Blog – Studio Laguna Photography

Dancin’ Girl

November 17, 2012 By katrina Leave a Comment

Little Maude danced her way into my heart today. John and I worked with her daddy at a wedding earlier this year, and it was awesome to get to meet the rest of the growing family today! We started outside since it was so warm and Maude had some energy to get out.

Back inside, Maude enjoyed hanging out in her playroom. Isn’t she a doll?

This session was the ideal situation for a lifestyle approach to the photography. A beautiful home and a playful family!

At the end of the session, Maude got to dress up and fly around the livingroom. So adorable!

Newborn Margaret

November 13, 2012 By katrina 1 Comment

Little Margaret had her newborn session today. Having photographed her brother since he was just a week old, it has been an honor to watch this family grow!

What a little cherub!

Guess what mom and dad got for Christmas!?!?!?!

Jared and Tara

November 10, 2012 By katrina 3 Comments

Jared and Tara were married today!

This is a couple that LOVES city life. The night lights, the vibrant action, the food, amazing sights to see, the food, beautiful architecture, the food…so it wasn’t surprising that they chose a modern wedding with bold clean design and a food truck reception in the Minneapolis warehouse district. I think that last sentence just described wedding perfection =)

The invitation featured a typography design from Fine and Dandy Paperie, and the script was carried over into their living room, where the ceremony was to take place. Lovely floral arrangements from Simply Stated Elegance were bold and playful and gave everything a bright pop of yellow throughout the day.

I just adored Tara’s knee length Casablanca gown from Posh, and Jared was just so dapper in his custom Heimie’s Haberdashery suit. They both felt (and looked) like a million bucks! A portrait session at the Walker not only spoke to the couple’s style but also allowed for some beautiful outdoor shots since apparently Minnesota forgot it was November and gave us a 60 degree day. Woot woot!

The ceremony took place in the couple’s home. Everything looked lovely and we joked that there should be an announcement “This wedding is brought to you by Etsy” since so many ideas and details came from that website. Every little piece fit and looked like a styled bridal shoot, it was so pretty!

During the ceremony, there was a ring warming. The rings were passed around to each family member as they put their prayers and thoughts into them before passing them on. Grandpa even gave a thumbs up when he was handed the rings =)

After the ceremony, friends joined the family at 110 North Loop Loft for the reception. This space was so fun. The garage doors let in a pleasant breeze and opened right up to Washington Street, where Gastrotruck was parked and preparing a delicious selection of food. ALL DAY Jared and Tara were talking about how they couldn’t wait for the food, and these foodies even brewed their own beer for the evening. They had a hand in every detail of the menu planning, including wine selections and a couple sushi trays with sake. Their main goal was to blow everyone away with the menu and they sure did!

Isn’t Tara’s custom designed ring so lovely?!?!?!

To wow guests even further, Jared and Tara had Cocoa and Fig design a fabulous spread of desserts, including a gourmet hot chocolate bar. I bet everyone was in a food coma by the end of the night. Everything tasted so delicious!

Jared and Tara, it was a joy being a part of your day today. I’m so glad you experienced such a loving and memorable day, you deserve it! Enjoy your sneak peek!

Bahama Tourist

November 9, 2012 By katrina 1 Comment

So this is the last blog about Kris and Chrissy’s Bahamas destination wedding. For this blog entry, I just want to show some of the more touristy images we captured. Besides covering the wedding events, we also wanted to take some postcard worthy images for the guests to have. Or maybe we wanted to fulfill our dream of being travel photographers ; )

Here are a collection of images, from the Atlantis Resort in Nassau to Ship Channel Cay in the Exuma Islands and everything in between, enjoy!

Kris is ready to ParTAY!

How to catch a shark…

Bye bye, Bahamas!

The Reprise Session – Exuma

November 8, 2012 By katrina Leave a Comment

Some call it Trash the Dress, others call it Rock the Frock, and at Studio Laguna we call it a Reprise Session. Why? Because it is less about destroying a dress and more about not worrying that it gets dirty…and it can be themed, about the couple or just a high fashion shoot of the bride…whatever the client wants.

When we do destination weddings, we usually do a Reprise Session the day after. It is a great way to get more pictures in your wedding clothes and have a different look from the wedding day for more variety. With Kris and Chrissy, we were on a private island with most of their wedding guests, and thought it would be a great place for their session. We shot fairly quickly since they were really ready to drink some Bahama Mamas and go snorkeling, but love the results of the shoot. John brought out some underwater housing and had fun with that as well. Powder fine white sand, warm sun, calm waters…can we move here?

The day revolved around an amazing trip with Powerboat Adventures. The first stop was to an island ihabited by Allan’s Cay Rock Iguanas that really like grapes =) These iguanas are critically endangered and the locals call them Bahamian Dragons.

What’cho lookin’ at?

I think Chrissy is the first bride to ever feed iguanas in a JoyNoelle gown…

10 points if you can spot the baby iguana!

Then it was off to Ship Channel Cay, our own private island for the day. With Miami Vice music playing, it was a fun high speed boat ride to a peaceful paradise. We wanted to emphasise the water and surroundings with this session, since Kris and Chrissy love it here so much.

Rehearsal Dinner – Bahamas Style

November 7, 2012 By katrina Leave a Comment

When John and I photograph destination weddings, we always arrive the day before if not earlier so we can get a lay of the land, scout locations and give some cushion for travel delays. A benefit of us arriving early is that we are also around to photograph parts of the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner if that is something the client wants. Most destination weddings have a smaller, more intimate group of guests and tend to have multiple days of activities, so the rehearsal becomes more of a get together and chance to hang out before the big day.

As I mentioned in the previous post, Kris and Chrissy are excellent hosts. They wanted to thank their guests for making this journey with them and made sure that everyone enjoyed this resort that they love so much. To make things worry free, they thought of everything. Gretchen from Rocket Science kept everyone updated via email with itineraries and room numbers so we could all get in touch with each other. Transportation was provided from the airport and a sweet gift of custom towels, Chrissy’s hand made soap and other personalized goodies were delivered to the rooms.

At the rehearsal, family and the wedding party were introduced to each other and then Gretchen got the ball rolling. Since the resort is pretty large, it was important to make sure everyone knew where to be and when…it was a lot to organize! I think we had some professional bridesmaids and groomsmen since the rehearsal was short and sweet. And heck, we all got to be barefoot in powder fine sand so everyone was enjoying themselves.

After the rehearsal, all the guests were invited to a welcome reception in the Great Hall of Waters where they could reunite with friends and family, enjoy a specialty cocktail and gawk at the beautiful sea life.

What a background for a party, eh?

The manta rays were breathtaking! Chrissy said that sometimes they freak out and jump clear out of the tank and a crane has to be brought in to lift them back into the water. They were HUGE and beautiful!

After the welcome reception wrapped up, most of the guests went to enjoy the Casino or hang out while the wedding party and close family had the rehearsal dinner in the Bahamian Club. The group was looking forward to a low key relaxing evening with great food.

Father Wayne (also a beloved uncle) said a prayer and encouraged everyone to shout loud AMENS! on the wedding day…which they totally did =)

Kris and Chrissy were now ready for the big day!

Kris and Chrissy

November 6, 2012 By katrina 7 Comments

Kris and Chrissy had an AMAZING destination wedding this past weekend full of events and activities and a beautiful sunset ceremony!

Destination weddings can be very tricky to organize, so to keep things as stress free as possible Rocket Science Weddings and Events was brought in to handle the design and logistics. A stellar team was assembled for the wedding at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas…Gretchen Berry Design Co. created the invitation suite, Wildflowers Bahamas put together lovely arrangements, JoyNoelle designed a gorgeous gown, and Brett Dorrian made sure everyone looked amazing throughout the day.

Kris and Chrissy had a lovely suite where Chrissy got ready in, the breeze was refreshing and the water was a stunning shade of blue.

After a very sweet first sight (Kris couldn’t take his eyes off of Chrissy), we took a walk through the resort for portraits. We tried to keep the walk leisurely while still hitting up the super cool locations John and I scouted out the day before. We were so thankful Kris and Chrissy gave us time to really utilize some cool spots for pictures!

The dramatic staircase to nowhere! I did SUCH a happy dance when we saw it!

We met up with the wedding party for some pictures followed by family portraits in a nice cool breezeway. Everyone was in such great spirits and enjoying the fantastic weather, especially since they all come from northern states!

Another dramatic picture =)

As the sun started to set, a steel drum band played, the palm trees swayed in the breeze, and Chrissy walked down the aisle.

Champagne toasts, many hugs and happy tears, and a walk along the water followed the sweet ceremony.

Then it was time to PARTY! And boy was this couple ready to let loose! Being gracious hosts is very important to Kris and Chrissy and that was evident the entire weekend, but especially at the reception. Kris had created two signature cocktails for the guests to enjoy, and the food spread was amazing! The reception space was outdoors and surrounded by architectural details, palm trees and fun uplighting. There was a VIP lounge that made the space look like a nightclub and the moon even contributed to the ambiance!

The couple emphasized that tonight was all about having a good time and everyone took them up on that offer. Though it was a fairly intimate group of family and friends, that dance floor was crazy! DJ Jose is seriously one of the best DJs we have ever heard and had such a good flow of 90s rap going that we could see people dancing in the hotel balconies and Kris was stopped a couple times by hotel guests who said they enjoyed listening to the music. Chrissy even pulled out some mean dance moves, but I’ll save those pictures for her ; )

The moment the DJ table was left unguarded, a microphone suddenly appeared and impromptu karaoke broke out.

And as if THAT wasn’t enough of a party, the group headed to one of the resort’s nightclubs for an afterparty! On the way there, one of the lounge singers sang At Last and everyone got in one last slow dance. Then it was time for Aura nightclub and a little more dancing.

Kris and Chrissy, it was SUCH an honor to be chosen as your photographers! We truly enjoyed every minute of this trip and hope you enjoy your sneak peek! PS there will be at least two more entries to come, I couldn’t fit it all into one blog post! We hope you are enjoying your honeymoon!

Ryan and Liz

October 28, 2012 By katrina Leave a Comment

Ryan and Liz have a passion for architecture, clean design, and modern minimalist aesthetics. So I was over the moon when they not only hired us to capture their day, they gave us free creative reign, told us to go out of the box, hired some of our favorite vendors, AND chose two gorgeous venues for their wedding day. Seriously, dream come true!

Liz chose a luxurious textured Wedding Shoppe gown that had subtle pink undertones. Lots of sparkly details and of course purple shoes completed her ensemble. Arrangements designed by Violet’s Flowers emphasized the purple color scheme and Liz’s bouquet had these HUGE beautiful orchids in it…I had never seen them before. They were so lovely!

Le Meridien Chambers was chosen for the reception because of the gorgeous interior design and clean lines, and we gladly featured the hotel prominently in the images.

At the Bigelow Chapel, things were gearing up for the ceremony, and we once again took advantage of architectural perfection with our portraits. We placed the main focus on clean lines and dramatic posing.

I love this shot, it features Liz’s killer Badgley Mischka shoes, and also has Ryan in the background!

The ceremony included sweet touches, like a hand ceremony and stories about how the couple met and fell in love.

Ryan and Liz planned the ceremony time so things would be wrapping up as night fell, which gave us this most amazing sky color and the moon even cooperated!

Back at Chambers, the reception was set up with gray linens, amber up lighting, purple clustered centerpieces and beautiful paper designs by Dick and Jane Letterpress featuring the motif used in the hotel’s lobby.

D’Amico pulled out all the stops with their delicious food that looked as good as it tasted! Then Instant Request started the dance and guests mingled in the beautiful space and enjoyed watching the crazy Halloween costumes walking around below on Hennepin Ave.

Ryan and Liz, it was truly a pleasure getting to work with you! We hope you enjoy your sneak peek!

Halloween at the W

October 28, 2012 By katrina Leave a Comment

Last night, The Livingroom Bar rolled out their Red Carpet to Hell. The Halloween party here is always a ton of fun, but this year, I’ve never seen such a crowd! Even at 1am there was a line to get into the party. The costumes were a range of sexy to super creative to hilarious, and the prize winners walked away with over $2000 in awards like a stay at the W, dinner at Manny’s, bottles of booze and more. The favorite this year was the Geico couple, made of money =)

This year, the place was washed in red, and as usual the place was packed.

Be sure to go to the Living Room Bar’s facebook page, and Prohibition’s too, to check out the pictures that will be uploaded soon! And be sure to come early to the New Years Eve party…it is obvious that the word is out that the W is the place to be on these nights!!!

NOH8 – 2012

October 26, 2012 By katrina Leave a Comment

Tonight, the NOH8 campaign came back to Minnesota. The W Minneapolis – The Foshay hosted the throngs of people out to support equality for all. Every walk of life was here, and this year had a very distinct family feel…there were so many kids participating and showing love, it was really heart warming. So yes, most of my pictures are of kids, but they’re SO CUTE!

Besides having their official portrait taken, guests enjoyed hoppin tunes from the DJ, fun drink specials, and extra posing and pictures at the step and repeat wall.

Be sure to go to the W Minneapolis – The Foshay’s facebook page to see the rest of the awesome pictures and be up to date on all their amazing events!