Pretty wedding photographs from Isaac and Susan’s Minnesota Landscape Arboretum wedding!
Isaac & Susan in the beautiful forest at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
The second of three weddings in just four days, Isaac and Susan were married last Saturday by Isaac’s father! It was a wonderful wedding ceremony held in the beautiful Sensory Garden at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chanhassen, MN.
Ironically, this was the second time I had photographed a Minnesota Landscape Arboretum wedding that week! Just two days earlier on a beautifully overcast Thursday afternoon, I photographed the pretty bridal portraits of Joe & Kelly there. That’s definitely not a bad thing, as you can see in the photos at both weddings, there are lots of beautiful locations to create wedding photos here. I never used the same wedding photo location for either couple!
Isaac with Susan getting a little “sassy!”
Isaac and Susan’s wedding day started with their first look and some formal bridal portraits on the pretty veranda at the Snyder Building.
A Little Attitude Goes A Long Way
I wanted to showcase the veranda a bit differently, so I set up my lighting so that I could photograph them from a distance away and had them show me a little attitude. It worked perfectly (Susan’s a seasoned attitude pro, and Isaac’s pretty good at it too)!
I spend the whole pre-ceremony time with just the two of them in several locations around the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. When the ceremony time was getting near, I cut them loose to go and get ready and I set off to set up at the Sensory Garden for their ceremony.
While this wasn’t the first time I’ve photographed a Minnesota Landscape Arboretum wedding in my 28 years as a professional wedding photography career, it was the first one I’ve done in the Sensory Garden. What a pretty wedding setting!
Isaac and Susan’s pretty Sensory Garden wedding.
Family and Wedding Party Photos
After their ceremony, it was time to get the family and wedding party photos taken. We used a setting right near the ceremony site to keep it simple and not lose anybody.
From there the wedding party and I set off to “play” in this wedding photography wonderland! The main stop was the wooden bridge with a stunning pond and woodland backdrop. We did both traditional and fun candid wedding poses. This wedding party can “put on some attitude” just like their “King & Queen!” Very fun.
The Waterfall
We finished up with the pretty waterfall wedding image you see below.
This is actually two wedding photos blended together in post-production. With several lights hidden in the woods to light Isaac and Susan, I created this pretty wedding photograph of them (actually one of several cute poses).
While taking several exposures of each pose I snuck in an occasional long exposure to make the waterfall look “blurred.” Since I was hand holding the camera and the length of the exposure was about a half of a second, there was no way to get a sharp image of Isaac and Susan, so I combined a sharp image of them with a nice soft waterfall image. Exactly what I envisioned when I took them there.
Isaac & Susan by a pretty waterfall at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
We left the pretty waterfall setting to head back inside the Snyder Building as it was time for their fun wedding reception followed by a really awesome dinner and dance. A few family members also played some live music right after dinner. I always love live music at a wedding!
Thank you to Isaac and Susan for asking me to be a part of your beautiful wedding day. I really enjoyed getting to know you both and I hope you love your wedding photos as much as I enjoyed creating them for you. I hope you are having a fantastic honeymoon in Europe!