Yes, It Is Possible To Get Married During The Pandemic In Minneapolis And St. Paul Minnesota / February 17, 2021 by Bradley Hanson

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In March of 2020, I was about to photograph a wedding in Negril, Jamaica. At that time, the Covid-19 pandemic was clearly snowballing to the point that flights began to be restricted. Those clients eloped in their living room in Vermont, while the rest of my clients began looking for alternative dates for 2021. Almost all of the 2020 weddings either canceled or rescheduled their weddings for mid 2021 and it was clear that 2020 would be not only a year we’d never forget, but a rocky road for restaurants, small businesses and the self-employed like artists and craftsmen.

I just received this review on Google:

“Planning a wedding during a pandemic is definitely difficult. Having vendors who do their best to make your life easier, like Bradley did, becomes top priority. From start to finish, I cannot express how much we appreciated Bradley and his quick wit and talents. During our engagement photoshoot it became evident that he was willing to go the extra mile to make sure the photos reflected our personalities and our relationship as a whole, venturing to a nearby park so we could include our passion of canoeing. He was such a sport about any of our crazy ideas. I never had to worry about communication or updates from Bradley, he was very proactive. Knowing how busy our wedding day would be, he knew to ask ahead of time what photos were a priority to us. His eye for a great shot was the icing on the cake!

On top of his obvious skill behind a camera came what I would argue is even more important than that: his ability to make everyone feel comfortable in front of the camera. Not everyone enjoys getting their picture taken, but you would never guess that from the interactions our small guest list had with him. Everyone enjoyed having Bradley around, he was a fantastic addition to our small family gathering. We are so appreciative of Bradley and his capturing our day so perfectly. With a quick photo turnaround we were able to relive the day sooner than we had even anticipated! I could not recommend Bradley highly enough. You cannot go wrong with this very talented photographer!” - Elizabeth and Thad

The current rules for weddings in Minnesota, as of this writing, are much less restrictive than they were even a month ago. During the current Polar Vortex, no one is getting married outside here, so we will ignore those rules, but for indoor weddings that are serving food and drinks, the only limitation is that masks and social distancing are required, and the number of guests is limited to 50% capacity.

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 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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Abby and Brendan changed their original plans because of Covid-19, scaling down their wedding in 25 guests. The couple and their wedding party got ready at an Air BNB in St. Paul and their beautiful wedding was held at Paikka in St. Paul, MN.

Abby and Brendan met me in 2018 while I was photographing a wedding for their friend, Kathryn. Kathryn was the officiant for this wedding, her first in that capacity.

Abby’s dress was a striking and vibrant yellow and really stole the show.

From Abby:

How we met:

Initially, Brendan’s perspective was that Abby only goes to potlucks because it took three of them before Abby accidentally turned down Brendan’s attempt to go on a date. Luckily, Abby followed up shortly after and we’ve been together since. We continued to have non-potluck and potluck related memories, and eventually moved in together in Northeast Minneapolis. Brendan finished medical school and our adventure moved us to Denver, Colorado. We got engaged at sunset in the Sand Dunes National Park on a Colorado road trip.

Planning from CO to MN during a pandemic:

We are definitely happy with the end result! We found wedding planning to be generally challenging, but adding distance and a pandemic, nearly impossible.

The original plan was to have our big families together in a 150 person wedding. We chose MN to make it easier for most guests to come - being that most of our family and friends live in Minnesota or Chicago.

When the pandemic hit, we thought we were so lucky to have planned a fall wedding (hah!). We both work in healthcare, and stayed up to date on all Covid info because it was ingrained in our everyday work lives. Once it became clear that the pandemic wasn't going anywhere, we tried to change gears. We cancelled the big party, and planned to have the wedding once the pandemic was over.

Some very important family members had some serious health issues this year and it became more important to have our wedding ASAP. We went through many different plans and struggled to find the perfect fit to have the people we care about present and to keep them safe.

At each step, we questioned whether or not to keep going. But we did - so that those few special people could be there. After many plans failed, we decided to push through and make the final sprint. We did all the planning and wedding work aside from two vendors already booked in a matter of four weeks - Bradley Hanson Photography and Brasa Catering. Planner, venue, floral, all decor, makeup, hair, bartender, new website, coordinated with our 25 invitees, and worked on all the little details up to the morning of the wedding!

Oofta. And for all of it, we’re glad we did it. The day went by fast, but we had the most important people there. They all had fun. We had fun. Even the most nervous felt safe with the Covid precautions in place. We got to see family members and friends we hadn't seen in far too long. All the small details blended together and looked great. We will literally cherish these pictures forever. The ceremony was exceptional, made so special by our friend and officiant Kathryn's surprise speech, and reading our vows in front of the small group (something we wouldn't have done with the big group).

After the wedding, our families were so thankful that we did it, and that we did it when all of our family members could attend and enjoy it. AND! After two weeks, no one has gotten sick. Our safety measures paid off. Even with masks and following rules, we knew there were risks. After the wedding was over, it was the only thing still on our minds. We are so thankful we were able to have our tiny wedding, have a few more delicate guests attend, and have everyone stay well.

-Abby

Click any image below to see it at full size. If you click on the first image, you can scroll through the larger images with the arrows in the edges of the photographs.