Lake Union Cafe Winter Wedding | Seattle Wedding Photographer
It was an incredibly beautiful day for January, and especially for a Seattle wedding.
Sara and her bridesmaids were mostly ready when I arrived at their hotel, while the guys were still milling about getting organized when Josh got to the AirBNB. The start of the day had a few adventures, but everything came together just in time for Mike to see Sara in front of Hotel Max (they even let us take over their lobby for awhile!). We had a great time with their wedding party and then adventured to an iconic place for Seattle Wedding portraits – Queen Anne hill.
From there, it was off to the venue, Lake Union Cafe & Bakery (LUC). The room was elegantly set with black and gold accents, and everything went perfectly from there on out. Sara made a clothing change during reception and they danced the night away with their closest friends and family.
So now the fun stuff, from the bride, Sara, herself:
How did the two of you meet?
Our dirty little secret is that we met online =P Mike invited me to out to bar to see one of his favorite DJs, and we hit it off right away!
Tell me all the awesome proposal details!
On our first date in 2013, Mike took me to see a drum & bass (electronic music) group called The Upbeats. He proposed in 2017 while we were in Prague at a d&b music festival (Let it Roll) seeing The Upbeats 🙂
Is there anything special about your venue that is the reason you chose it?
We consider ourselves a pretty low-maintenance couple we were looking for a Seattle wedding venue that could handle all of the details for us. LUC is gorgeous romantic venue that provides catering, alcohol, decor, floral and a bakery in-house, so it was definitely the way to go for us.
Is there a theme to your wedding?
We’re going for a modern romantic vibe, but we don’t have a really strong theme throughout.
What inspired the clothing choices for your Seattle wedding?
We both love (and are known for) wearing black ALL THE TIME, so it seemed like the obvious choice. And more than anything, we wanted our wedding to be fun and easy for everyone involved so letting the bridesmaids pick their own dress & giving the groomsmen suits they can re-wear was important to us.
Do you have anything special planned for your ceremony?
Mike’s Dad, Tom Rose, is going officiate our wedding. While our ceremony is designed to be short & sweet (only about 20 minutes long), his Dad has a special blessing that he will give to us that is the same blessing he gave to both of Mike’s sisters at their weddings. It is very special to Mike and his family.
What is your most anticipated moment of your wedding day?
We really just cannot wait to be married. Both of us are most looking forward to putting the rings on our fingers and saying “I Do!”
If we bumped into you on a relaxed weekend, where would you be and what would you be doing?
Sitting on the couch in our sweatpants watching Star Trek and snuggling with our 2 cats, Vader & Padme.
Kate of GSquared WeddingsWedding Photographer & Certified Wedding Coordinator
Kate Gansneder has documented 640+ weddings since 1997 and has a reputation for making camera-shy couples forget the camera exists. Couples consistently describe her as someone who knew what they needed before they did, felt like a trusted friend rather than a vendor, and made them feel genuinely calm on a day that could have been overwhelming. 380+ five-star reviews and 11x WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards later, she is still the person who arrives 30 minutes early with everything you forgot you needed.
Kate Gansneder has been photographing weddings since 1997 and has documented over 640 of them across Seattle and Snohomish County. That is not a number for its own sake. It means she has been in the room for enough first dances, enough ceremony tears, enough getting-ready chaos and family dynamics and moments that almost did not happen - that she reads a wedding day the way most people read a room they have been in a thousand times. Automatically. Without thinking about it. Already knowing what comes next. That depth of experience shows up in ways couples do not always expect. She notices you need water before you know you need it. She clocks who in the getting-ready room is spiraling and who is holding it together for everyone else, and she adjusts without announcing it. She handles the thing that almost went wrong before it becomes visible. She walks in and the energy shifts - calmer, warmer, more settled - and most couples cannot tell you exactly why, only that it happened. Couples who were convinced they were camera shy come home with photos of themselves laughing so hard they bent backwards. Couples with complicated family dynamics come home with portraits where everyone looks genuinely happy. Couples who were dreading the formal photo portion of their day come home saying it was actually fun. This is not luck. It is 640 weddings of learning exactly what people need in front of a camera and delivering it before they have to ask. Her 20+ years of experience as a wedding coordinator also helps. The reviews say it better than any bio could. Couples describe Kate as someone who made them feel calm when everything felt overwhelming. Who knew what they needed before they did. Who felt like a trusted friend rather than a vendor they hired. Who shielded them from problems until there was a solution. Who gave them unreasonable hospitality on a day when they deserved exactly that. She is a passionate advocate for Color Integrity editing - your photos should look like your actual wedding day, not a trend that peaks and ages. Her work has been featured in HuffPost, Style Me Pretty, and PNW Weddings. GSquared Weddings has 380+ five-star reviews and 11x WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards. She runs on caramel mochas, arrives 30 minutes early to everything, and will absolutely compliment you during portraits without realizing she is doing it until you giggle. Fair warning.
