cowboy hat Archives – Studio Laguna Photography

Ryan and Rose were married today, a day after their one year wedding anniversary. After unforeseen circumstances led to the couple marrying with just a hand full of family in January of 2012, they wanted to wait until January of 2013 for their big bash. Rose and I tried to come up with a descriptor for her wedding, the closest we came was “Cowboy Steampunk” but I think her friends and family have it right when they described the day simply as, “this is SO Rose”.

Rose took her original wedding dress and handed it over to her aunt to take it to the next level. Her other aunt custom made the headpiece inspired by a design Rose loved. Every last detail was carefully designed by Rose and her team of fabulous friends and family.

The wedding and reception took place at Sponsel’s Minnesota Harvest Apple Orchard, a staple in Jordan, Minnesota. I can’t tell you how pleased I am to see this orchard back up and running, especially now that they snazzied it up and made their space ideal for weddings. Exploring the grounds for cool places to shoot was a blast.

Rose channels Gaga =)

Oh, and the groom is pretty good lookin’ too 😉

I LOVE winter weddings, and even more-so when clients rock and are willing to take pictures outside! These turned out so wonderfully!

After going inside to warm up and take some family pictures, Ryan and Rose were ready for round two of outdoor pictures. This time, we waited for the sun to give the trees a golden glow.

With elements that were whimsical, western and Lady Gaga all in one, this wedding was definitely about letting loose and having a good time. From the bride and groom walking down the aisle to the Imperial March from Star Wars to Rose’s mom and aunts tearing up the dance floor to Gangam Style, everything stayed lighthearted and fun.

After some down home cooking (and for a while, an energetic viewing of the Vikings/Packers game), and some raucous dress up in The Traveling Photo Booth, The Shaw Brothers Band took the stage and got the party going.

Roaring fires both indoors and out, an ample candy and dessert bar, and ginormous glasses with the most generous pours I’ve ever seen…this party was destined for greatness.

Ryan and Rose, thank you so much for having me be a part of your day! Enjoy your sneak peek!

Rose is such a fun person to get to know, and I’m so excited to be shooting her wedding reception this winter. When she contacted me about photographing part of her bachelorette party, I was happy to do it…then she explained that on the invitation it asks the girls to bring a “weapon of choice”, and I got pretty excited!

Over the next month we plotted and schemed, and my part of the bachelorette party ended up becoming a photo shoot/boudoir/photo booth/event coverage. We started off with some libations and music to get things going, then the girls went over gun safety rules, put on their boots (Rose had stilettos with spurs), and headed to the water’s edge for some bad ass portraits. Rose’s mother and aunt scared me to death setting off fireworks behind me right as I was starting to photograph the girls and their guns…those two kept me on my toes even more than the bachelorette partiers!

We had cowgirls, sweet country girls, western girls, zombie apocalypse girls…everyone took on their own persona…and they all looked fabulous.

Rose had her portrait time…

…then the girls got to bring out their weapon of choice, which ranged from a glue gun to a curling iron to an empty bottle of Jack to a chainsaw. Seriously, SO MUCH FUN.

And Rose and her mom had to do an updated American Gothic for their portrait =)

This was SUCH a fun event to be a part of! Rose, thank you so much for having me be a part of this crazy day, and I hope you ladies had an amazing time! Enjoy your sneak peek!