A home
by the lake.
Before the wedding, there was an afternoon at her mother’s home in Wayzata. The dock, the willows, and Lake Minnetonka beyond. A familiar place to begin their photographs.
Before the wedding.
We made these engagement images on May 17, 2014, on a separate day from the wedding. Outside by the water, then inside among the books. The same home, with two very different feelings.
A little room
to be yourselves.
There’s room for a quiet portrait and room for a little playfulness. I like having both. An engagement session gives us time to make photographs without the pace of a wedding day.
The house
becomes the setting.
When I returned for the wedding, the dress was hanging by the window—and a curious cat had found a good place to watch. Nellie would marry Alistair here, at her mother’s home on Lake Minnetonka.
Everyone close.
The getting ready happened in rooms that were already part of the family’s life. Friends gathered around Nellie, helping with the dress and sharing those last moments before the celebration.
Down the stairs.
The staircase gave me a beautiful view of Nellie coming down in her dress. The patterned walls, the banister, and her veil all became part of this black and white photograph.
A pair of portraits.
A screen door can be a wonderful frame. Nellie in her dress; Alistair holding the bouquet. I like finding these simple possibilities in the place where a wedding happens.
Out in the garden.
The hydrangeas and sunlight made another setting for the two of them. From the rooms inside to the garden outside, we had so much to work with right at home.
The friends
beside him.
A group photograph doesn’t have to feel stiff. There’s plenty of personality in this one on the front steps.
A small part
in a big day.
These are the little moments I watch for while everyone is gathered: a smile, a glance, a child making her way between the guests. They help bring back the feeling of being there.
All together,
beside the water.
The lawn opened right onto Lake Minnetonka. Family and friends, a sailboat beside the path, and the water just beyond them. The home and the lake were woven into the whole celebration.
What the program remembers.
The stationery gives their formal names as Eleanor Connolly and Alistair Thornton. It also keeps a record of their choices: music by Benny Goodman and the Beatles, and Walt Whitman’s Song of the Open Road.
A place for everyone.
Under the tent, long wooden tables were set with flowers, glassware, and pale linens. Greenery hung overhead. Even with a tent around us, the garden still felt close.
The little details
tell a story.
The pale blue menus carried the September 6 wedding date. Dinner included a watermelon and heirloom tomato salad and beef with chimichurri; dessert was wedding cake with blueberry filling and vanilla buttercream.
Photographing the stationery helps remember more than the way a table looked.
A quieter moment
by the lake.
As the sky softened, I made this wider photograph with Nellie and Alistair beside the water. The trees framed them, and that little band of pink stretched across the horizon.
Bring everyone close.
The cake was outside, with guests gathered around and the lake behind them. I wanted the photograph to include the people watching, as well as the couple cutting the cake.
Sometimes the wider view says more about a wedding than a close-up alone.
A little spin
around the floor.
Then came the movement: Nellie’s dress sweeping around her, Alistair holding her hand, and the band behind them. A different rhythm from the quiet portraits earlier in the day.
The party after dark.
The same lawn looked completely different at night. Guests gathered around the sailboat, colorful bunting ran up into the trees, and the celebration carried on.
A sparkling goodbye.
A line of friends, sparklers held high, and the two of them walking through. I like ending a wedding story with a little of that energy still in it.
A final black and white image aboard the boat, after the celebration had carried past midnight.
One home.
Two chapters.
An engagement afternoon in May and a wedding in September. Both at her mother’s home, with the lake running through the story.
That’s something I love about photographing a wedding at a family home. The setting already means something. The photographs add another chapter to it.