Real Brides , Wedding Flowers , Wedding Hair , Wedding Makeup , Wedding Photographers , Wedding Trends , Wedding Venues
Prairie Fairie Wedding
Enjoy this photographic journey of Claire and Jerik’s Prairie Fairie Wedding at the Dodge Nature Center in West St. Paul. They were the first couple to book their wedding reception at the Amsterdam Bar and Hall in Downtown, St. Paul. Highlights included live music by the talented Javier Trejo and friends, yummy food by Brasa, reception music by DJ Del 6 and three of the couple’s favorite bands playing the Amsterdam.
Wedding Venue: Dodge Nature Center
Wedding Reception: Amsterdam Bar and Hall
Live Music: Javier Trejo
Reception DJ: Del6
Wedding Food: Brasa
Men’s Fashion: Heimie’s Haberdashery
Wedding Photography: James Ramsay
Ten Questions with Matt from Photo Booth Creations
Q: How many people can you fit in your photo booth?
Matt: 15 is the record but I usually tell people 8-10 just to be safe.
Q: What are some of your favorite wedding venues?
Matt: Oak Marsh in Oakdale, Minn. had at least two weddings last week and a class reunion, so we love working with them, they always have fun events going on. Manitou Station in Downtown White Bear Lake, Minn. has a unique classy feel that matches our hand made wooden photo booths. The Outing Lodge in Stillwater, Minn. is a hidden gem and has a special place in my heart because I just proposed to the love of my life, Stacey, in Stillwater.
Q: How many photo booths can you do at a wedding or event?
Matt: We’re doing seven photo booths for Great Clips at an upcoming event at the Minneapolis Convention Center. We’re expecting up to 3,000 hair stylists, so we’re pretty excited about that.
Q: What makes your photo booth different?
Matt: We have a bigger photo booth than some other companies. What’s nice about fitting more people in our photo booth, you can get the entire bridal party or bigger family groups all in the same photo strip!
Q: Do you do any events other than weddings?
Matt: We focus on weddings, senior graduation parties, school lock ins, company events, holiday parties, bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs, and any other event where people are having a good time.
Q: How would you describe your photo strips at Photo Booth Creations?
Matt: We have options for black and white photos, sepia toned, and color. The choice is yours!
Q: Can guests get digital copies of your photo strips for Facebook or for personal use?
Matt: The guests can download the photos for free, which means they can print them on their own, order copies for themselves, or “Like Them” and they automatically go to Facebook.
Q: Can you put anything else on the photo strips besides the photos?
Matt: We have options for customized logos that we design, or we can use one of your designs.
Q: Do you do a guest book?
Matt: Photo Booth Creations is proud to partner with Creative Memories, based locally in St. Cloud, Minn. They are the best quality available and it always feels good to support another local business. One nice thing about the guest books with Creative Memories, the books are never full. There is always room to add more pages as you go! The brides can even add personalized pages of their own later on.
Q: Do you have any funny stories from your time working behind the scenes at a photo booth company?
Matt: We’ve had two Big Ten celebrities photo bomb at our last few weddings. We had both Goldy Gopher and Bucky Badger at recent weddings. The mascots had a lot of fun with the brides in the photo booth and it was perfect because the brides were diehard fans.
Editor’s Note: Matt Stillmunkes runs Photo Booth Creations with his fiance, Stacey Flogel. Congratulations on your engagement from Brides Like Us!
TwinCities@PhotoBoothCreations.com
651-357-7064
Hand twisted “Bride” hangers are available in many vibrant colors at Bride to Be Consignment in Burnsville, Minn. Perfect for the “dress shot.”
Photo by James Ramsay
By James Ramsay
Editor, Brides Like Us
Bride to Be Consignment is featuring some really colorful “Bride” hangers at their store in Burnsville, Minn. They are designed and hand twisted by Sheana Schlicter of Shindig Photo Booths, also based in Burnsville. Colors and selection subject to availability. They make great gifts for the bride early in the wedding planning process.
612-267-4004
1133 Cliff Road
Burnsville, MN 55337
952-270-5041
P.O. Box 2281
Burnsville, MN 55337
Pinup styling is a specialty! The key is to pair the gorgeous, structured hair styles with flawless, airbrushed makeup and faux-lashes. We make it easy to feel glamorous!-Kira McCarty
- Pinup shoots are supposed to be fun: SMILE! No pressure to “look sexy” – The total look is naturally sexy!
- Say your vowels! “O” “E” “A” “U” These little letters will give you the perfect “bombshell” expressions!
- No need to spend a TON of money on new outfits – Simple shorts, heels, and a halter will work fabulously!
- Go big or go home = Get a giant flower or flowers for your hair!
- Hot red / pink / or coral lipstick will help you feel gorgeous
- “Cat eye” gel or liquid liner helps complete the look!
Remember: With our help, you too could look like this!
It’s hard to ignore upper tier wedding reception venues adding colorful, mood setting lighting to their repertoire. Midwest Sound is one venue that offers all shades of uplighting. Video demos courtesy of John Anderson and Paul Singh at Midwest Sound. The different tones create different moods and can be coordinated with your own wedding colors. The Northland Inn and Hall 653 are the featured venues for these short video demos.
-James Ramsay
Editor, Brides Like Us
Photo Booth Creations can accommodate a group of people in their booths.
Photo by JamesRamsay
Photo Booth Creations does things a little differently. Matt and Stacie, who run the Twin Cities photo booth company, enlisted their brother-in-law to engineer their booths. After several evolutions, the result is a roomy wooden photo booth that fits in equally well in a modern studio or an historic mansion. Using the latest photo booth printing technology, they produce photo strips that are virtually instant memories for you and your guests. Photo Booth Creations is a little larger than the typical photo booth. This allows you to cram more people in for those extra special fun moments. And what happens in the photo booth, stays in the photo booth! Matt and Stacie know the wedding industry well, in fact they are engaged to be married in October. Congratulations you two! Photo Booth Creations recently helped raise money for Heart Health at First Avenue with Bobby Z and “The Purple Rain era” Revolution. What a bonus that Questlove was on the turntables for the second set! Photo Booth Creations can also be found at many weddings, senior graduation parties, and all kinds of company events each year.
-James Ramsay
Editor, Brides Like Us
Wedding Dress , Wedding Photographers , Wedding Trends , Wedding Venues , Wedding Video
Posh Bridal Couture to hit the big time?
There has been a rumor floating around like a Springtime breeze that TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress” has been looking at Posh Bridal in Semple Mansion as a possible location to shoot a future episode. It’s true! A local video crew headed by John at J Walter Anderson Photo and Video shot some video and photos back in January to help TLC see all Posh has to offer in the way of personality and atmosphere. All the ladies of Posh were happy to expose their views on the wedding industry, people and stories of the ups and downs of the bridal market. TLC is considering a “Bridesmaids Edition” and Posh Bridal Couture is in the running. They are just waiting to hear if “Say Yes to the Dress” will say yes to them. Here’s a brief look at the video shot back in January.
– John Anderson
J Walter Anderson Photo and Video
Sometimes a detail shot of the ring can say a lot. Marie and Ehrick had a great idea for a shot of her engagement ring. It felt a little dangerous to put an engagement ring on railroad tracks, but made for a romantic and timeless image. Luckily we had about a mile of visibility in both directions. Some jokes were made about the elegant ring becoming flat as a smashed penny! So with Ehrick on watch and Marie helping make some last minute adjustments to the angle of the ring, we managed to pull it off. Some lyrics come to mind.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell? – Pink Floyd
Photos by James Ramsay
Mary Bumblebee had a rock and roll wedding at First Avenue in Minneapolis, where Prince’s Purple Rain was filmed. Mary set this shot up for her early morning wedding day photographer, James Ramsay, weaving the ring into the laces of her converse. This was a creative, fun way to capture her ring and highlight her awesome shoes. Mary was thrilled with her hair and makeup, done onsite at the hotel by Kira and friends at Muse. Mary is in the wedding industry herself and runs Bumblebee Personal Assistants.
-James Ramsay
Editor, Brides Like Us
Engagements , Real Brides , Wedding Photographers , Wedding Trends
Pick a Theme for your Engagement Photography
Pat and Kelley showed up for their themed engagement shoot ready to rock.
Couldn’t resist getting a photo of Kelley in the alley with her red leather jacket.
I had Kelley approach Pat as if he was on break from playing a set. It didn’t hurt that Pat was actually playing guitar and one highlight from the shoot was when Kelley spontaneously sang the lyrics!
A better view of the guitar and of Kelley’s reaction to Pat playing one of her favorite songs.
I told Pat to do his best imitation of a rock star posing for a CD cover, while Kelley played the role of photo assistant.
Kelley peaked out from behind the reflector as she played the part of flirty photo assistant.
After we arrived at St. Anthony Main, Kelley changed her dress and we noticed an industrial brick loading dock that made an interesting “set.”
This shot was Kelley’s idea. It’s always great to collaborate with couples during an engagement shoot.
Anyone who has seen myself or my wedding photography mentor, Noah Wolf, shoot knows that every once in a while we are known to say, “Give me some sass!” It’s vague on purpose to allow people to interpret it however they want. Kelley pulled off a classy pose.
As the couple changed outfits, the story of their relationship revealed itself with their body language.
A horse drawn carriage magically appeared from across the bridge, and immediately Pat and Kelley realized what a great opportunity it was for some cool photos.
It felt a little bit like the magic of Cinderella with the horse and carriage spontaneously driving by. I call these moments, happy accidents.
Photos by James Ramsay Photography
Many brides choose a fabulous theme for their wedding. It’s more rare for you to choose a theme for your engagement photography. Pat and Kelley knew the first step was planning out a theme with their photographer. Since Pat was a musician, we went over a few ideas and settled on a rock and roll theme. Kelley was nice enough to play the role of photo assistant as well, which was a fun idea we came up with on the spot. The couple also brought a change of outfits to be more formal for some of the photo session. This guaranteed them a variety of looks for save the date cards, place settings, guest book material, and prints for the wall of their trendy Lowertown, St. Paul apartment. Sometimes improvising leads to the best photos. For example the horse and cart was a complete coincidence, but we put ourselves in a position to succeed. It was an amazing bonus to an awesome evening of engagement photography. It seems like something out of a fairy tale.
-James Ramsay
Editor
Brides Like Us
Wedding Cake , Wedding Food , Wedding Trends
Trending here, trending there and trending everywhere
French Macarons are all the rage, and yes that’s Macaron with one “O”
Photos by James Ramsay Photography
East Coast West Coast near and far, the trends for weddings change as fast as the wind blows. Or do they? Here in the Midwest, we seem to be behind what is trending on the coasts. In the last two years or so, there has been a boom in the French Macaron business. So much, that people are becoming connoisseurs of these little devils. What are they you ask?? Well, they are delicate bites of heaven! Crispy on the outside and cakey on the inside. I first encountered them in Beverly Hills a couple of years ago. They have become a fan favorite at wedding receptions boosting an upscale look and easy wedding favor. They are popping up even in the local grocery store. Do not be fooled though. The fresher the better for these tasty morsels. One of my favorite haunts to enjoy these with an amazing mocha is Patisserie 46 in Minneapolis. John Kraus has brought a little bit of Europe to us. Whether served on a dessert table or packaged for your guest, I assure you they will produce a frenzy of happiness to the palette.
-Mary The Salty Sugar Artist
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