Minneapolis Institute of Arts Wedding // Mr. and Mrs. Cadogan!

Allison and Brett have been amazing clients and so much fun to get to know while planning their wedding. I first met Allison when she was a bridesmaid in another wedding I photographed a few years ago and I loved this girl instantly. When her and Brett became engaged, we got together and I found out that we had way more in common than I ever imagined. We all share the same favorite restaurant, the 112 Eatery, we all love our dogs to an enormous degree and last, but not least, we all love to go to happy hour. It turns out that I run into Allison and Brett all over town - and they are just simply 'my people'. It was an honor to be asked to photograph their wedding, years after I initially met Allison, and I am SO happy I was able to do so. It also turns out that this couple has impeccable taste when it came to their wedding. Allison wore a gorgeous Vera Wang dress from L'atelier Couture and their wedding marked the first official wedding event at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Style Architects brought Allison's vision to life and put together a beautiful reception, while Just Bloomed made our jaws drop with the all-white floral theme. Nan Fletcher, one of our favorite makeup artists to work with, made all of the women look so beautiful and the entire day was just a lovely work of art! Oh - and Allison and Brett brought the party and secured local musicians, Roster Mccabe. This band has made its rounds on the local music scene, but rarely will you see them play at weddings. It was SO refreshing and fun...and the dance floor was hoppin'.

Congratulations to Allison and Brett on their absolutely stunning wedding! And this isn't the last we will see of these two...their wedding also marked the first official wedding where Chris can show off his mad-video-skills...stay tuned!

LOVEe

WEDDING STYLE // Wearing Color

Jessica Biel wore pink and all of a sudden the wedding world is a buzz with colored dresses! However, celebrities and brides alike have been wearing color for years! There's no doubt about it that celebrity weddings set trends in the industry. I was just at Bridal Fashion Week in New York City and all of the major collections included sleeves and lace - clearly inspired by Kate Middleton's choice in her gown. An upcoming wedding that everyone is on-the-edge of their seats for is Blake Lively and Ryan Reynold's wedding. Her dress has been kept top-secret until Martha Stewart Weddings magazine will reveal all of the exclusive details in an upcoming issue. Because of the hype, her dress is bound to start trends. Many people think that the reason brides where white is because it is a symbol of purity; however that is not the reason behind this trend at all. In the mid-1800's and thru much of the 20th Century, wedding dresses were formal dresses that would be re-used for another formal occasion. Brides could wear any color, besides Red or Black, which were associated with prostitutes and mourning, respectively. When Queen Victoria was married in 1840, she wore white. This was very controversial, because white was the color of mourning in France.  Around the same time, the printing press had become quite popular, allowing photographs to be published, reproduced, and shared with the world. Yes - Queen Victoria was the first 'celebrity' wedding to set the trend of the white wedding dress. Brides all over the world began to wear white, and it also became a symbol of wealth to wear white, because if you could afford to wash and re-wear your white dress, that meant you had money. In the mean time, the middle class continued to wear color. It wasn't until the 1950's that the white wedding dress really became the mainstream choice for brides. It has become classic and timeless in our culture and I think it's fascinating that this statement came around because of celebrity trends and not necessarily religious or ceremonial needs.

I love color and I love the impact a colored wedding dress adds to the party. They have a little more personality and WOW factor for your guests; however, if you are choosing a colored dress, make sure it is absolutely a color that fits your personality, party, and theme. Brides who embrace colored wedding dresses can look radiant, but if all of the pieces don't come together, you could look back at your wedding pictures in 30 years and think you look like a bad trend...and no one wants that!

Color can be done absolutely beautifully and a good rule of thumb to make everything cohesive is to plan your color scheme and details around the color of your dress. Vera Wang's  Spring 2013 collection showed bright reds to deep burgundy and even straight black. Tara LaTour's latest collection incorporates her signature color-fading treatment, a periwinkle blue dress and even a copper number.

There's no doubt about it - color is changing the wedding industry. Below are some examples of some of those current dresses on the Market from Vera Wang and Tara LaTour. For those local brides in Minneapolis, there is an exciting event coming up for you to test-out-color! On November 7th, L'atelier Couture is hosting a fantastic party to celebrate Tara LaTour's latest collection. From 6:30-9pm, you can join the best of the wedding industry for a night of drinks, art, and colorful dresses! See the invitation below - we would love to see you there!

Mr. and Mrs. Siedband // Part 2

I began Part 1 of Jacey and Aaron's blog feature by saying that there were two beautiful elements to this wedding; the honest moments and gorgeous details. Today's post is all about the absolutely stunning details. Jacey and Aaron made a good move in the beginning of planning their wedding. They hired the best. In fact, during the dance, I asked the father-of-the-bride how the day had been for him and he said, " This has been absolutely spectacular. We hired the best and this is just stunning." Stunning, indeed. First off, Jacey chose a stunning Vera Wang dress from L'atelier Couture Bridal. It's one of those dresses that was a show-stopper and I personally love the fact that is a blush color! Yes, her dress made a statement, but it also tied in perfectly to the color scheme and theme of their wedding. Jacey wanted things romantic. Very, very romantic. Aaron is a musician and cared greatly about the music and overall guest experience. To make all of this happen, they worked with the lovely ladies over at Amy Zaroff Events + Design, who brought together some absolutely amazing details. Zaroff and her crew hired the best vendors to pull Jacey and Aaron's event together! Richfield Flowers and Events transformed The Depot with their gorgeous arrangements, BeEvents brought in some amazing chandeliers, and Linen Effects collaborated with Wild Flower Linens to create some stunning cashmere table runners and custom chair covers! The talented artists at Gateaux created a gorgeous cake and Cocoa & Fig rocked another dessert bar, complete with little Minnesota's & Illinois on-a-stick! (Jacey and Aaron reside in Chicago.)  Last, but not least, there was the band. Jacey and Aaron literally hired the best wedding band in the country, Starlight Orchestras. Valerie, the leader of the band, and her crew absolutely brought the house down with a night filled with amazing tunes!

One thing I absolutely loved about this reception was that it was a progressive dinner through out the entire night. The guests didn't just sit down for a couple of hours for dinner, but rather between courses, the Starlight Orchestra kept the party going with dancing and music in between! I loved this pace of a reception, because there was something always going on. The entertainment was endless.

I always commend clients who hire a team to produce their weddings. First, they are trusting the best-of-the-best to bring their day to life and when you give us artists that freedom, it works wonders! I also love this sense of collaboration among vendors, because we're all doing exactly what we do best and when all of that comes together, you are left with the most magical experience! Because they were in such great hands, Jacey and Aaron were able to entirely relax and enjoy their day together - and they, themselves, were able to have one incredible experience from start to finish! From the moment their guests walked into their intimate and romantic ceremony, to the moment they arrived at the reception to be greeted by a gorgeous tree-of-art, and all the way up until the last dance song of the night, the bride, groom and guests at this wedding were experiencing a whole other world. It was a world of love, luxury and life. It was one beautiful night!

Congratulations, once again, to Jacey and Aaron on their fabulous wedding! And a double-thank-you to all of our amazing vendors who worked so hard to give us such beautiful things to photograph all day!

LOVEe

Mr. and Mrs. Siedband // Part 1

Jacey and Aaron's wedding and two beautiful elements to it; honest moments and gorgeous details! I've decided to blog about their wedding in two parts to highlight each of these and also, because there are simply too many wonderful images to fit into one post. First, let me start out by saying that I loved everything about this wedding. The people, the vendors, the details, and our gorgeous couple - everyone was SO great to work with and it made the day SO much fun to be a part of! Even in our own little crew, we flew in Jeffrey from JNP Studios to shoot with us and it was a day of perfect collaboration with friends and clients. So, lets get back to the meaning of this first post - the honest moments. Our day started at the Thomas Charles Salon with the ladies and from the moment we arrived, I noticed that not a single person was stressed or nervous. Everyone was simply happy, relaxed and excited for the day to begin. I also noticed that everyone was taking time to enjoy the real moments that were happening and truly taking everything in. At one point I remember the mother-of-the-bride saying, "There's a lot of love here today. A lot of love." It's true. Jacey absolutely adores her new husband and it's very clear that these two are a perfect match! Jacey and Aaron are an incredibly fun-loving couple that makes you smile when you are around them. I remember during our final consultation, Aaron had just flown in from Chicago and had rushed to make it to our meeting. Once he arrived, we were in mid-discussion and he stopped everything, looked his bride in the eyes and said, " Hey. How are you? I missed you." That's when I knew they were going to have an amazing wedding!  Jacey and Aaron had a Jewish wedding ceremony that took place at Temple of Israel. It is a gorgeous synagogue and the team at Amy Zaroff Events + Design, along with Richfield Flowers & Events did an amazing job bringing a sense of romance to the temple. It was an intimate, candle lit ceremony that was simply stunning. I love Jewish ceremonies for so many reasons, but specifically for the tradition and customs that bring so much culture to their day.

Mazel Tov to Jacey and Aaron on their amazing wedding! Make sure to check out Part 2 and see all of the stunning details - and yes...we'll talk about that dress!

LOVEe

Mr. and Mrs. Evans // A Villa Bellezza Winery Wedding

I absolutely love to photograph a wedding in a new space. So, when Hilary and Nicholas told me that they were having their wedding at a brand-new-romantic-winery-in-Wisconsin, I was sold! The more and more they started telling me about their day, I literally started swooning. First off, Hilary and Nicholas are  fantastic couple who have the deepest love and respect for each other. Secondly, the couple was having the first wedding ever at Villa Bellezza, which is a winery - and now a new wedding venue - in Pepin, Wisconsin. Lastly, the lovely ladies of Mimi Design were creating and planning their wedding and I just love them so much, so any opportunity to work with an amazing crew gets me incredibly excited! Oh - and did I mention that Hilary was wearing a STUNNING Vera Wang dress?!? Seriously, the silhouette was absolutely perfect for her and I was a bit in awe of it all day long!

Our day started in Minneapolis, where the bridal party got all done up. Then we all, yes the ladies and the gentleman of the wedding party, trekked in a big party bus all the way to Pepin, Wisconsin. It was such a gorgeous drive and Hilary and Nicholas literally had one of the most gorgeous days of the summer. The sun was shining, the temperature was in the 70's and we were in 'God's country'. There was nothing by cornfields and American Flags around us, yet when we arrived at Villa Bellezza, I suddenly felt like we were whisked away to an Italian Vineyard. The space was intimate, romantic and simply gorgeous. It was a true pleasure to document Hilary and Nicholas's day in this space and to be the first photographers at this venue.

I've always said that 'the meaning of life' to me is sitting down with good people, sharing an amazing meal, drinking a fabulous glass of wine and having a lovely conversation. Hilary and Nicholas's wedding did just that by serving a family style meal to all of their guests. It was a little bit magical at Villa Bellezza Winery. My other 'meaning of life' moment is to do what you love and share it with those around you. I am truly blessed to document people's lives each week during one of the most momentous moments of their life and on my simple, little blog, I am able to share it with the world. There is something very, very special about this.

Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Evans! We are SO happy for you!

LOVEe

Mr. and Mrs. Keefer

Alisha and Dan are one of my clients who booked long before their actual wedding date. Over the last year, I've really enjoyed getting to know these two! We took their engagement photos last winter and have enjoyed some awesome conversations over beers! Dan adores Alisha, like completely adores her. What I also love about Dan is that he wants to give his wife the world. The couple met on match.com and were together for about a year before he proposed in a hot air balloon ride over the picturesque town of Stillwater, MN. When it came to planning their wedding, Alisha knew that she wanted to be married in an old church. They made the perfect choice with Hennepin Avenue Methodist in Minneapolis. the church as so much character and was a very romantic space for their ceremony. It was also important for the couple to have a very modern, yet elegant vibe to their wedding day. The bride wore a gorgeous Vera Wang dress and Richfield Flowers created some awesome bouquets for the ladies...and you have to check out the gold bridesmaid dresses! Everything is absolutely stunning!

Congratulations to Alisha and Dan on getting married! I couldn't have asked for a better experience with you two! We are so happy we could be a part of your day!

LOVEe

Mr. and Mrs. Leppke!!

This weekend was filled with amazing weddings! To start it all off was Susan and Mark's fabulous event! Every now and again, I come across that couple that I just click with! Susan and Mark have been super supportive of me (such attending fashion fight night - it's was so cool to see a client there cheering me on!) So, I have a little, special place in my heart for them! They are crazy in love and it was a true pleasure to give back to them!Dress: Vera WangShoes: DSW Brides Maid Dresses: Alfred Angelo @ The Wedding Shoppe Tux: Savvi Formal Wear Susan's Jacket: Vintage Hair Piece: Brides of France Jewelry: Saks 5th Avenue Rings: Bergstrom Jewelers Flowers: Sadie's Floral Cake: Megan Pelka Location: The University Club on Summit

Congratulations to Mark and Susan on their AMAZING wedding...and getting married!eliesa

Mr. and Mrs. Howe!!

Amy and Eric had a PHENOMENAL wedding! There really is nothing else to say! I have been looking forward to their wedding all season, because it was the grand finale to my wedding season this year! Their all-star-event took place at The Depot downtown Minneapolis and the setting couldn't have been more beautiful!

Here are the official stats: Dress: Monique Lhuillier Shoes: BCBG Bridesmaid Dresses: Vera Wang Makeup: Nan Fletcher Hair: Bella Salon Floral: Skinner Jones Programs: Anjenu Linens: BBJ Linens Chairs: Apres Cookies: Home made! ;0) Live Music: Synergy

Congratulations to Amy and Eric on becoming newlyweds! The couple is honeymooning in Thailand...I'm SO jealous! Thank you SO much for allowing us to capture your big day!

LOVEe