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Meghan And Brian's Elegant Black And White Downtown Saint Paul MN Wedding At The Lowlands / January 17, 2024 by Bradley Hanson

I’m caught up with 2023, my busiest year in a decade, and finally able to share one of the best weddings of the year. The groom, Brian, is a well-known photographer in Atlanta, specializing in head shots. The bride, Meghan, is a talented makeup artist in Atlanta. We met for coffee before the wedding while they were in the Minneapolis area and clicked immediately, no pun intended.

Their wedding was unique in a number of ways, but most notably, all of the decor, from the tables to the walls, invites, clothing and details, was black and white. Normally wearing one of my many blue suits, I got a black suit specific to this wedding so I could remain as inconspicuous as a 6’2” photographer can be.

Coordination and design was done by the talented Heidi Almendinger of Jenna Culley Events, and hair was by the always stellar Hair By Sitha, who I’ve had the good fortune of working with probably a dozen times over the past couple years alone.

Everything took place at a new, modern and minimalist wedding venue right on the Mississippi River on the outskirts of downtown Saint Paul, MN. I really loved the venue and can’t wait to photograph there again. The only bump in the road was torrential rain akin to what one might expect in Florida that scuttled my grandiose plans for photographs of the couple during the cocktail hour, but the timing was nearly perfect as it occurred after photographing the family, moments before the start of the ceremony, which took place indoors anyway.

The gallery images below were chosen not only from the pool of favorites, but to give a sense of what it was like to be at The Lowlands on that day. In the spirit of their chiaroscuro contrasty design intentions, I’ve chosen to only share B&W images.

Vendors from Meghan and Brian’s wedding:

Venue: The Lowlands

Beauty: Lady Vamp Artistry - Sitha Kim (hair), Laura Seaboy (makeup), Rob Hinderstein (tattoo cover)

Bridal Fashion: White Magnolia Bridal Collection

Cake: Queen of Cake

Catering: Green Mangos

Entertainment: Rock With U (Band) & Jennifer Marlin Illustration (Fashion Artist)

Floral: Wilderland Floral (Jamie Spellerberg)

Groom's Attire: Red Label Bespoke

Officiant: Melinda Guess

Photography: Bradley Hanson Photography

Rentals & Decor: Linen Effects, Collected & Co, AVEX & Girl Friday

Stationery: Minted

Transportation: Renee's Limousine & Unparalleled Parking

Travel & Accommodations: The St. Paul Hotel, Hyatt Place St. Paul/Downtown, Loews Minneapolis

Videographer: Cooper Films & Love Stream (live streaming)

Wedding Planner & Event Design: Jenna Culley Events (Heidi Almendinger)

If you want to follow me on Instagram, I have two accounts: @bradleyhanson is my personal one, all square images from my iPhone since 2008. @bradleyhansonphotography is my professional portfolio, a mix of weddings, family and portraits, as well as black and white and color landscape images. If you are still reading this far, you’ve already figured out how to find my website…

I am a Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota based wedding photographer, specializing in documentary style weddings, elopements, and Indian/Hindu weddings all over the world. To see more of my wedding work, click the wedding galleries under the portfolio heading.

To inquire about my rates and availability, call me at 206-393-8292, email me at bradley@bradleyhanson.com or fill out the contact form (click the “contact” link on the top right of the page).

Abbey And Mitchell's North Loop / Northeast Minneapolis Minnesota Wedding at Hewing Hotel And Bauhaus Brew Labs / November 23, 2023 by Bradley Hanson

Abbey and Mitchell started their day near their Mississippi River apartment at the lovely Hewing Hotel in North Loop neighborhood of Minneapolis, with their wedding ceremony and reception at Bauhaus Brew Labs in Northeast Minneapolis. They were very sweet and obviously very connected to each other. Abbey’s dress was one the best I had seen in a while.

According to Abbey: “The North Loop and northeast being near and dear to us. We’ve lived in North Loop the entirety of our relationship and spend a lot of time making memories with friends in NE (Bauhaus in particular being our favorite spot), so incorporating those spots was important to us. We wanted our wedding to be authentically us, and laid back in a way that made our guests feel they could be themselves.”

“After meticulously researching wedding photographers, we landed on Bradley given his documentary style, natural editing, and his professional training and experience. Unlike many photographers we considered, Bradley is a true student of photography and a master of his craft. He was a pleasure to work with, making sure to understand our vision, needs, and plan for our wedding day. We adore our photos, received them (over 1,000 of them) within one month. Our guests continue to comment on how impressed they were by Bradley and that our photos are the best wedding photos they’ve ever seen. We don’t disagree.”

-Abbey and Mitchell

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Preparation Venue: @hewinghotel
Reception Venue + Bar: @bauhausbrewlabs
Coordination: @mavenevents
Hair + Makeup: @ladyvampartistry
Catering - Food Truck: @butchersalt
Catering - Food Truck: @centro_twincities
Entertainment: @transmission_music
Photography: @bradleyhansonphotography
Florals: @notherly.flora
Ice Cream: @lildippersoftserve

To inquire about my rates and availability, call me at 206-393-8292, email me at bradley@bradleyhanson.com or fill out the contact form (click the “contact” link on the top right of the page).

Wedding Contest Winning Image For World's Best Wedding Photos "What Love Looks Like" / February 14, 2023 by Bradley Hanson

This photo of mine was just featured as a winning image in The World's Best Wedding Photos for their article on "What Love Looks Like." It's been an honor. To see more photographs from the article, you can click below. This photograph was at the beautiful Hewing Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, one of my favorite wedding venues anywhere.

Kelsey and Chase eloped at City Hall in Minneapolis and had a quick ceremony. This was their first look near the hotel just before then!

https://www.worldsbestweddingphotos.com/photography-contests-valentines-day-2023

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I am a Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota based wedding photographer, specializing in documentary style weddings and Indian/Hindu weddings all over the world. To see more of my wedding work, click the wedding galleries under the portfolio heading. To inquire about my rates and availability, call me at 206-393-8292, email me at bradley@bradleyhanson.com or fill out the contact form (click the “contact” link on the top right above this paragraph).

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Maddie and Nick's New Year's Eve 70's Disco Theme Landmark Center Wedding RECEPTION in Saint Paul, MN / February 7, 2023 by Bradley Hanson

No getting ready, none of the formality, no wedding ceremony, just a fun, 1970s disco-themed reception at the lovely Landmark Center in downtown Saint Paul, MN.

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This was my last wedding in 2022. I’ve been taking a break from social media to catch up and renovate my website, but this wedding was a favorite of mine, so more images and text to come in the next few days.

Gina And Amanda's Elegant And Snowy Winter Wedding At The Hewing Hotel In Downtown Minneapolis / December 20, 2021 by Bradley Hanson

This was my last wedding of 2021 and easily one of the best.

Gina and Amanda got married at the elegant Hewing Hotel in the North Loop neighborhood of downtown Minneapolis. It was such a joy. They were amazing people that clearly and a deep connection. Gina is from Boston, Amanda from Minneapolis. They met in September of 2019 and survived 6 months of long distance relationship until the pandemic forced them to quarantine together in Minneapolis. A few days after a heavy blizzard that began melting almost immediately, they were married on a moderately mild December day in Minneapolis. They are both special ed teachers in Boston, which perfectly suits their intelligence and their caring and giving nature.

The Hewing Hotel in downtown Minneapolis is one of my favorite venues because of the timeless design and beautiful light.

From Gina and Amanda: “We decided on a Sunday brunch wedding because we are both sober, vegetarians, and love brunch, so it felt very us!”

Wedding planning and floral design by Ashley Skeie | Wedding And Event Planning

“Bradley - I’ve been trying to craft a perfect response but the pictures have left me speechless. I know when I thought of pictures for our wedding, your work has completely blown every expectation I had out of the water. There are absolutely priceless pictures of not only us as a couple but of us with people that mean so much to us. I cannot thank you enough for doing your job and your passion so beautifully. We have only scratched the surface in the words of gratitude we truly have for you. In the weeks after our wedding we have received countless compliments on the incredible pictures but also from our family and friends that were able to speak about how kind you are. There are truly no words I could attempt to string together that could convey how proud we are to tell and show people who our photographer was. I cannot wait to relive that day through your work in the years to come. Forever grateful.” - Gina and Amanda

I was just interviewed in World's Best Wedding Photos about how I got started in Seattle shooting weddings on film, how I work, and why I never ended up delivering pizzas. They also selected some of their favorite photographs of mine. If you’d like to read the entire interview and see the accompanying gallery, click here.

https://www.worldsbestweddingphotos.com/artist-interview-bradley-hanson

Maya and Vilas' Autumn Wedding At Mill City Museum And McNamara Event Center In Minneapolis / November 6, 2021 by Bradley Hanson

Maya and Vilas had a two day Indian wedding in Minneapolis. Day one was at the lovely and historic Mill City Museum on the Mississippi River near the Stone Arch Bridge, and Day two was at the massive McNamara Event Center in Minneapolis on the University of Minnesota campus. They live in New York, but got married here because this is where Maya grew up.

The McNamara Event Center was completely transformed by the wonderful Reena Maheshwari of Kahani Events. You can see more of her work at https://www.kahanievents.com.

I am a Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota based wedding photographer, specializing in documentary style weddings, Jewish weddings and Indian/Hindu weddings all over the world. To see more of my work, click the wedding galleries under the portfolio heading. To inquire about my rates and availability, call me at 206-393-8292, email me at bradley@bradleyhanson.com or fill out the contact form (click the “contact” link on the top right above this paragraph).

Another One Of My Wedding Photographs From Film Was Just Featured On The World's Best Wedding Photos / March 31, 2021 by Bradley Hanson

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One of my images, taken when I was still shooting all film and focusing manually, was featured by the website World’s Best Wedding Photos, along with other wedding images that are classic wedding/bridal portraits. You can see the entire article by clicking here.