Essence Event Center | Hunter Green, Black, and Ivory Wedding | Styled Shoot

By jeanninemarie

I am so happy to be sharing these photos from a recent styled shoot at The Essence Event Center, a historic blacksmith building built in 1885 in St. Paul that has been revitalized into a stunning modern event center. It is always exciting to be in a venue at the baby stages – before the dance floor has been partied on and the walls & ceiling decorated weekend after weekend. There’s just something special about walking into a venue for the first time and finding new light and photographing the venue details that were dreamed about for months and years.

A big thank you to Dana with Keyed Up Events for organizing this styled shoot – she did such a wonderful job planning the vision of this shoot so that it would fit the venue’s style. This stellar Twin Cities vendor team she put together did a beautiful job creating a timeless, elegant wedding with an ivory, black, and hunter green color scheme. While I photographed the day, the talented Emily Theisen got everything on video – and it was such a joy to have her energy behind the scenes!

Bridal Inspiration

Our bride, Amber with The Wedding Shoppe, chose a gorgeous gown (“Boady”) designed by Wtoo by Watters The ivory satin gown was truly classy and timeless – a perfect fit for our concept! 139 Hair by Heidi styled the bride’s hair and the bridesmaids hair with curled hairstyles that were left down. LHN BEAUTY used soft, romantic makeup styles for both women to complete their looks.

Groom Getting Ready

The groom, Jacob, wore a black tux from the Suit Shop and Erik, the best man, wore a tux from Jim’s Formalwear through The Wedding Shoppe. GiftedGroom, a local Minneapolis business, put together a great groomsmen gift bundle full of accessories and other items. Both the bride and groom wore their actual wedding rings from The Jeweler Ryan – and we loved that Jacob’s black ring happened to perfectly fit into our color scheme!

Bride & Groom

Our bride and groom models, Amber and Jacob, are a real life couple. Amber, along with Gayle – the Maid of Honor for our shoot, were brides of Keyed Up Events last year, as well as friends in real life. The best man, Erik, is also friends with our other models so their chemistry was so genuine throughout the day. One of my favorite parts about working with a real couple for styled shoots is that there is still a genuine awe about seeing your partner all dressed up. There’s just such a comfort, chemistry, and playfulness that shines through the photos. Talk about a fun date day idea!⁠

Ceremony & Decor

Epitome Papers designed a simple yet classy ivory and hunter green stationery suite that included invitations, menu cards, and table numbers. Studio B Floral Designs created beautiful bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces, and backdrop arrangements of elegant ivory florals and greenery with pussy willows adding a modern touch. Black stands and vases from Keyed Up Events completed the floral design to compliment the venue’s black accents.

Reception Design

For the details, we wanted to feature centerpieces that were stylish yet achievable. So often styled shoots consist of details that aren’t actually regularly permitted at a venue – such as lit candles outside of glass holders or farm tables that aren’t available at the venue. We wanted our details to be easily recreated by couples who fall in love with the concept while looking into the new space. To create this, linens, chargers, and napkins from Festivities were paired with black flatware and glass stemware from Chowgirls Catering. A variety of short and tall floral centerpieces were designed by Studio B Floral Designs. Chowgirls Catering also provided some delicious bacon pecan tartlets and flank steak bites with tarragon aioli for appetizers, as well as a two-tiered cake decorated with fresh blooms and unique greens from Studio B Floral Designs.