Chris & Chris’ Orchestra Hall Wedding
The day after Bryan and Emily’s pretty wedding at The Pavilion at Lake Elmo, Joannie and I had the honor of photographing another very pretty wedding. This time it was Chris Banken and Chris Johnson’s Orchestra Hall wedding in downtown Minneapolis, MN.
The view from the second floor at Orchestra Hall.
It’s hard to believe that in all these years, Joannie and I haven’t ever photographed an Orchestra Hall wedding. The only time I’ve ever photographed there was for Chris and Chris’ engagement portraits last spring.
Their big day began with some fun wedding photos of the wedding party in their pre-wedding attire on the second floor at Orchestra Hall. We used the Minneapolis skyline as the backdrop. As you can see in the highlight video photos, for the second day in a row, it was a glorious, cloudless, blue sky day in Minnesota. Very pretty, but really challenging to photograph people in. Thankfully, we have the flash power with us to offset the power of the sun at times.
Places like this are what the fisheye lens was invented for!
Everyone went to get dressed in their wedding attire and Joannie and I set up for Chris and Chris’ first look on the second-floor balcony at Orchestra Hall. It was decided that Chris Banken would make the approach to Chris Johnson. The whole wedding party would be watching from a short distance away. It was a really fun and emotional moment to witness and I secretly video recorded parts of it as a surprise to our grooms.
The Wedding Party
Next up, wedding party photographs! I think we did pretty much every conceivable combination of each Chris with everyone in their wedding entourage. It was really fun! We used the glorious, soft light from the four-story floor to ceiling windows at Orchestra Hall to light the scene. It was one of those very rare times where we could photograph in a building with no added lighting. Sweet!
Many family portraits followed, and once those concluded, we took the wedding party up to the third floor for some fun candid wedding photos. We just let everyone pretty much goof around and the resulting candid images turned out pretty fun!
A nice candid portrait of Chris & Chris taken just outside of Orchestra Hall.
We still had some time on our hands before their wedding ceremony, so we decided to take it to the street! The street in front of Orchestra Hall that is. I have to say, that was maybe my favorite photo spot up to that point. The lighting was pretty good, and we had was such a good looking wedding party, it was a great combination of some really awesome wedding images!
A pretty good looking wedding party!
The Wedding Ceremony
It was time for the main event! Their pretty Orchestra Hall wedding ceremony was everything that Chris and Chris could hope for. There was lots of emotion, some laughter, a great message from Michael Bennett, and pretty music too. When it was all said and done, Minnesota’s newest newlyweds were in our midst! Very nice!
Chris & Chris “on stage” in Orchestra Hall.
The Minneapolis Sculpture Gardens
Let’s see. What do you do with a newly married couple, a fun wedding party, a nice late summer day in Minnesota, and a party limo? Road trip! Well, a short road trip anyway.
After their Orchestra Hall wedding ceremony, we departed for the Minneapolis Sculpture Gardens. It had to be a quick run so we could get back for some of the reception before dinner. I have to say that it went pretty smoothly, despite the fact the Minneapolis Sculpture Gardens was packed with people!
LOVE!
There was some kind of event going on there as there were at least a hundred or so very nicely dressed people near “The Spoon” taking pictures. We improvised nicely on the other side of the famous sculpture using Chris and Chris’ wedding party to hide most of the people in the background.
We really got some great wedding photographs in a very short period of time thanks to a great couple and their awesome wedding party!
Orchestra Hall Wedding Reception
Joannie and I left the wedding party to ride around a bit on their party limo so we could return and set up for the reception, dinner, and dance.
It was such a fun time! Everyone was totally in the celebration mood all evening long. Once Joannie and I were “off the clock,” we just stayed and visited with friends and guests. It really was a fun celebration to be a part of!
The newlyweds step outside at Orchestra Hall.
A huge thank you to Chris and Chris for asking us to be there with you on your wedding day. Joannie and I are so happy for you two, and we look forward to creating a stunning wedding album with you in the months ahead. Thank you so much! – M&J