beautiful meadow view. They joke about the land being a compound, but with her uncle right next door and family mostly nearby, it truly feels that way. John and I loved how tight knit this family is and how the wedding was a multi-day celebration.
At 4000 feet, the afternoon sun was bright and hot, and we loved the glowy affect it had on the images.
This is our Town and Country cover image =)
What a beautiful setting!
Day two of Simon and Kate’s Rapid City wedding!
The first day we arrived in Rapid City, we were a bit tired. But we got to drive through a gorgeous thunderstorm, see the lovely prairie, have a delicious lunch at the Firehouse Brewing Company (their billboards along I90 totally sucked us in), and check into our hotel (seriously, the Adoba Eco Hotel is modern kitsch and cute with really comfy beds!), and were ready for the next adventure. After driving up into the foothills we started seeing more and more pine trees and exposed rocks, little farmsteads and giant cabins, all with a bright blue sky and rolling green hills as a backdrop. Thankfully, Simon and Kate had done a good job putting up signs to direct us to the house for their groom’s dinner.
Two members of the Austin Buescher Band performed dinner music as guests mingled on the lawn.
Tap beers served out of a firetruck? awesome!
Some serious yum.
These guys were our valet parkers, they looked awesome in their bow ties!
Homemade pies = a little slice of heaven.
Dinner and a show =)
As the sun set, family got comfy and caught up with each other by candlelight. The fire was built up to help keep everyone warm in the cool mountain air and an impromptu share circle started. You could tell how close this family was and how thankful they were to be a part of something so wonderful.
What a lovely night!