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
A French photographer, Beatrice De Guigne, has brilliantly executed one of the most clever concepts we’ve seen in some time. She created a real Barbie + Ken wedding. Then photographed it. It wasn’t easy!
“I had to spread the photos on three days, about 2 hours a day. And a final session of 2 hours for editing. Before that it took me weeks to find and collect all the accessories, to simply prepare the wedding!” – Beatrice De Guigne
While Beatrice had to play bride, wedding planner and wedding photographer, she managed to pull it all off without a hitch. Maybe there is a lesson there. Her sense of humor and patience went a long way.
“I was also asked how the dolls were standing up? Well all alone! Have you ever tried to stand up a Barbie? It’s a pain! As us, they have a balance must be found at every change of position. Fortunately Ken is a bit more stable (he doesn’t wear heels!), But I had to spend 5 minutes on each pose just to keep them standing up! ” – Beatrice De Guigne
For the full portfolio of Barbie and Ken’s wedding photos, Beatrice has them all online. As of this story, they even had a six month anniversary photo shoot already. You guessed it – Snowball fight!
She continues to be featured by Barbie Collectors and blogs around the world. Congratulations, Beatrice! You deserve the recognition. Barbie has never looked so good. And what a happy ending!
You can find her website here.
-James Ramsay
Editor, Brides Like Us
-Photos used courtesy of Beatrice De Guigne
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
Tuesday, August 2nd 2011
A bevy of local wedding professionals gathered at ds Event Center in St. Paul to celebrate the Official Launch of the Minnesota chapter of Wish Upon a Wedding. The chapter had to officially launch before it could begin the process of preparing to grant its first wish.
At this point everything with the wish granting is top secret but Julie Lyford, President of Minnesota’s Wish Upon A Wedding offered, “We can’t grant wishes if we don’t have couples.” Over a year ago in California, a group of people including Lyford and founder and executive director of Wish Upon a Wedding, Liz Guthrie, thought it was important to start a chapter of Wish Upon a Wedding in the Midwest. They hope to cover about a 250 mile radius around the Twin Cities, including some of Wisconsin. The Jack Brass Band closed out the launch party evening by thrilling the upbeat crowd with a boisterous rendition of When the Saints Go Marching In, complete with dance line.
Thea Farrington, owner and decorator at Perfect Day Cakes won 1st place in a friendly cake competition with a unique 2 cake design. 11 founding board members and over 30 sponsors contributed to the success of the launch party.
The winning cake design courtesy of Thea Farrington, owner and decorator at Perfect Day Cakes. One guest thought the two cakes joined by Wish Upon a Wedding was symbolic of a couple, joined together by the wish granters of Wish Upon a Wedding.
Photos by James Ramsay Photography
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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