Federer Photography - Minnesota Wedding Photographers

Alyssa and Mark : Wedding Photographs

Old school meets modern would be a great way of describing Alyssa and Mark’s wedding, plus lots of heat, powerful storms… and yet still somehow great weather.  Hrm… not sure how that works, but it did.

We started off at Estetica Salon & Spa with the girls while the guys hit the bars and threw some darts.  The girls finished getting ready at the St. Paul Hotel before heading to the church. I love the satin-y bridesmaids dresses and how the light played off the folds… very cool.  Next was a beautiful ceremony followed by a off-balance dance party while riding the Twin Cities Trolley to Sweeny’s bar for between-event drinks… impromptu itinerary addition of the Happy Gnome and life was even more beer-a-licious. (If you haven’t noticed, the plan was to basically criss-cross [make you jump, jump!!] the area we did their engagement photographs last fall).  Off to the stunning Landmark Center for an amazing reception, dinner and dance.  Even Obama made a showing.

Susan and Troon : Wedding Teaser

Just got back from a fabulous weekend on the north shore with Susan, Troon, their family and friends and wanted to throw up a quick shot from their Minnesota/Scotland (yes, it works) meets Louisiana wedding.  Rockin’ the Kilt on the shore of Lake Superior.

Sara and Gaby : Mariachitastic!!

Colleen and I drove out to Milwaukee (West Bend area) for Sara and Gaby’s wedding.  I’ll just say… the margaritas were a flowin’, the mariachi band was a playin’, the sombreros were a stylin’, the guests were a laughin’, and the newlyweds were a smoochin’.  (How’s that for pre-emptive ending of words…  )   Quite the festive night – congrats Sara and Gaby!

Mariachi band.  For real.

Meghan and Scott : Wedding Photographs

Meghan and Scott got engaged 5 years ago — so they had a lot of time to plan their wedding.  That time was well spent.

Their wedding was held at good ol’ SJU (Go Johnnies!!) in the Abbey. The Abbey is sweet, it’s where all the cool people get married (Did I mention that’s where Colleen and I got married?).   They hadn’t seen one another before the ceremony, so when Meghan came down the aisle it was a good thing that Scott’s brother was one of the officiants (how cool, right?) to help Scott pull it back together.   A quick smooch (them, not me…;) ) and we popped on over to the new Gorecki Center at St. Bens for a little wedding Plinko (oh yes, Plinko), dinner, speeches, and a first dance that turned into a choreographed event that had everyone hootin’ and hollerin’.

And of course, in that grand SJU tradition, piano man with pants at the ankles to end the night…

Ilona and Drew: Minnesota Winter Wedding

In honor of our recent mid-MAY snowfall (gotta love Minnesota, right?), I figure I’d blog Ilona and Drew’s wedding from this last Valentines day up in Anoka.  It was a small gathering of their closest friends on Drew’s parents estate … outside.  Yep, Outside, Minnesota, Winter… My fingers just recently started to have feeling again… heh. No, seriously, it was cool — they got married in the exact same spot they got engaged.   The short ceremony was followed by a very informal reception in the basement bar (sweet!) of their house, where Drew and his family treated 30-or-so of us to some good eats, fun speeches, and great company.

Lisa and Rick: Wedding Photographs

Nothing like starting off the new year by blogging about people married last year!

Lisa and Rick got married late last fall at Mt. Olivet in Minneapolis. Lisa was one of the happiest and giggliest brides I’ve ever had — she just couldn’t keep it in; and Rick seemed to have a “this is awesome” smirk on his face all day.  Their enjoyment was infectious.

They finished of the night at the Metropolitan – complete with great speeches, live band, a happening dance, and custom Converse All Stars for the happy couple to boogie in.  But you didn’t come here to see me type….

Kristine and Rob: Wedding Photographs, Duluth style

Kristine and Rob — who you may remember from their epic engagement photographs (and one on my main site too) or even a more recent post about how brave/trusting Kristine is — got married a few weeks back.  The quick, personal, and to-the-point ceremony took place at a tranquil park in Duluth, Minnesota; the reception followed, and was considerably more raucous, at the historic Depot in downtown.  Everyone really seemed to be enjoying themselves – and it certainly rubbed off on me; I love when people get ‘into it’ (whatever ‘it’ may be, really).

You’ll notice below there are three images of Rob getting his ring. ’twas pretty funny: when Kristine went to put on his wedding band, low-and-behold, Rob, being the stylin’ dude he is , already had a ring on his ring finger!  Combined with his facial expression, you can almost see a thought bubble above his head screaming “Gzeeeahhhh!!”.   Hilarity ensued, his engagement ring was replaced with a wedding band, and life was good.  A visual walk through of their wedding day…

Farmroom photo station

When we arrived at Willow Lake Farm in Windom, Minnesota for Anna and Mark’s wedding, the photo station was to be set up in a small ‘milking station’ in the barn.  The room had a structural post right in the middle of the shooting area and a board running over a trough in the ground.  I knew this would be crazy-different than the first photo station I ran in a near-brand-new reception hall – but of course, it was still going to be a blast.

I knew from working with Anna and Mark over the past 9 months how important the farm was to them.  It came up numerous times in our conversations while planning, from their awesome custom wedding website, to their engagement session photographs, the ‘Willow Lake Farm’ was a constant topic of discussion.

Walking around a bit, it became clear to me that even the photo station pictures needed to have a sense of ‘place’; an anonymous backdrop just wouldn’t be right.  So I moved a few tables and some tools, and decided to use this gnarly wall instead.  Everyone dug that idea, and I agree that it worked out amazingly well.

I love how the photo station really gets everyone’s personality front and center.  And man, Anna and Mark had some ‘personalities’ at their wedding, for sure.  Great times.  :-)