These two had an incredible elopement at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum’s Meyer-Deats Conservatory. They shared their vows amongst their most important people surrounded by beautiful blooms. It was a dream and I was so grateful to have been there to capture it.
The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum had been on my bucket list to photograph a wedding at. Not only did I get to photograph at the Arboretum, BUT the wedding took place in the conservatory! This Meyer-Deats conservatory was where I wanted to get married as I am a plant lover, but it was too small for our large wedding. Alls that to say, I’m obsessed with the Meyer-Deats Conservatory inside the Minnesota Arboretum and I had the best time capturing this wedding day!
It’s hard to beat an intimate celebration in a conservatory. I may be biased, as I expressed before that I LOVE conservatories, but I think botanical weddings are the best kind. Besides florals and trees being gorgeous in general, they also allow for some incredible framing. These type of carefully framed images help pause the moment captured in an even more authentic and emotional light. I think it’s such a fun challenge to find different ways to frame and photograph wedding moments. Foliage always presents many opportunities to do so!
A unique touch this couple added to their wedding day was passing around their rings to each attendee to say a blessing over them before they were exchanged. I thought this was so special and a great way to include everyone in your wedding ceremony. Their two week old nephew even got a moment with the rings! It was perfect for a small and intimate wedding.
After the ceremony in the Conservatory, we had the opportunity to take wedding portraits around the Arboretum. Even though it was March 1st and nothing was blooming, the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum was still a stunning location for photographs. We got some gorgeous golden hour shots for these two.
One of my favorite spots in the arboretum is this bridge! The pines and the sunshine and the dip moment was a *chef’s kiss.*
Staircases also pose a great opportunity for photographs. One thing that I see photographers not doing enough of is getting people on different levels from each other, and stairs present a great place to do so. I love the photo of the Bride looking down at the groom. It’s also an opportunity to have the shorter partner give the taller partner a hug from behind since on flat ground it’s going to always be the other way around! These are just a few poses that I like to do when there is a staircase around.
This wedding was the start of me realizing how much I enjoy intimate weddings. Elopements and Micro-weddings are what I’m trying to steer my business in the direction of and I am so excited to capture more wedding days like this one. It was the best late winter, intimate, micro wedding / elopement. I was so honored to be their wedding photographer!
Keywords: Minneapolis wedding, minnesota wedding, minnesota landscape arboretum, meyer-deats conservatory, minnesota elopement, minneapolis elopement, intimate wedding, micro wedding, golden hour wedding photos
