St. Paul, Minnesota

FedererPhoto

I am photographing a wedding at the Cathedral in St. Paul, Minnesota. The reception is at Summit Manor just down the street.

My initial reaction is to just shoot around the Cathedral - it's a great building and a great location in St. Paul. I believe the are walking to the reception site so I thought we could walk together and take some photographs on the way as well - they only get 30 min after the ceremony at the Cathedral before they get the boot. A preliminary scouting trip proved this would be a decent idea and offer something that rings true to their wedding, rather than some manufactured setting.

However... The couple wanted to go to Como park between the ceremony and the reception. With travel time, if we did this, we'd have about 15 min to work at Como. They agree that seems silly but still want to 'look around'.

Thus...
So I'm looking for other good places in/near St. Paul... Preferably ones where the cathdral in the background is an option, but its not really a big deal to them. I've lived here my whole life, but I'm a suburbanite so maybe you guys/gals know some great undiscovered spots that I don't...

davev

Well, you do have the park right across the street from the Cathedral, there are 2 small parks down the road on Summit by Ramsey Hill, the Capital is down the street, but unless they work for the government, I don't think you'd want to shoot there.
Como offers so much more, but my Rice Park downtown, or Harriet Island for a backdrop.
If they end up getting back a few minutes late what's going to happen?

FedererPhoto

davev wrote:

Como offers so much more, but my Rice Park downtown, or Harriet Island for a backdrop.
If they end up getting back a few minutes late what's going to happen?

I totally agree. Como is a great place to shoot. It's just that, in addition to the short time, it's so.... 'disconnected' from the day, ya know?
I dunno, something about having the background of your shots connected to the places of your wedding 'fits' in my mind... and I feel offers images they will enjoy more in the long run. I guess I'm just kind of a 'run with it' kind of person - it rains? bust out some umbrellas, it's part of the day, lets shoot - snows, get some extra clothes cause we are having a snowball fight... you know...Capture what's there, work with it, don't try to manufacture something totally disconnected from the day.
There is a magic of the 'wedding'... if you leave it (too much) for a photo shoot it becomes just that - a photo shoot in wedding attire, no longer 'wedding pictures' that are trying to capture the event.... if that makes sense.

Either way, some good reccomendations... I'm heading on a scouting trip later this week, I'll be sure to check them out...