St Olaf Engagement Photography | Alyssa & Geoff | Minneapolis Wedding Photographer

We have been emailing back and forth trying to pick the perfect day for this shoot! Canceled once to avoid an even colder day we landed on this past Tuesday ! We knew no one would fall asleep on this shoot because the chill we a good smack in the face! But by looking at Alyssa and Geoff's smiles you can't tell. They trooper through the snow and Minnesota chill to make magic happen! The also brought along for the journey the rambunctious Simba! He was so soft and did a great job chillaxing while we had shot a couple of photos of him. Our shoot was on the hills of St Olaf College where Alyssa and Geoff first met. Being in the same group of friends they have photographic evidence of meeting their freshman year in a human pyramid at a friends game night. It wasn't until a couple of years later they became closer friends. Geoff studying calculus went a semester abroad to Budapest to continue is math learning. They were just friends at this point but Alyssa really began to miss Geoff! Absence really does make the heart grow fonder! When he got back, they both knew this was something more than just good buds reuniting and decided to give them a shot.

It turned out for the better because here they years later planning for their September wedding! But before we get into that Geoff decided to put a ring on it and propose. He knew Alyssa being a true Minnesota girl loves lakes and made a reservation for a dinner that had a killer view. During their meal Geoff received a call from "an angry student." He apologetically took the call while setting the plan motion. Alyssa sat and waited for 30 minutes before receiving a text from Geoff to head for the car. Unbeknownst to her, he had slipped the car keys into her bag. After getting in the car she found a a mason jar with a clue of where to go. 

The clue lead her to a hill and she had a map to lead her. Not great with maps , Alyssa had another clue to lead her. 37 white origami cranes lead her to Geoff who then proposed! Ugh LOVE! 

Cant wait for their wedding later in 2018 and secretly hoping they bring Simba back so I can cuddle with him some more ;).

Aria Wedding Photography | Minneapolis Wedding Photographer | Jordan & Andy

As fall days go, the sun was shining through the yellow trees and on the smiling faces of Andy & Jordan!
The groom was one of my more stylish of this year in a deep blue suit with a velvet maroon tie! He was lightheartedly excited to see his beautiful bride Jordan.  The girls started off getting ready at the Minneapolis hotel a couple of miles from their wedding venue the Aria in Minneapolis. 

We went off before the wedding to shoot on the main street to capture fun times with their friends and family!  Once photos were done we headed back to Aria to tie the knot!  Jordan's dad passed away and couldn't be their to celebrate their day. So everyone made sure dad had a chair dedicated to him so he could be a part of such an important part of the day too. 

Their reception details were killer and so elegant, which made it a joy to shoot all the flowers and details in this reception space. 
The party was strong in these two because once they got married the party started and everyone was ready TO PARTY HARD! Spoiler alert: Lots of dancing under the neon sign! 
I wish Andy and Jordan all the happiness! Enjoy their wedding!

All joy and ready to party is the best way to describe this wedding group; I enjoyed shooting this wedding with Gina Zeidler Photography. 

Favorite Wedding Photos of 2017 | Favorites | Minneapolis Wedding Photographer

This year has been a blessing! I love sharing my top favorite wedding images of this crazy year of 2017! So for the first part of this post you will see my favorite wedding photos.  Originally I intended this post to be my top 20. As you see there was just too much love and goodness not to share more.
Although this year was wedding packed it wasn't the only thing happening in 2017. So the second part of the post will be my  favorite parts of 2017 from my life! 

Ugh these photos still have me keeping a smile on my face! But like I said weddings where not the only thing going on in my life this year. Here are some of my favorites for 2017 in my life.
 

Personal Favorite Moments of 2017

We bought our first house in 2017. I don't think I ever felt so much a grownup until we bought something that is really ours. We are slowly filling it with memories which I hope keeps filling for a long time! My favorite thing about our house is the living room gets the best view of sunrise. Some of them just take my breath away when I get a change to see them. 

This is Benjamin Winter Waits. He is my first nephew and this was one of his first photos. He turned 4 months old this December and is at the point where he smiles and giggles and just steals my heart every time.

Marcus and I got to go to Mt. Rushmore for the FIRST TIME! I was truly in awe of how magnificent it was! Around this time I was just itching for a trip and we jumped in the car the first opportunity we had a 3 day weekend. I love road tripping with Marcus. We just have a fun time listening to music and talking. The Airbnb we stayed at had a corgi which i have been crushing over for the entire year. THEY ARE SO CUTE.

We drove to Iowa to visit Marcus cousin Jessica for a day! This is downtown and while we were there we saw 3 wedding parties and a whole school of prom kids. It was a little crammed but beautiful! 

We also got to check off a track on Marcus's NASCAR list! We went to the race at Chicagospeedway. And then we walked around downtown Chicago which I haven't done in years. I totally forgot how big this city is! Besides paying outrageously for parking, we did a found tour which was really enjoyable! 

Thanks to my sister Jenny, I was also able to experience some amazing seats at my favorite teams! Not only that I felt like a queen with getting amazing food and hanging out with my sister! I was able to experience my FIRST Wilds game! It was really fun and I would love to go to another one in the near future. Marcus and I need to hit up one that is against and AZ team.

My last time to Texas was in 2011. 6 YEARS since I had been down to see my second family, the Glawes. It had been 2 YEARS since I had seen my forever sister/ BFF/ laughgenerator / high school-sweet-heart/partner-in-crime. Katrina and her family moved to Texas from Minnesota in high school and I think that was truly my first heart break. 
She has been up to MN loads of time and it was my turn to surprise her! Thanking the Lord for cheap tickets I hopped on a flight and spent the week with her and my second family. We were driving all over the place, singing Taylor Swift at the top of our lungs, and trying freezy pickle juice for the first time. One of my favorite moments was in the evening when we were all sitting on the couch and her two little boys were praying before bed time. When Carlile's turn came he prayed for Auntie Molly and my heart just melted. UGH SO CUTE! We also got to see sea world and magnolia studios in Waco! 

It's been a good year for us. I am so thankful for the abundant amount of blessings that have been sent my way in 2017.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17