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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Allie and Nate's Spring Minnesota Engagement Session | Maris Ehlers Photography





Author's WARNING:  This post has more pictures than I may have ever put in one blog post before.





Engagement sessions are truly one of my favorite types of sessions to photograph.  No more so when the bride and/or groom are special to me because of family ties.

Allie, who is my cousin (well, my husband's cousin, actually) is the bride-to-be in this session, and it has been my absolute pleasure to watch her grow up over the years. From a young girl of 8 or 9 until now.  What a remarkable, lovely woman she has become. Nate, her fiance, is such a great guy. I look forward to getting to know him better over the many years to come. I am excited about what is in store for them.


Our original plans for their pictures included a frozen lake, an old blue ice auger, and even hats with ear flaps (i.e. an ice fishing scene), but alas, this was not the winter in Minnesota for any of that. We started planning this in December and couldn't find a weekend that included both fresh snow and weather warm enough not to freeze my fingers to my camera, so when the 70+ degree weather hit, we rolled into plan B: an early spring engagement session on St. Patrick's Day!

As I was trying to think of something unique to do for them (both because she is so special and because her two brothers have gotten married in the past year), an idea surfaced.

Allie's God Mother, Grace, is my mother-in-law.  Several years ago, she unearthed a bridesmaid dress that she wore in her brother Bob's wedding to his bride, Vivian.  Bob and Vivian are Allie's aunt and uncle as well.  They were married in July of 1959.  

Grace kindly loaned it to me in case I might ever want to photograph someone in it.  The funny thing is that earlier in the week I was looking for a female who could wear this dress for an early St. Patrick's day shoot, but I couldn't find someone that it would fit. The day before Allie and Nate's shoot it dawned on me that maybe Allie was the one who was supposed to wear it. 

I approached her with my last minute idea, and not only was she excited about it, she loved the idea of paying tribute to both sets of Aunts and Uncles - Bob and Vivian and Aunt Grace and Uncle Fred on their 49th wedding anniversary, which was the day of the shoot - St. Patrick's Day!

So here, without further ado, is a preview of Nate and Allie's gorgeous spring time engagement session, complete with pictures of Allie in her aunt's vintage bridesmaid dress.


The picture that I had posted previously was in part chosen because I didn't think that Allie's mom June or Grace would recognize the dress.  Well, that and because I LOVE it!




A very special thank you to Donato's Floral in Maple Grove for the gorgeous, elegant bouquet we used for the shoot.  Anna at Donato's is a client who has become a friend, and they do lovely, lovely work for all types of occasions.  Please consider their local business for any of your floral needs.  

Enjoy!












I love the dreamy look on Allie's face here.





Allie and Donato's St. Patrick's Day bouquet.





Flirty, flirty! 




Nate looks pretty proud of himself. 






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