Perfect venue, perfect weather, amazing wedding party, adorable flower girl (first thing she said to me as I walked up to the house “There are only 2 people that can wear white to a wedding that that is the bride and the flower girl†— too cute) and the loveliest couple. Man, Joe and Kristin are so wonderful and they had such a beautiful wedding from the details to the vows — they totally nailed it and I really like them.
Laura & Josh were married on a Friday with a small gathering of family (blog post here) and the following day they put their wedding clothing back on and had an epic party with all of their loved ones.
On September 27th, Amy and Mike were married at the beautiful Tumbledown Barn surrounded by their friends and family who traveled from all over to be there to celebrate with them. Amy, Mike and I got together a few months back to talk wedding and to get to know each other a bit better, I heard stories of their recent travels to El Salvador, we discussed our common love for Count This Penny and other lovely Madison bands, I heard about Mike's days working as a forest fire fighter and I got to meet their dog who loved me. On their wedding day I felt like a friend, even with one evening together, they are both sweet, loving and wonderful to talk with -- so, I felt less embarrassed that I happened to shed a few tears during their vows that they wrote, talking about the simple everyday things they do for each other (Mike making Amy tea at night) and their promises for the future, it was beyond perfect. Congrats to Amy & Mike, I had a wonderful time documenting your day.
I met Mike & Kate on Skype over a year ago to get to know them as well as talk about their wedding, at the time they were both living and working in Philadelphia – Kate was working in Finance and Mike was in Fashion. After talking with these two, I felt so excited for their wedding, not only are these two sweet, beautiful and best friends but they have amazing taste. A few months after we Skyped, I met Kate & Mike in Milwaukee for their engagement session, I had so much fun wandering the city with them to capture their humor and love. Between that and their wedding, I received a letter letting me know that they had moved to New York because Mike accepted a job at Rag & Bone, a brand that I love and a very exciting job to get. After a year of change and adventure, these lovely Wisconsinites turned New Yorkers and came back on May 24th to have a very Wisconsin wedding at Mulberry Lane Farms in Sherwood with perfect weather and a wonderful group of friends and family to help celebrate their love.
Summer time become my busiest time of year and it is hard to stop working when your work is always on your mind. With this year being a bit more packed than normal with my trip to Ethiopia in the middle of the wedding season, I have a lot to finish and a lot to plan all before July 9th. The terrace has become my place to relax by the lake, sip a beer and listen to my friends play beautiful music. Last week at Dietrich Gosser's show, this beautiful boy had his Mother make him a jet pack - oh to be young again, how I long for the days where summer vacation existed and all you did was play with your friends and go to the pool to get summer blonde hair and have your skin smell like chlorine, always.
Monday marked 35 years of marriage for my wonderful Parents and I happened to be in my hometown that day and they agreed to do a little shoot with me. My Parents and I just walked down to the park near their home called Alicia Park which was a gift to the city of Appleton from Alexander Reid in memory of his wife, Alice Conkey Reid back in 1910. A beautiful park and a perfect place to document two people as so in love.
It is finally sleeping outside weather, so Luke and I packed up the Station Wagon and headed West to Wyalusing State Park for a weekend outdoors. It was my last weekend before my life becomes filled with weddings and portrait sessions, so one weekend where I replaced my computer with a book to sit still for 2 days. Camping calms me and slows me down- in order to get a coffee, I don't have the luxury of walking down the block to get one, instead we build a fire, heat the water and pour it over the grounds. Luke and I made all of our meals on the fire, we spent the afternoon hiking to caves and to a beautiful view of the Mississippi River meeting the Wisconsin River.
Friday I put on my polkadots, red lips and went over to the Gagnon's magical home for a tea party. We decided to do a shoot where we (the adults) had no influence, Nora had her cousin Nan over and they picked out their outfits and we allowed them to decide what to do and I documented the afternoon. Children are so comfortable in front of the camera, so I feel there is no need to pose them - just let them be kids and I'll document them.
