Twin Cities Pet Photography

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Minneapolis, St. Paul Pet Photography

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Alyssa & Greg | Minneapolis Wedding Photographer

I had the extreme pleasure of photographing Alyssa and Greg’s wedding in Alexandria, Minnesota last weekend.  Alyssa got in touch with me through her brother, who is married to one of my dear friends from grad school, so it was extra fun photographing familiar faces!  Alyssa and Greg currently live in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but Greg grew up in Alexandria.  Three extremely neat things about this wedding:

1. Alyssa’s mom is a florist and did all the gorgeous flowers.  Her cousin, a professional stylist, also did her hair and make-up.

2. Alyssa and Greg’s siblings comprised the bridal party — a true family affair!

3. The ceremony and reception were at the Minnesota Lakes Maritime Museum.

I lied, 4 things!  4. The Como Avenue Jug Band played at the reception.  They are awesome!

I met Alyssa for the first time over Memorial Day weekend when she was in Minnesota to go over details, but met Greg the morning of the wedding.  I must say, both families were so warm and welcoming, I felt like an old friend!  Aside from the EXTREME heat, the whole day was an absolute joy and I’m so happy to have had the privilege to document such an important event.

Also worth mentioning was my assistant photographer for the day.  I was initially going to photograph this wedding solo, but Jeff (my husband) was kind enough to volunteer.  He chauffeured, portaged gear, modeled light, and also shot most of the day.  Several of the shots below are his!

We started the day at Greg’s parents’ home for him to finish getting ready.

Greg’s brothers (also the groomsmen) were happy to take some photos with him — they were good sports in the heat!

Next up was the Arrowwood Resort where Alyssa got ready (and she looked amazing!).  Her chic, elegant dress is from J. Crew and her flats were the perfect accompaniment.

Her gorgeous bouquet by her mother, Camille.  The greens and purple were absolutely perfect together!

Despite the heat, these two were up for portraits downtown.  We were able to find some patches of shade to take some neat, urban images.

We met-up with both families in City Park for a different look and family photos.

The bridal party of siblings, featuring Alyssa’s niece, Elleny, as the flower girl.  A lot of effort went into getting that smile from her!

More cutie-pie Elleny. 🙂

After the ceremony, they were presented with authentic leis from Alyssa’s aunt from Hawaii.  They were truly exquisite!

Sibling antics get me every time…

Cake shots by Jeff!

We had time for a few more portraits outside the museum before the Jug Band started playing.

The Como Avenue Jug Band rocked!  My grad school friend, Jenny, also plays piccolo and sings with them — so fun!

Congratulations, again!  Thank you so much for including me and Jeff as part of your amazing day!

 

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Jenny + Jordan | Minneapolis Wedding Photographer

Jenny and Jordan met at the University of Minnesota as students and are engaged to be married this July!  They are an incredibly sweet, fun, and intelligent couple and I had the most wonderful time strolling around Minnehaha Park with them.  We lucked out and got an absolutely beautiful evening — it was warm, sunny, and things were just starting to turn green around the park.  The park was bustling with activity, but we were able to find a few more intimate spots and enjoy them to ourselves. 🙂

I’m glad we beat the leaves on this next image — I love the shape of the tree branches.

So happy, together! 🙂

Congratulations on your engagement, Jenny and Jordan!  I can’t wait for your wedding this summer!

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katherine & seth | minneapolis wedding photographer

I’d like to begin by thanking Betsy Wall for both being an awesome friend and for providing me the fabulous opportunity to be her regular right-hand gal.  Creatively documenting people on one of the happiest days of their lives is truly amazing, but to do so with a close friend while sneaking in the occasional 30 Rock reference is the icing on the cake.

Katherine and Seth were married last Sunday and the day was split between Temple Israel and the Semple Mansion in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Luckily, there was no snow and the weather was BEAUTIFUL!

At Temple Israel, Seth showed off the rings (above) while Katherine played hide-and-seek in her dress (which was gorgeous–as was she!):

After everyone was ready, we headed to the Semple Mansion for some portrait time.

Have I mentioned I love the Semple Mansion?

The shot below might be my absolute favorite from the day.

After the portraits at the Semple Mansion, Betsy stayed with the bridal party and I got to hang out and have fun with the flower girl and the ring bearers.  4-year-old Sedona (above) was kind enough to share a few jokes with me to get the smiles flowing freely (“Why does a dog have fur?  -Because if he didn’t he’d be a little bare!”)

Katherine and Seth had a Jewish ceremony at Temple Israel, followed by a Lutheran ceremony at the Semple Mansion.

I adore seeing long veils in action!

Making an entrance at the Semple Mansion:

I did not catch the exact cause of this moment, but I think it had to do with minor difficulty in reciting the vows after a long, eventful day.

The reception took place on the third floor of the Semple Mansion.  It was gorgeous!

The cake was from Buttercream and it was delicious (and beautiful!).

Betsy and I sat next to a table of young gentlemen at dinner.  They were more than willing to ham it up for the camera (that’s a virgin drink, I swear!).

The ring bearer got in on the cake-cutting, too.

The dance was simply amazing!  Their first dance was so sweet, as were the dances with their respective parents.  There was no hesitancy for the rest of the guests to join in and the energy in the room for the horah was off-the-charts!

The horah was a photographic highlight — so fun!

The dancing continued long into the night…

Congratulations to Katherine and Seth and thank you again to Betsy Wall for having me along!  I can’t wait for all of our upcoming adventures, this summer. 🙂

 

 

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Kjersten + Vince | Minneapolis Wedding Photographer

I was so thrilled and excited to photograph Kjersten and Vince’s wedding for so many reasons!  I actually took piano lessons with Kjersten way back in elementary school, and then went to high school with both her and Vince.  I unfortunately had fallen out of touch, but was delighted when they asked me to photograph their wedding!  Their wedding took place in my hometown of St. Cloud, Minnesota and everything was so beautiful and perfect!  Not just the dress and flowers (which were gorgeous), but the emotions and many shared special moments throughout the day, as well.  It was also neat because both Kjersten and Vince have a twin; Kjersten has a twin brother, David and Vince has an identical twin, Lance.  I’ll admit I had to ask who was who at the start of the day, but after Vince put his contacts in and changed into his tux, I avoided further embarrassment. 🙂

Kjersten is a very talented gymnast and coaches gymnastics at our old high school in St. Cloud.  It was so neat that a large number of her gymnasts and her own coach from high school were present at the reception (it also made the dance and bouquet toss very exciting!).  It speaks volumes to Kjersten’s commitment and connection with them that she invited the team to share one of the biggest days of her life.

Last (but not least), I had the privilege of having Chris Emeott of Chris Emeott Photography shooting with me for the day.  Thanks Chris–you are a great friend and photographer. 🙂

 

The ceremony took place at the Newman Center on the campus of St. Cloud State University.

As it turns out, those beautiful buttons were also very tricky buttons.

The ceremony might have been my favorite part of the day–it was so apparent how close both of these families are!  There were many sweet, emotional moments that were a joy to capture.

During the homily, the priest put Vince’s engineering skills to the test by having him construct a Lincoln Log building.

Success. 🙂

The look on Kjersten’s face says it all.  One of my favorite images from the day.

Lance struggling to retrieve the rings from his pocket.

A great moment captured by Chris:

Stunning bride!

True Minnesotans!  They were totally up for outdoor portraits (we were quick, though!).

The reception took place at Sexton Commons on the campus of St. John’s University–it was a beautiful room complete with a roaring fireplace.

All the toasts were both touching and hilarious!  I will refrain from summarizing the best man’s speech, but the look on Kjersten’s face in the second image says it all.

Such concentration!

Gymnasts in action!

Thank you again, Kjersten and Vince.  Congratulations!