silver Archives – Page 2 of 2 – Studio Laguna Photography

Jason and Myra

September 16, 2011 By katrina Leave a Comment

Jason and Myra were married today!

The afternoon started with the ceremony at the Minneapolis Golf Club. Jason was so excited to see Myra as she walked down the aisle. With a royal theme to their wedding, it was no surprise that Myra’s dress was covered in sparkles and that she looked like a princess. The officiant, Rabbi Rothman, was amazing! He had people laughing and crying and was even good at improving. Myra and Jason were so happy to be married, they literally danced down the aisle.

Event du Jour planned the wedding, and Valerie made sure Myra got a sneak peek of the reception space before the whirlwind of pictures. Jason and Valerie designed the reception hall without Myra knowing what it would look like and she was brought to tears when she saw everything put together. The color scheme of royal blue and silver was very evident with black and royal blue linens, silver chairs and chargers, and sparkly chandalier centerpieces from Linen Effects. The head table had an amazing silver sparkly table cloth, and the floral arrangements created by Chanhassen Floral were of varying heights and styles…all in blue and white. Midwest Sound gave the room extra pazzaz with blue uplighting, and Queen of Cakes designed a cake that took the royalty theme literally, with a castle cake topper.

For pictures, we headed to a nearby park with Forever Films to capture the antics of the group. With the entire wedding party in black, the bride and groom really stood out in their white and ivory outfits. We had a great time in gorgeous weather with a lot of laughter and energy. Select Shuttles did a great job driving us to and fro and we got back to the Golf Club as the cocktail hour was winding down.

During a delicious meal, the couple mingled with their guests, gave passionate kisses, and laughed with their family and friends at the speeches. The DJ from Midwest Sound started getting the guests amped during dinner, so by the time the dance started, their energy levels were through the roof. The wedding party dance quickly turned into a packed dancefloor and everyone was ready to party. There were many memorable moments, with the garter toss (well the fetching of the garter) as the winner in my book. What a fun group!

Jason and Myra, thank you so much for having me be a part of your day, here are my favorites!

Matt and Leslie

July 30, 2011 By katrina 2 Comments

Matt and Leslie were married today!

It was a hot day in St. Paul, but Leslie was relaxed and calm before her walk down the aisle. She was simply a vision in her Monique Lhuillier gown and cathedral length veil. Her bridesmaids wore floaty periwinkle gowns and held gorgeous, lush bouquets from Richfield Flowers and Events. Leslie’s father was all smiles as he walked her down the aisle of the Cathedral of Saint Paul.

After the ceremony, all of Matt and Leslie’s guests gathered on the Cathedral steps for a big send off, and then we went back inside for pictures. The Cathedral staff and Deacon Jim were very accommodating with our quick timeline and made everything very relaxed. After getting formal portraits in the Cathedral, we went out onto the steps for a bit of a breeze and to do a couple more group portraits.

It was not hard to make this group look good. The guys wore their Hugo Boss tuxes with crisp bow ties and suspenders to perfection. Most of the wedding party was from Texas or St. Louis, so it was fun to show off the gorgeous architecture that Minnesota has to offer…and the reception was a perfect choice to show off the state even more. The Minnesota History Center was decked out in shades of purples and silver, and it was AIR CONDITIONED! I think everyone gave a sigh of joy walking into the space.

Matt and Leslie used the space well, having the guests arrive at the first floor, greeted by a customized silver runner, huge centerpiece, and pictures of relatives on their wedding days. On the third floor, a classical string group played while guests enjoyed butler passed hors d’oeuvres and drinks. At this point, the couple broke from tradition in a way that I loved. They had their own sweetheart table, tucked away from guests where they ate during their cocktail hour. That gave them some time together uninterrupted and left them free to greet and chat with their guests during the dinner hour. Especially since they didn’t see each other before the wedding, this time alone was definitely treasured. Matt and Leslie cut their wedding cake and the St. Louis Cardinals groom’s cake both designed by Queen of Cakes, and Bon Appetit served dinner on the second floor, with gorgeous views of downtown St Paul and the Cathedral at sunset.

As the sun went down, the third floor lit up with purple uplighting and stage lights. Casablanca Orchestra set their stage in front of the perfectly framed St Paul Capitol building behind them. This view got more and more impressive as the night went on. Not only did the Capitol light up, but the sky did as well as lightning flashed all night. Though I think the dance floor still held more energy than the night sky. This dance was CRAZY! First off, major props need to be given to Casablance Orchestra. They were so impressive! They kept the dance floor hopping and read their crowd perfectly, staying away from too many oldies and focusing on music from the 2000s. They blended and mashed songs from the 60’s to today seamlessly and sounded fantastic. From Gaga to Outkast to Garth Brooks to Cee Lo to Grease they kept the energy high. We saw a couple impromptu limbo contests (what ELSE are suspenders good for?) and a fraternity ritual that involved tribal dancing around bottles of beer. I was laughing the entire dance just watching the antics of the fraternity brothers and the energy of the ladies. A couple of the guests, the bride included, even helped the band perform! And Leslie had one more trick up her sleeve, stepping out late into the dance in short flirty dress that showed off her Badgley Mischka heels and made Matt do a double take.

Matt and Leslie, thank you so much for including us on your wedding day. We hope that the whirlwind of friends, family, kisses, dancing, and laughing stay with you for a lifetime. Here are our favorite images, enjoy!

Chris and Amanda

June 19, 2011 By katrina 2 Comments

Chris and Amanda were married today!

We were very excited to get to shoot our first unabashedly geek wedding. First off, this wedding hit a whole new level of cool because it had it’s own hashtag. ; )

The rain fell hard early in the day, but Amanda stayed positive “a wet knot is even stronger”! Luckily, Amanda and Chris chose the gorgeous Lakewood Chapel to have their ceremony in, so we had plenty of gorgeous backdrops to work with while still staying dry. The wedding party looked fantastic in black and red, with dresses from The Wedding Shoppe (with pockets!) and flowers designed by Lexington Floral. The girls looked even more lovely because the fantastic Holly Luckes did their makeup! After formal pictures, the rain lightened up and family and friends started to arrive for the ceremony.

Amanda walked down the aisle to the theme from The Princess Bride, and their reverend had such a sweet message for them. During the ceremony, both sets of parents were asked to stand and they were thanked by the couple for raising them in love and support. Their readings and vows were so special and personal and after the first kiss, Journey’s “Any Way You Want It” started to play! I loved the combination of sweet, tender and humorous details in this ceremony!

After the ceremony, we headed over to West St Paul. The Dakota Lodge is in such a beautiful natural setting and was the perfect location for Chris and Amanda. They treated their guests to a custom gourmet menu created by Chowgirls Killer Catering, and cupcakes by Cupcake. During dinner, there was a trivia game (our table won!) and an entire interactive placemat with a word jumble, menu, and prizes like getting a pass to the front of the line at the bar and getting the couple to kiss or the most elusive “bag of mystery”. And if you didn’t play the game right, there were “sanctions”. The guests got really into it! To top it all off, Amanda and Chris set up a Rock Band game so everyone could play, and as we left for the night, the party was in full swing.

What I really loved about this wedding is how genuine it was. Amanda researched weddings carefully…what to do, what not to do, what is typical to do…and then tailored it to her and Chris’ tastes. They didn’t do anything because they were supposed to, they embraced who they were and who their guests were and did what they want. And their wedding was simply awesome.

Chris and Amanda, here are our favorite images, enjoy!

Bibi Y Miguel

May 25, 2011 By katrina 1 Comment

Since most of our photography education is self taught, we set aside educational money each year. Both John and I constantly strive to learn new photography techniques, keep up with the trends (and try to stay ahead of them!), push ourselves as artists, build friendships and support from the photography community, and invest in high quality equipment…oh yeah, and try to keep up with social media, website trends and good business practices…sheesh!

Anyway, the education budget this year went to a couple things, and one was that I got to go to Mexico and second shoot for the fabulous Fer Juaristi. Fer and I met in the FW Forum, a place where photographers from all over the world push each other to be better and more fearless with each wedding they do. When Fer had a few fantastic weddings this year that he opened up to members, I jumped at the chance to learn from him. Fer was amazing to work with. I had never second shot with someone I admired before, and it was definitely daunting for me. Fer was warm and kind and told me to “just go for it, girl!”. I loved watching him work with natural light, and seeing him move around a space and work the angles was very impressive. When I saw his work afterwards, I was just blown away by the moments he captured. He has definitely inspired me to go above and beyond and really push as a photographer.

To see the blog entry for the wedding we shot together, go here.

So when I do things, I usually just dive in, and this was no exception. I don’t speak Spanish. And here I am, flying to Queretaro (about an hour and a half north of Mexico City) to shoot a wedding. I didn’t know anyone, I hadn’t met Fer in person, I hadn’t traveled internationally before by myself…in fact, I hadn’t really vacationed by myself before. I was excited and nervous! On top of wanting to learn, I also wanted to make sure I took good images for Fer, being a second shooter can be easier (because you aren’t in charge) but I put a lot of pressure on myself because a photographer I admired would see my work. Even though Fer is as low key and easy going as one can be, I was still very anxious.

The first couple days I documented on the blog already, about a month ago. To see those images, click on the tag in this blog for Mexico and they’ll pop up. I’m very proud of those images!

Then we came to the wedding. The WEDDING! The guest count was over 800, and there were paparazzi and tv crews, plus the top videography team in Mexico and one of the top wedding designers…this was a big deal and a gorgeous day.

Bibi was simply lovely and Miguel couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Both families were so welcoming and I spent time at Miguel’s while Fer was with Bibi. Their first sight was so sweet! One thing that I loved with this wedding was that the images focused mainly on the couple, and they gave us plenty of time to work. So we were really able to use the gorgeous hacienda where the wedding took place and things were low key and easy going. Bibi really wanted some dramatic images and Fer kept telling her to “work it like Shakira!” Which, I must say, she could =)

There were two ceremonies, one held deep in the caves under the hacienda (yes, caves) where they store the wine. It was very intimate and sweet, full of candlelight. The second ceremony was the traditional Catholic mass held in the village church connected to the hacienda. This church could only hold a small amount of guests, to tents were set up to extend the church. Chairs were lined up like pews and the entire aisle (inside and out) were coated with a layer of pine needles to connect the two spaces. Guests in the outside space were able to view the ceremony via flat screen televisions lining the space. From the very end of the aisle looking into the church, it was quite impressive.

Flowers were everywhere. They lined the aisle, and coated the entire altar and pew ends. Bibi’s bouquet was magnificent and at the entrance to the reception hall, there were two giant trees hanging with pomanders and floating gladiolas and roses. All of the reception flowers were white. The wrought iron gates were completely covered with sprays of flowers and the reception hall was a variety of silver trees and fixtures holding many different arrangements of white flowers. It was truly breathtaking when the sun went down and all of the lighting came into play. Purples and silvers, reds and blues all added depth and drama to the space. Professional event lighting made the dancefloor shine and there were huge chandaliers hanging. And we can’t forget the fireworks! A canon announced the time for the civil ceremony, a fireworks display started off the reception, and the end of the first dance was showered with fireworks at the corners of the dance floor.

At the reception, there was an artisan rolling cigars, butler passed food that was simply out of this world, and large light orbs scattered on the grass. I’m assuming that design came into play because the wedding took place during a full moon. For entertainment, a mariachi band played during the dinner and then some familiar dance tunes came on for the dance. Fer and I were done after at least a 12 hour day and it was such a great experience!

Here are my favorite images, and I’ll probably blog more down the road, maybe show off more of the details! Let me know what you think, I’d love to hear feedback on the style!