November weddings
Say hello to my final wedding of 2023. It was one to remember. This year I didn’t end my season in December, but in November, a common occurrence for me. Winter weddings in Wisconsin are always hit or miss and when I do get winter weddings, it’s usually just a once a month occurrence.
This year my last wedding was the second week of November, and for whatever reason I always have great memories of this time of year. I feel like there is always a last glimpse of warm weather and sunshine before winter fully sets in and I end up appreciating that final farewell to warmer days.
Bob and Renee’s wedding didn’t exactly fall on a warm day. In fact, a couple days after their wedding, the weather actually spiked another 10 degrees higher. But, they did have lovely sunshine and what I’ve found is that if you’re in sunshine, 40 degree weather can be quite bearable, even enjoyable.
The two got married at The Bog in Saukville, a lovely golf resort that really caters to events and weddings. This was my second time at The Bog and both weddings turned out great. This was principally due to how kind and sweet the couples were, but the venue is wonderful as well.
As for the sunshine, that made its greatest impact before the ceremony when Bob and Renee opted for a first look out on the ceremony site, which had a couple fairways in the background.
Their first look was super special. Bob is an emotional guy and there were many times during the wedding when he teared up a bit and this was one of the first times. They also each had a wedding journal books inscribed with their names on top. They wrote letters to each other and they read them immediately after the first look.
After they read their books, we immediately moved into the family portraits, starting with a portrait of Bob, Renee and their dog. Their dog was a big part of their life, so I made sure to get lots of pictures of her during the ceremony.
As we took family portraits and then started to get ready for the ceremony, I couldn’t help but marvel at that weather like we talked about. It was just a sunny and warm day, but cool enough that there was a crispness to the air. It made me think about my college days in Bozeman, Montana at Montana State University.
Bozeman is located in a high elevation valley in the Rocky Mountain Range and has mountains out in the distance everywhere around the city. In the fall, the mountain air comes down into the valley bringing that cool and clean mountain air. It’s just fresh and every time I smell that crispness, I’m reminded of Bozeman.
A good wedding plan and attitude
Renee was an ideal bride to work with, because she had the best approach to wedding planning. She was meticulous and realistic with her plans. She is definitely a planner and she planned every single part of the wedding.
She had little details thought out like the wedding books, had the details ready when I arrived, had a timeline that actually worked and even made her own wedding cake.
And, then on her wedding day she just had fun. She was relaxed. She followed through on her own plans. And, she rolled with the day, letting go of things that changed.
This is absolutely the correct mentality to have. There are so many things that can change or go wrong that if you’re not go with the flow on your wedding day you’ll find yourself swimming upstream against a waterfall. There are just too many variables and people and vendors to assume that everything will go close to plan.
Portrait Session
Renee also had another trait that made me absolutely relish being her photographer. She gave me time and license during the wedding portraits around The Bog.
I work with a whole host of different brides and grooms and a lot of them like things differently from each other.
Many of my couples prefer not to spend their entire day taking portraits, either family portraits, wedding party portraits or creative couple portraits. They instead want the bare minimum and would rather spend the day having fun with the guests and friends they asked to be there, rather than the vendors they paid to be there.
I think it’s incredibly important to respect that and as a somewhat more seasoned photographer it’s my job to find a right balance where I get all the photos I need (the ones that they’ll want to have months or years after the wedding, no matter what they say on the day of) while honoring their wishes where they look back on their wedding remembering the fun times with family and guests instead of standing for portraits.
For Renee, I didn’t have to worry about that. She wanted great portraits and she gave me ample time. She also hung in there and never asked to end early, even though it was super cold! Eventually I was the one who suggested we get back to the reception to stay on time!
Although it was sunny earlier in the day, by the time we hit golden hour, dusk, sunset and even twilight hours it was definitely not warm. We were going around the golf course in a golf cart in temperatures in the 30s and Renee was game for all of it!
We actually got to all of The Bog’s favorite recommendations, the old barn, the sunset view, the bridge and the pond. The pond was last and it was my favorite. By the time we made it here, it was twilight and I loved the colors: purple, blue and variations of those. It was a special spot.
Last Dance
This was my second wedding of the year where the bride and groom had a last dance. I’m thinking this is becoming more and more popular, because I haven’t even suggested it, but it’s been suggested to me by the couples.
What happens is near the end of the night or the actual end of the night when the DJ is about to wrap up and the venue is about to close the DJ will kick everyone off the dance floor and invite the couple out to do one final dance by themselves.
For Bob and Renee, they were game to do this out on the patio, even though their original first dance was inside. We set up a small speaker and they danced under string lights all by themselves. Check out the photos to see if you want to do the same thing at your wedding!
Bible Verse of the day: “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” – Genesis 8:22
Venue: The Bog
Dress: Volle’s
Bridesmaid’s Dresses: David’s Bridal
Groom’s Attire: Richard Bennett
Groomsmen Suits: Bjorn’s (Kenosha)
Flowers: Windsong Designs
Makeup and Hair: La Bella Salon
DJ: Midwest Sound
Rings: Brandt Jewelers
Groom’s Ring: Jared’s
