When you get to photograph your college bestie’s wedding, it’s a really good day. Celeste and Jeremy’s Como Conservatory wedding last November was absolutely perfect for a November Minnesota day. No snow, actually warm for a November day, and no rain! I think we won. This was my first “destination wedding” and I’m actually glad it was in the Twin Cities because I think it’s similar to Detroit in a lot of ways.
This was my second trip to Minnesota in 2019 (we made three…Josh is from Rochester, Minnesota and we go there for Christmas), the first being Celeste and Jeremy’s Duluth engagement session. If you’re reading this from the land of ten thousand lakes (though I hear there’s more than that), I would love to go back. 🙂
It’s been a long time since I’ve photographed the wedding of a friend (cue first wedding I photographed), but it was so lovely to spend the whole day alongside Celeste, who I’ve known for nearly a decade. We met when we lived across the hall from each other during our sophomore year of college and both us and our roommates all shared an apartment and house our junior and senior years. If you look carefully in this blog post, you’ll find our roomie photo. It’s probably the only wedding blog post where you’ll find a photo of me! And you’ll see some photos of Josh who was with me!
Celeste and Jeremy were married at the church where they met, Hope Community Church in downtown Minneapolis. They shared an intimate first look on the balcony in front of stained glass windows. I think the emotion of the day was JOY. We headed down to the Stone Arch Bridge, which is an old pedestrian bridge that is one of the Twin Cities’ icons. Though it was super windy and chilly, it’s such a beautiful spot to take photos of the Minneapolis skyline. We also used some of the old mill ruins as a backdrop. I love the Twin Cities!
After a beautiful ceremony, the reception at the Como Zoo and Conservatory began. I think this was such a cool venue. They had the doors to the palm room open so you could walk through and all the windows overlooking the gardens would be gorgeous in the spring or summer.
When she was planning, Celeste told me they wanted to do some type of exit (they are fun duh!) but sparklers weren’t allowed. So I told her only a certain type of glow stick works well (the huge ones) and really streamers are your best bet! So they did that and I think the exit photos turned out beautiful!
Vendors:
ceremony: Hope Community Church | reception: Como Park Zoo & Conservatory | HMU (bride): Plush Beauty Lounge | gown: Mori Lee | floral: Florals by Claire | dj: Minnesota Wedding Party | invites: Laura Karsjens
When Jeremy and I look at photos of our wedding one of us always jokes, “hey guess what….we got married.” It’s silly, but these pictures instantly bring us back to the joy of that day. When we look at the photos new ones draw us in each time and we remember different moments and memories from that special day. Thank you Mady for capturing all the special moments of our day!