Tag Archives: engagementsessions

An Engagement Session ~ Minneapolis, MN

I met tons of fun and out going brides and grooms in February when I was out at the Plymouth Creek Wedding Expo. Vlad and Carmen were one of them! When they met me for the couple minutes walking by my booth, I knew we would be a great fit; I was ecstatic when they said they for sure wanted me to capture their memories! Vlad and Carmen wanted their engagement session in Minneapolis. They love the downtown skyline and the Stone Arch Bridge and so do I, We even walked across the Stone Arch Bridge to explore St.Anthony on main too.

I definitely had a first on this photography adventure. As we were walking down a heavily wooded gravel path, I thought I saw a cat run across the path. Nope! It was a big fat beaver!! Seriously, I could have reached out and touched it if I wanted to! It was just chomping along on leaves, not a care in the world we were there. Towards the end of the evening the sun started to set as we went back over the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis. The sun set and the Minneapolis skyline looked amazing. Naturally, they had to dance, right in the middle of the bridge. These two definitely love each other and I cannot wait to shoot their wedding in a few short months.

An Engagement Session ~ Plymouth and Stillwater, MN

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Meet Blaine and Adrienne! My word, these two are unbelievably cute! Blaine is Captain of the Plymouth, Minnesota Fire Station 2! So, naturally, we had to get some fun shots at his station. These two were so natural behind the camera I just couldn’t get enough of them. Kissing in the fire truck?! Adorable! After a few AMAZING shots and laughs at the fire station we headed over, way over, to Stillwater, Minnesota.

For those of you who have never explored the fabulous and historic, Downtown Stillwater, I highly recommend taking a trip to see this cute town. Check out their website for events and things to do!  It’s a cute little town right on the St.Croix River, they have tons of stuff to do year-round. Its filled with unique shops, a beautiful one of kind lift bridge and a breathtaking view of it all, at the top of a really, really high set of stairs. I love doing photo shoots here, every time I come here, everything is a little different.

There are tons of historic buildings, nooks and doorways to take a few moments to smile by. I love that it can be rustic and urban at the same time! They have an ice cream shop right on Mainstreet, called Leo’s Malt Shop. Ice cream is their “thing”, so of course, we had to stop! There is always a line, but its worth the wait!

We ended our session where it all began, where Blaine proposed to Adrienne! Remember those really, really high stairs I mentioned earlier? Well, at the top is a beautiful over look of everything and that’s where he popped the question!

Simply stunning. We went up there at just the right time, to get some beautiful golden sun shots, right before it went down!

Congrats you two, I cant wait to capture your special day in just a few short months!

Plymouth Creek Wedding Expo ~ Plymouth, MN

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Yesterday I got the privilege to display my work at the Plymouth Creek Spring Wedding Expo! I have to first say thank you to Angie who put the whole event on, she did a wonderful job at coordinating and everything went so smoothly because of her expertise! I met so many new vendors here around the Twin Cities and a couple other fellow photographers I did not know and hope to work with in the future! Over all it was a wonderful show. The best part was meeting all of the beautiful brides, grooms, mothers, grandmothers, aunts and friends! You are what made the Plymouth Creek Wedding Expo fun and exciting! I loved hearing about how “he proposed” or just about your wedding planning! I had some great laughs with some of you and I feel like it we really hit it off. I look forward to possibly shooting some of your weddings in the near future!

Now to what The brides from the Plymouth Creek Wedding Expo are waiting for! I had a drawing for a FREE Engagement Session, no stings attached just a Free 1 hour engagement session with 15 edited digital images!

And the winner is….. Andrea Paulson!!!!!

Congratulations, I will be in touch with you soon!

Thank you all for entering into Jessica Wilson Photography’s drawing!I look forward to hearing more about the planning of your special day!

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An Engagement Session ~ Hastings, MN

Meet Tom and Mackenzie! When I first met them I knew that we were going to work great together, our personalities just clicked right away. Mackenzie is such a sweet caring woman and  Tom obviously has a big heart to want to help people, as he is a firefighter for the Hasting Fire Department! When Mackenzie told me she wanted some pictures in the fire station I may or may not have screamed like a kid finding out they get to go to a candy store! I was ecstatic! I have never done pictures in a fire station, but it has definitely been on my bucket list of places to shoot. I am so excited that they were open to all my ideas and suggestions! After doing this session, I can’t wait for the next fire fighter to come my way! I also can’t wait for these two to start having babies(too soon?!) so I can incorporate his fire fighter equipment into the shoot! Oh the ideas!!!

Mackenzie and Tom did not want just pictures in the fire department, but were unsure where else to go. They are an outdoorsy couple who love to ski and just be in nature so we started brainstorming. First, we thought about a ski resort and it just didn’t seem to work for us. I remembered a location I actually chose for my family pictures this fall and I described it to her and she fell in love! After the fire department we headed a whole hour north to The Hansen Tree Farm. I am in love with this location; it was the perfect place for these two love birds. From the dreamy tall pines to the quaint little shack with a log burning stove just perfect for snuggling under a blanket, this place was meant for them. Tom was even having some fun pulling Mackenzie on the Toboggan!

This engagement session couldn’t have been any more perfect, well… besides the cold… We are in Minnesota and even though the pictures don’t really show it, it was COLD!!!!Thank you for sticking with me in the frigid weather! I had so much fun with you two and thank you for choosing me to capture your wedding in November!

I’ll leave you all with their story. These two have been in the making for quite some time! Here is how these two love birds fell in love!

“Our moms have been friends with each other for over 10 years, and they always tell us we met because of them. Apparently, Tom and I first met at the middle school orientation when we were both going into 6th grade. However, it obviously wasn’t a very memorable meeting, as neither of us remember it. But later in the year we became good friends and hung out with the same friends for a few years. I had a crush on him the summer before of after 8th grade. Tom and my brother Mitchell became friends after a while too, so Tom was always over at my house hanging out with him doing guy things. I always made them food… As the high school years went on, we remained good friends. In my freshman year of college, we made a pact with each other that if we were both 35 (I think that was the age) and single, we’d get married and have kids. Well, we didn’t have too wait that long because about a year after that pact was made, he “asked” me to be his girlfriend. I put it in quotes because he never actually asked, he just flipped my Claddagh ring in the opposite direction – to mean I’m in a relationship – and waited very very patiently (a solid 10 minutes at least) for me to realize what he did. I smiled, we kissed, and now we’re planning a wedding!” – Mackenzie

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Pretty red fire truck, pretty shiny ring!

 

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I seriously heart this Log burning fireplace!

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Are the serioulsy not the cutest couple?

 

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An Engagement Session ~ Taylors Falls, MN

Tarin contacted me about taking her engagement pictures, but wasn’t sure where to do them, so I was excited to work with her to find the perfect location. We were brain storming locations around the Twin Cities and Tarin it was at that time she shared with me they would be getting married in Iceland!!! How exciting! They just wanted a small, intimate wedding, and they had never been there but wants to go… So yes, Iceland!!!! A photographers dream. That landscape and lighting, who could ask for anything more?! That got me thinking, what about the beautiful Taylors Falls, MN?

Taylors Falls is a small town on the very mid eastern edge of the state bordering Wisconsin. It’s a quaint little town with lots of little shops and an amazing little mom and pop ice cream parlor (check it out next time your in the neighborhood http://www.schoonys.com/ ). Taylors Falls main attraction is Interstate State Park on the St. Croix River. This park is unique due to the “pot holes” created hundreds of years ago from the glaciers. If you have never been, I would suggest taking a trip out and spending the day exploring the bluffs and along the river just to see these amazing holes. This location I think tied right into a MN version of Iceland… Well… that may be a stretch but I think it really fits their wedding style.

Plus, who doesn’t love puppies in ties!

Congrats you two! I can’t wait to see pictures of your gorgeous wedding!

An Engagement Session ~ Millville, MN

When I met Mara for our initial wedding consultation, I knew we were a perfect fit. Our personalities clicked right away. During our meeting, as I do with all my upcoming brides, we discussed where she wanted to do engagement pictures. She told me her fiancés family had property in Millville and their was this pretty cool old shack that had their family name on it. I immediately thought that this will be a really fun location!

Now fast forward to the day of her engagement session. The plan was for me to drive to Red Wing to meet them at their home and follow them to the property. They said there really isn’t an address for it and they just know how to get there. I said ok, no problem. I was super ecstatic this couple had a plan and came up with their OWN place to do this session! Now, this is where the story gets good… They turn down a dirt road, I follow behind… and then they start slowing down in front of me-sweet! I am super excited, we are here! THEN they take a random right turn. I get closer and as I approach the “turn” I realize um… its not a road, it’s a man-made path in between two corn fields! I’ll be honest as we were going down this really bumpy and waist high grass “road” I was a little nervous. Re-thinking to myself, ok, how well do I know these people… We came out to an open area, this small field surrounded by corn fields and plopped right in the middle was this random OLD chicken coop. I say plopped because it literally looked like someone dropped it randomly in this field. They told me this coop it is about 100 years old and it was transferred to this location from a different part of the property once it was no longer usable.

After this amazing adventure, I truly got to see that these two turned out to be an awesome couple and I had a blast! Almost had me ready to run away back to the nearest highway, but now I totally get why they wanted this place for their engagement session. Its not a common place where a lot of people have done a session, its just a perfect little hideaway. Unique, personal places are my favorite locations to shoot at, and the proof is in the photos!

Ranch Engagement Session ~ Windy Ridge Ranch in Woodbury, MN

Oh my goodness. I pulled up to Windy Ridge Ranch in Woodbury, MN a couple weeks ago for an engagement session and ideas just started exploding in my head. I will try and set the scene for you, but there are some things that cannot be described in words, thats why I take photos!

It was absolutely breathtaking. As I turn into the ranch, it is onto a dirt road (dirt roads are always a plus) then, to the left is a beautiful field with some gorgeous trees just waiting to have pictures taken by them. To make this an even more perfect location, the sun sets right behind the hill and I couldn’t ask for anything better. As I pull all the way up the drive I see the barns and girls out riding their horses. Everything was just picture perfect. Did I mention the chickens roaming freely all over the property? That was fun (city girl here)! But wait! It gets better! We took a stroll out into the pasture…. Even more breathtaking, literally had to remind myself to breathe. Hills and trees and horses!!! Lots and lots of horses!!!

So we are walking out into the pasture and my bride-to-be Heather tells me Charles (her fiance) is afraid of horses! I stop in my tracks-WAIT, WHAT?! Now I am thinking, how is this going to work? Throughout the shoot I could really see his love and passion for Heather, and when it came to the horses, lets just say he was a trooper. I promise I was not laughing at him, I was laughing WITH him! As I was taking pictures and even now as I go through them, I realized how much he really loves and cares for Heather, to face his fears for her and still smile, now that has to be love!

Next, this beautiful horse in the pictures deserves a meet and greet! Meet Sage! Sage has been a part of Heathers life for (if I remember right) 15 years! It just wouldn’t have felt right to not include her in all of Heathers special occasions. Speaking of special occasions, Miss Sage will be making her appearance again on Heather and Charles’s wedding day coming this September! They are getting married just a couple miles away at a beautiful barn, so it is definitely a must-do to stop by and include Sage in some pictures on their big day too! I can’t wait to capture your wedding day!

An Engagement Session ~ Chanhassen, MN

Meet Jenni and Kevin!

Jenni and I went to high school together, she was in the class above me but we had a couple classes together. When Jenni contacted me about shooting her wedding I was ecstatic! I thought It was going to be so much fun! They are getting married at the Chanhassen Arboretum in August, so what better place to take engagement pictures then where their having their ceremony?! Jenni and Kevin have been together for a long time, and definitely meant for each other. We had so much fun during this session! Having a personal connection and being able to spend time with an old friend is part of what makes my job so wonderful.

On a fun note, please check out that awesome picture with them in the tree! The BEST thing about this picture is that about five seconds after it was taken, they both fell right out of that tree. I promise I was laughing with them, not at them! Can’t help but see they have “fallen in love” again!!! Hahahaha. I cannot wait to be apart of their special day in August! I hope that we have MANY more laughs then!