Megan & Cesar: the Centennial Lakes for Engagement Session

Having your engagement pictures taken by a friendly photographer in the Twin Cities before your ceremony is always a good idea. Thus, Megan and Cesar first contacted me on the internet. My work pleased them and shortly after they told me they wanted to go to the Centennial Lakes in Edina, MN.

When I first googled it, I was surprised to discover such a place. Indeed, the lake is surrounded by a commercial center on one side and an apartment complex on the other side. Thus I was quite skeptical of this choice… But they insisted and told me it’s a famous place. So I believed them and then I realized they were right! Since then I have been to this place several times! It’s a classic in Edina.

I will take advantage of this article to explain their photo session and to present this location to you.

Before the Photo Session at Centennial Lakes Edina

I do much more than just shoot a ceremony. As a professional wedding photographer in Minneapolis in the Twin Cities, I guarantee your engagement session quality. In other words, I help you choose the best clothes regarding your location and your silhouette so that you receive only compliments on your photos.

That’s why, several days prior to the shooting, we discussed what to wear or what to avoid for such photographs. Also, I was happy to see the bride-to-be didn’t wear any pinstripe pants or patterned dress. They chose a pretty relaxed and casual outfit. Both wore blue jeans with white tops, covered by open sweaters (blue and red, quite famous colors in the USA).

Centennial Lakes Engagement Session With a Dog

Cesar wanted to include their dog in their portraits. That was another great idea. I am used to dogs and love taking pictures with pets. This brown dog reminds me a lot of my grandmother’s French water dog. It was so cute and always wanted to play, so I enjoyed it. As you can easily imagine, a photo session with dogs always takes a bit longer than usual. However, it gives the couple a real opportunity to share something together: playing with their dog! It’s not always easy, because pets don’t always obey. But it is definitely worth it. Furthermore, I believe dogs could be considered as the first kid of a couple. You have to take care of it and it requires a lot of attention, like babies! So in a symbolic aspect, including your animal in your photos shows how strong your bonds are, and how good parents you would be.

The Different Parts of the Centennial Lakes Edina

Centennial Lakes Edina is a pretty interesting place. It’s a typical example of nature being completely domesticated by humans and their constructions. The landscape architect who designed it must have had a lot of fun. Indeed, in a relatively small field, he mixed plenty of different landscape styles.

A Unique Scenery With Tons of Options

Centennial Lakes Edina is surrounded by an office building, a commercial center, and residential buildings. You can also find a mini golf field, an auditorium, and a covered white Victorian-styled venue (the Hughes Pavilion for indoor ceremonies). In addition to the walkway, you can find some nice old-fashioned iron pedestrian bridges over the water, a pier and a playground. The vegetation is also much diversified with some meadow parts, some lawn, some pine trees and some hills. Finally, there are two highway bridge crossings over the park. And, despite all the accumulation of completely different elements, the park still preserves a cohesive design.

The Amphitheater

Facing the lake, with a view of the Hughes Pavilion (that could also be rented), this modern auditorium is perfect for small wedding ceremonies during summer, if you don’t mind having visitors staring at you when you become husband and wife.

The Centennial Lakes Engagement Session

We started the session by using the mini-golf club’s lawn. Given we were there on a weekday, the Centennial Lakes was actually pretty empty, and that was an advantage for us. I asked the two lovers to walk like two teenagers in love, to have complicity and at the same time to hold their dog on a leash. It worked pretty well, at least when the dog was not pulling Cesar in every direction.

Then, we used a small hill covered by lawn. I asked the couple to sit on a blanket, pretending they were picnicking. I tried to take some staged pictures including their pet. Also, given it was the beginning of fall, I included in the background of their pictures these trees which had turned completely yellow.

After that, we played with the adjacent reeds in the high grass part. I was obviously not the first photographer with this idea since we didn’t have to break any plant to make room for the two lovers; there was already a spot made for us, ready to be used! I am quite sure that all the local photographers appreciate that the management plan of the city includes this green space! After that, we used a giant weeping willow tree. The dog was barking after ducks, trying to catch them, and Cesar held it tight, struggling to keep it out of the water.

That’s also one of those authentic and unexpected moments when you have a dog. Then, the lovers sat on a wooden recreation chair for one picture and we continued our walk around the lake and we caught some pictures using the scenic view of the city’s green space.

A Second Part of the Session in a Famous Photo Spot

The fiancés also wanted some photos at the most famous spot in the cities: the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis. So, given the sun was starting to hide behind the clouds, we didn’t stay too long at the Centennial Lakes. Indeed, we left Edina, MN, and headed up to the historic bridge. On their way, they stopped at their home, changed their outfit by wearing business casual clothes and dropped off their dog.

Conclusion: Great Training Before Their Wedding

Megan and Cesar are not the kinds of people who are used to cameras. Compliments made her blush and shy. So before their wedding ceremony, and in order to get used to being photographed for this special day, they needed an engagement session for training. I believe they got much more relaxed at the end of their photo session; thus their portraits look more natural.

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