Winter Engagement Archives | Carina Photographics

Landscape Arboretum Winter Lights Engagement Photography | Jackie + John

MN Landscape Arboretum Engagement Photography

Jackie + John were so excited for their 2023 MN Landscape Arboretum wedding. Their wedding concept includes stars and galaxies, so they wanted lights and stars included in their theme and decor. When they considered taking engagement photos, they loved the idea of the Winter Lights show at the Arboretum to reflect that beautiful stars and lights theme. I loved it too, so we made plans for an amazing session!

Winter Lights Arboretum Portraits

We made reservations for a beautiful mild winter evening at the Arb. The Winter Lights show was absolutely stunning! We walked through the maze of lights, and had tons of fun capturing the two of them enjoying their time as well. Luckily, the day was relatively warm, and the moon and stars were out – everything was so gorgeous. We walked the entire maze of lights and spent time with all of the beautiful sculptures and light artwork. We even went back to a few of them multiple times so we could make sure to capture several options for them. When the photos were ready, they were blown away and so excited by their photos.

Thank You!

Jackie + John, thank you so much for working with me for your engagement photography! I had so much fun enjoying the Arboretum’s gorgeous Winter Lights display with you. I am so excited for your big day coming up later this year!

If you are considering a MN Landscape Arboretum engagement session, contact me soon!

BONUS: Be sure to take a look at additional engagement sessions I photographed at the MN Landscape Arboretum, including a summer engagement session, another summer engagement session, an autumn engagement session, a winter Landscape Arboretum engagement session, another autumn Arboretum engagement session, and even an Arboretum engagement session at the dog park!

Como Sunken Garden Proposal Photography | Sam + Robyn

By Joanna Carina

Como Park Conservatory Proposal Photography

I received a call one afternoon from Sam. He lived in North Carolina, and he and his girlfriend Robyn were planning to travel to Minnesota in December to visit with Sam’s extended family. While on their trip, he planned to propose to Robyn, and he loved the Como Conservatory Sunken Garden venue. I was so excited to work with them!

Sam decided to bring Robyn to the Conservatory before they headed out to dinner in Minneapolis. I was there early, and when they arrived, I pretended to be a random person photographing flowers. Sam walked Robyn to the end of the Sunken Garden and proposed at the top of the landing. Robyn was shocked! She stood with mouth agape for quite awhile, then reached over and gave Sam a big kiss! They were so adorable! They finally turned toward me and I yelled out “surprise!” and we all had a good laugh. We then had extra time afterward for more photos of them inside the Sunken Garden, and then headed outdoors for some photos along the grounds of Como Park before they headed off to their celebratory dinner.

Thank You!

Sam + Robyn, thank you so much for working with me for your beautiful proposal photography! I had so much fun working with you, and I wish you the best in your new life together!

If you would love to capture Como Conservatory proposal photography, contact me soon!

BONUS: Be sure to check out some other proposals I photographed at Como Park too, including an autumn Como Conservatory proposal, a spring Como proposal, a summer Como Park proposal, another spring Como Park proposal, and an autumn Conservatory proposal.

Como Conservatory Engagement Photography | Sarah + Eric

By Joanna Carina

Como Conservatory Engagement Session

Sarah + Eric live in Chicago. They are planning for their Mill City Museum in Minneapolis later this summer, and were in town to work on planning and details for their big day. So we made time for their engagement photography while they were here too. Since it was winter, and a bitterly cold time of year at that, they loved the idea of having Como Conservatory engagement photos.

St Paul Engagement Photography

We started first thing on a busy weekday morning. Sarah + Eric wanted a few photos with their puppy Sage, so we started off outdoors. Sage was so adorable, and was a perfect model, especially considering it was below zero that morning!

After Sage headed home with Sarah’s dad, the three of us ran indoors to the warm, humid Conservatory. The Sunken Garden featured the bright, fun colors of the spring flower show. Bonus: the light that morning was amazing! The filtered sun was perfect – not too harsh or dull. The gorgeous water, greenery, bright flowers and wonderfully humid air really made us feel like we were in the tropics. We worked in the Sunken Garden, Palm Dome and North Garden before our hour was up. When we were finished, we had a short turnaround until Sarah + Eric came to my studio to see their final photos as they were only in town for a couple of days. They loved their photos!

Thank You!

Thank you so much for choosing to work with me as your engagement photographer, Sarah + Eric. I loved working with you both (and Sage too!) I can’t wait to photograph your wedding later this summer!

If you are interested in having a Como Conservatory engagement session, contact me soon to discuss how we could work together!

BONUS: Be sure to take a look at some other engagement sessions I photographed at Como Park, including a spring engagement session, another spring engagement session, another winter engagement session, a summer engagement session, another spring engagement session, another summer engagement session, an anniversary portrait session, and even a Como Town Amusement Park engagement session!

Take a look at more of Sarah + Eric’s beautiful Como Park Conservatory engagement photos here too!

Mill City Museum + Guthrie Theater Engagement Photography | Alison + Steve

By Joanna Carina

Mill City Museum Engagement Session

Alison + Steve are in the midst of planning for their upcoming fall 2019 wedding. Because it’s the middle of our chilly Minnesota winter, they wanted to have an engagement session in a location with both indoor and outdoor options, so opted for the gorgeous Mill City Museum. I had so much fun during their beautiful engagement session!

As is pretty normal for most couples, getting in front of the camera for the first time is never easy. They were a bit nervous starting out, but once they got the hang of it, they were having fun during their session too! We met up during a weekday afternoon while the Mill City Museum was pretty quiet. We had lots of time to wander around, hanging out in the museum’s nooks and crannies and beautiful lobby setting. I particularly love the beautiful light near the back of the museum, the courtyard views, and the light around the stairway and basement. The Mill City Museum has such beautiful architecture and history from Minneapolis’ beginnings. After we spent plenty of time indoors, we opted to head outside for a few photos outside the museum, facing the Mississippi River. It was definitely a typical chilly Minnesota winter day!

Guthrie Theater Engagement Photos

Once we got a bit too cold for more outdoor fun, we headed over to the Guthrie Theater. We started out in the yellow room near the top of the Guthrie. Such a spectacular view of Minneapolis! Once we were done warming up, we headed outside to the back of the theater for a few photos by the beautiful blue siding and green shrubs. Another building with spectacular architecture!

Thank You!

Thank you so much, Alison + Steve, for working with me as your engagement photographer. I am so happy for the two of you, and so excited for your wedding day coming up this fall!

BONUS 1: Take a look at another spring Mill City Museum engagement session, a spring Mill City Museum + Gold Medal Park engagement session, and another winter Mill City Museum engagement photos too!

BONUS 2: Check out a beautiful Mill City Museum wedding with Guthrie Theater portraits that I captured too!

Take a look at their slideshow too!

Como Park Conservatory Engagement Photography | Carissa + Ryan

By Joanna Carina

Beautiful Como Conservatory Engagement Photos

Carissa + Ryan were planning their James J Hill Center wedding in a few months. They wanted to take advantage of an engagement session when they were visiting town. (They live in Seattle.) While we could have considered outdoor winter photo options, they really loved the idea of trying an indoor tropical garden experience with a Como Conservatory engagement session. They had never been there, but loved the photos I showed, so they were excited to give it a try!

St Paul Engagement Session

The day we arrived was bitterly cold. Being indoors for beautiful Como Conservatory prewedding photos is always so amazing! We started working in the beautiful Sunken Garden, filled with pink poinsettias and other beauties of the winter flower show. Carissa + Ryan were such naturals! They had such fun talking and laughing while I photographed them wandering around the beautiful scenery, sitting on the steps or benches, and just enjoying their time together.

From the Sunken Garden, we moved on to the North Garden. There we enjoyed a few glimpses of the gold fish in the fish pond, and wandering down the stone paths. Then lastly we headed over to the Fern Room to wrap up our session.

Final Engagement Photos

When the time came for their Viewing and Ordering Session, they were so happy with their final images. They ended up choosing an engagement guest book. That is an album of all their favorite images laid out with more white space around the images for guests to sign. Can’t wait to get the final book delivered back from Italy!

Carissa + Ryan, thank you so much for working with me for your awesome engagement session! I loved working with you as your engagement photographer, and I cannot wait for your big day!

If you’re planning for Como Conservatory engagement photography or prewedding photography, contact me soon!

BONUS: Be sure to take a look at some other engagement sessions I photographed at Como Park, including a spring engagement session, a winter engagement session, another spring engagement session, a summer engagement session, another spring engagement session, another summer engagement session, an anniversary portrait session, and even a Como Town Amusement Park engagement session!

Take a look at more of Carissa + Ryan’s beautiful Como Park Conservatory engagement photos here too!

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Engagement Photography | Robin + Paul

By Joanna Carina

MN Landscape Arboretum Engagement Photos

The day was upon us. We could *finally* go through with Robin + Paul’s winter Minnesota Landscape Arboretum engagement session after continually delaying it for almost a month. Why the delays? Because even though we live in the mega-snowy state of Minnesota, we had NO snow! Zip. Zilch. Not a flake! We were hoping to get some beautiful snowy engagement photos at the ever-amazing MN Landscape Arboretum. So when we finally had a couple of snow days (I believe it was only a mere 4-5 inches or so) we jumped at the chance!

MN Landscape Arboretum Engagement Session

Robin + Paul were so much fun to work with. From Paul’s cute one-liners and jokes, to Robin’s infectious laughter, we had such an awesome time together! They brought in some great props and some of their own fun ideas to the mix as well. We ended up spending almost two hours together! The two ways we knew our session was coming to an end: first, the sun was setting (treating us to an awesome sunset) so we were losing light fast; and second, we all started to notice that, as the sun was going down, we were getting reeeeealllly cold.

Robin + Paul, thank you so much for working with me as your engagement photographer! The Arboretum under a fresh snowfall was such a beautiful backdrop. And of course, you guys are SO adorable together. I am so excited to be working with you, and can’t wait for your big day later this summer!

If you’re planning for a Minnesota Landscape Arboretum engagement session, contact me soon to find out how we could work together!

BONUS: Take a look at Robin + Paul’s gorgeous summer Minnesota Landscape Arboretum wedding photos too!

EXTRA BONUS: Be sure to take a look at additional engagement sessions I photographed at the MN Landscape Arboretum, including a summer engagement session, a winter light sculpture engagement session, another summer engagement session, an autumn engagement session, another autumn Arboretum engagement session, and even an Arboretum engagement session at the dog park!

Watch Robin + Paul’s highlight video to see more images too:

Mill City Museum + Mill Ruins Park Engagement Photography | Katie + Bob

By Joanna Carina

Mill Ruins Park Engagement Photography

“Looks great you guys! OK, just one more second….” ~Click~ “Alright, I got it!”

“OK, NOW we need to go inside!” Bob had decided that he’d had enough of the blustery, icy wind that was numbing his ears and hands. He and his fiance, Katie, had planned on photographing their engagement session in Mill Ruins Park, however, the Minnesota winter of 2014 quickly changed their minds. Luckily, we had just started only a few minutes prior, so changed to working on Mill City Museum engagement photos, where we had previously decided we could finish our session if Mill Ruins Park turned out to be too cold. And it definitely was! (After I-don’t-know-how-many Polar Vortexes this winter, we had all pretty much tired of trying to suffer through any more.)

Mill City Museum Engagement Photography

After warming up for a few minutes following our freezing walk around the corner to the museum, we were able to jump right back into the swing of things, and got some amazing photos of the two of them. Luckily, we were visiting the museum during the later half of a weekday, so there were not many members of the public to contend with. We were able to spend lots of time there having fun around the beautiful venue.

Thank You!

Congratulations Katie and Bob! Thank you for hiring me as your engagement photographer. I had so much fun on your Mill Ruins Park and Mill City Museum engagement photos. And I’m so excited to photograph your wedding later this year!

If you’re planning for Mill City Museum or Mill Ruins Park engagement photography or prewedding session, contact me soon!

ETA: Check out Katie + Bob’s beautiful Cottage Vineyard & Winery wedding photos too!

ETA: Be sure to take a look at Alison + Steve’s Mill City Museum engagement session and Danielle + Emmanuel’s Mill City Museum engagement photos too!

Landscape Arboretum Winter Lights Engagement Photography | Jackie + John

MN Landscape Arboretum Engagement Photography

Winter Lights Arboretum Portraits

Thank You!

Como Sunken Garden Proposal Photography | Sam + Robyn

Como Park Conservatory Proposal Photography

Thank You!

Como Conservatory Engagement Photography | Sarah + Eric

Como Conservatory Engagement Session

St Paul Engagement Photography

Thank You!

Mill City Museum + Guthrie Theater Engagement Photography | Alison + Steve

Mill City Museum Engagement Session

Guthrie Theater Engagement Photos

Thank You!

Como Park Conservatory Engagement Photography | Carissa + Ryan

Beautiful Como Conservatory Engagement Photos

St Paul Engagement Session

Final Engagement Photos

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Engagement Photography | Robin + Paul

MN Landscape Arboretum Engagement Photos

MN Landscape Arboretum Engagement Session

Mill City Museum + Mill Ruins Park Engagement Photography | Katie + Bob

Mill Ruins Park Engagement Photography

Mill City Museum Engagement Photography

Thank You!

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FAMILY, SENIOR, ENGAGEMENT + WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY