Minneapolis Vintage Engagement Photos | Maris Ehlers Photography

I had heard of Travis and Tone long before I met them. 

Travis is the brother of Angel, MEP's production manager and all around girl I couldn't live without. And yes, she is an Angel.  Most of the time.  

Angel has talked about Travis and Tone a lot over the past two years, how much her family misses them, as they live in Indianapolis, how much she hopes they will eventually move back to the Twin Cities, AND how she just wanted him to ask her to marry him already! 

They've been together for several years, and this winter, when the whole family was vacationing in Mexico, he popped the question.  I think Angel was nearly as excited as they were. 

Wedding plans began, and they finally made a trip home this weekend and so their engagement session was immediately placed on our calendars. 

Travis and Tone had lots of ideas about what type of photography they love, the look they wanted to convey, and how they wanted it to tie in to the 1940's theme they are planning for their wedding celebration. What I really loved though, was their trust in a total stranger (me), and a willingness to let our artistic expression frame their ideas, and I couldn't be happier with the result. 

We had a wonderful night, and they were truly up for anything.  Not only that, they were excited, enthusiastic, and enjoyed posing and adding a little drama, which is always wonderful.  It adds so much to the images.  

Here are my favorites from the night! 

Rich Girl Meets Poor Boy - He has nothin' but love and a grocery cart!  ;)  

Photo Credit:  Angel Petit for Maris Ehlers Photography

Photo Credit:  Angel Petit for Maris Ehlers Photography

Photo Credit:  Angel Petit for Maris Ehlers Photography

Travis and Tone, it was wonderful to meet you.  The two of you are every bit as cute as Angel has always said you are, and I am SUPER DUPER excited for your celebration in May!  Enjoy...  

Maris

Makeup by MJ Evans for Maris Ehlers Photography. 

A special thank you to Katie Hofer for all of your help!  :)  

Venezuelan Geologist Engaged to Santana Loving Twins Fan | Maris Ehlers Photography

I admit it.  I never would have guessed Lindsey was such a huge sports fan.  I'm not sure if it's all sports or just the Twins, but still... I didn't see it coming. 

When I look at these pictures from last night's engagement shoot, I'm reminded how important it is to really get to know your clients so that when you get them in front of your camera, you are telling THEIR story, and not some random "Hey, we're in this field so let's take some pictures of you" kind of story.  If we would have missed capturing any of this, it would have been an incredible opportunity wasted.  

So here is Lindsey and Agustin's story.  

Agustin is a geologist from Venezuela, and let's just say this: I don't care how many weddings a person has photographed, when the groom tells you for the last hour or so of their reception at the Van Dusen Mansion they are going to celebrate with a Venezuelan wedding custom called "Crazy Hour", you get excited.  

Venezuelans apparently believe that if people wear masks, beads, jewels, and funny hats, they will become less inhibited while dancing and REALLY have fun.  This, I cannot wait to see.  

Anyway, back to their story.  Lindsey emailed me a couple of days ago and asked if we could include their dogs in a few pictures.  I was a little concerned about the heat, but I told her that if she looked at her engagement pictures in the future and would regret not including her dogs, then we should make it happen.  Special thanks to her sister Jessica for being the dogs' chauffeur.  It is much appreciated.  

Mere minutes after we started shooting it started pouring rain, but it was one of those weird rains in Minnesota where it was raining, cloudy and sunny all at the same time.  Not to be missed, in my opinion.

I'm pretty sure they thought I had lost my mind when we had no sooner hopped in our cars to head to another location when Angel noticed the rainbow, and I pulled over and practically yanked Agustin and Lindsey out of their car.  It was so worth it. 

Our next stop was an old exposed brick wall, but lucky for us, further down the block I noticed a spot in the wall where the brick had been removed.  I headed that way thinking I would photograph them around the dilapidated bricks, when Agustin noticed an entire abandoned building just waiting for us to explore.  Well, it went something like that.  

Lindsey's main stone in her ring is a tanzanite.  It's gorgeous and purple, and in case you haven't noticed, Lindsey loves purple about as much as she loves the Minnesota Twins. 

There were so many highlights to this session, but I would have to say that the best part is how they both just became so animated once we hit the plaza by Target Field.  They love it there, and so it was truly fitting that the images that tell their love story be taken there. 

As I was following Santana - oops, I mean Agustin to the plaza, I captured this image thinking he either looked like a true fan headed out to the game or like he was going to beat someone up with his baseball bats.  ;)  

Target Field Plaza at Sunset

I only hope Johan isn't jealous. 

Lindsey and Agustin, we can't WAIT to celebrate with you in August at the Van Dussen Mansion.  What fun it will be! 

Maris and Angel

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.