Fort Snelling Engagement Photography | Alyssa & Adam | Minneapolis Wedding Photographer

Adam and Alyssa both work at a resort in northern Minnesota. The first meet as they were working at the resort; Alyssa really had a crush on him first but nothing happened until Adam took a different position in business and that's when they started to become friends.  Building on their friendship they started to grow closer and closer until they decided to start to date.

Last January, they decided to escape the minnesota harsh winter and headed to Arizona to visit family out there. Unfortunately they encountered a colder Arizona with plenty of snow and it ended up being warmer in MN the week they were gone! While they were there toward the end of their trip Alyssa had lost hope of him proposing because she thought "he would have already done it by now". As they went on a hike to enjoy their remaining vacation, Alyssa started to worry they were lost! She took out her map and start to try and figure out where they had ended up on the trail. While she was busy working on making sure they didn't die in the vast Arizona wilderness, Adam sneakily set up a camera and video to capture the coming moments.  Now Adam announced it was time for a photo because they had hardly taken any on their trip. After a couple of attempts that "weren't good enough" Adam told Alyssa that they were going to do one more. Setting the camera on a timer Adam hurried back to Alyssa's side and as they waited for the camera to click Adam got down on one knee and asked Alyssa to marry him. She said YES!

Their engagement session took place on the trails of Minnesota's Fort Snelling with their little pup Nova. Nova was sure to pose for us when we were motivating her the whole time with Cheeros! WIth the help of Alyssa's sister Angie, we had a great time shooting in beautiful 40's weather which is unseasonably warm for this time of year! While they were holding the bag of cheero's Alyssa kept saying how much she felt like she looked like a mom. I (along with Adam and Alyssa) are super excited for their fall wedding later this year!

Sugar Paper Agenda Book 2017 Review

Even though I have never had a talent for it, I have always enjoyed writing. Not fantasies or long adventure tales but just documenting what has been going on in my life, my mind and my heart. Needing somewhere to write all my mind down I have a wide collection of random journals that I would write in for a week and then never touch again. I know I can't be the only one guilty of this. Do you have a journal shelf down stairs or is it just me?
 Last year I was on another Target trip just browsing when I came across this beautiful blue calendar book. It was my brand color and had SOO much room to write everything thought that passed through my head.  Not only was it beautiful with Kate Spade vibes but the layout was everything I never knew I needed! It had two page spread for each month with a break down each day after that. it makes it extremely useful when I am planning out my weddings and social media posts.  I am seriesly blown away by the functionality of this book calendar! Unfortunately, Target is no longer hosting Sugar Paper for these journals! I was devastated, secretly hoping they would pop back up when it came closer to the new year.  

When I didn't happen I found their website and ordered 2018 because I really don't want to go back to using anything else. I make sure when I get randomly inspirited or have new ideas I want to try I will be ready. I would HIGHLY recommend their products. Beautiful and efficient.
 

Honeybook Review

Honeybook is a communication platform that handles messaging, payments, schedules between clients and vendors. As a wedding photographer I needed something other than Gmail to communicate with my clients. That was the time when I stumbled on Honeybook. It was newer at the time that I tested it and they were offering a founders fee of 400$ flat fee to use the platform. 

Starting newer in business I was still having my couples write me checks and handing or mailing them into me which was just not convent for anyone.  I tried making invoices through word and I was working my butt off to find something that worked. I calculated the prices for 17 hats and other platforms that looked like it had it all inclusive which was what I needed . Since I was at the start of my business it made sense to hop on the Honeybook train early and save money in the long run. 

It was worth it. Honeybook completely transformed my platform of communication with my clients. It looks cleaner and more professional than my previous setup and I can send Document and packages and brochures with ease and fast.  

Honeybook has made it more convent for my clients to make online payments for their photography. (And no more Bank runs for me!) It even comes with kind automatic payment reminders.  

I love how I can have email templates to cut down my emailing more than one half the time it was previously!  

Overall, Honeybook was one of the best descisons for my business as a whole. It still is a growing business and has some features that need to be added such as email scheduling and customer ablility to adjust the timeline feature. But I know the team at Honeybook are working to make these happen.