Carrie + Mitch >> Joyful + Intimate New Year's Eve Wedding (Saint Paul, MN)

I’ve kind of loved everything about meeting + connecting + photographing Carrie and Mitch.

For starters, our mutual friend is the Rochester Public Library with a dash of Instagram on the side. The two introduced us and I’m secretly very amused by this. (Second fun, more broadly entertaining fact: their venue also catered Kirby Puckett’s wedding in 1986. Neat-o!)

Fast forward four years and there’s been an engagement with a wedding to plan. Carrie reaches out and my favorite word in that entire first email was/is (drumroll) GOOFY. There are a very few words that automatically endear me to a couple, and goofy lands squarely in that category. It’s stuck in my brain these last few months and has been solidly confirmed through the process.

Next: wedding! So now that we’ve established goofy is in the mix, let’s throw in a few more adjectives. How about joyful. Present. Relaxed. Loving. Expressive. Keep these words in mind as you scroll. I promise you’ll see them. (Those adjectives along with sweet, sentimental details like Carrie’s necklace—a hunk of gold from a Alaskan mine from the time her grandparent’s worked there, which was also what Mitch proposed with.)

Carrie and Mitch give weight to my theory that my favorite weddings always include the same thing—they’re heavy on fun, heavy on feelings. Now throw in some sparkles, a blue dress, and a proper snowfall, and you’ve got a NYE “I do” worth taking a scroll (or seven) through.

Congrats, C+M!

Vendor shout outs!

Venue: K & J Catering / The Victorian Room in North Saint Paul
Hair: Therese Ashe of Adams of Salon 71 in Edina
Dress: Mestad’s Bridal and Formal Wear in Rochester (Mike helped me find and correctly order the perfect pregnancy hiding ballgown)
Dress Alterations: TM Alterations in Rochester (Thanh Madson is brilliant and wonderful and fully deserving of all accolades! She’s the other half of the magic behind me NOT looking 7 months pregnant in that gown! )
Suit: Savvi Formalwear in Burnsville (Allure Men + Michael Kors)
Officiant: Brother of the bride, with help from the bride ;)
Cake/desserts: Hy-Vee in Lakeville
DJ: Daniel P. from BellaGala 
Hotel: Fairfield Inn & Suites in Vadnais Heights (Specifically Sheng Vang, their Sales Coordinator, who helped through the room blocks and meeting room rental)
Shuttle Buses: Schmitty & Sons from Lakeville (shuttle driver #1, Ernie, helped me get my giant dress into our truck to head to the venue from the hotel)