A little more than a month ago, my sister took her kids and my parents to Disney World and a little bit before that, my sister-in-law took her family to Disney World too.

Both of them excitedly told me about all the different theme parks they visited and my sister, knowing I’m a big Star Wars fan, told me all about the Star Wars resort where they were driven around by a droid, built an R2-D2 and visited the Millennium Falcon.

Before that, I had quite a few clients that told me about visiting the resort, so you could say that in the past year it felt like everyone I knew or had met were taking vacations down to the “most magical place on earth.”

So, it was a fitting end to my 2021 wedding season that I’d celebrate Devon and MJ who not only were going to Disney World for their honeymoon, but had a lovely winter Disney-themed wedding in Kettle Moraine and Pewaukee.

Devon is a huge Disney fan and so she made sure to include several winks, nods and references to her favorite characters and movies. What I appreciated most about Devon’s style was her subtlety. I’ve been to other themed weddings that were beautiful, but apparent in the direction of where they went. But with Devon and MJ’s wedding, you could easily miss the Disney references if you weren’t looking for them.

In fact, Devon’s father pointed the first decoration out to me, which were little sparkly gold Mickey Mouse ears and head dropped in with leaf petals that lined the ceremony aisle.

There were also more of those on the welcome table and sewn into Devon’s veil. At the reception, Cinderella and Prince Charming silhouettes were on the Table and Placards and the couple used the classic Disney font for her hot sauce wedding favors.

Devon also weaved this into the photos where most notably she brought a Tigger stuffed animal specifically so I could take a close up of the prop with her and MJ kissing in the background. We also took a photo with her and the two maids of honor holding their bouquets to form Mickey Mouse.

Receiving Line

Devon and MJ had their ceremony at their church, Kettle Moraine Community Church, a beautiful country church with large windows in their sanctuary and a stone fireplace in one of the side rooms.

After the ceremony, Devon and MJ decided to do a receiving line where they stand in the entryway of the church and greet each individual guest as they leave the sanctuary. This custom briefly went on hold for many couples in 2020, but for me as the photographer it goes a lot of advantages.

The biggest thing is that it gives me a chance to take photos of almost all the guests at the wedding. For some couples, this is hugely important, because they can remember everybody that they invited.

Also, a lot of times the photos can be pretty fun and endearing. My go-to method will be standing over the shoulder of the couple and wait for a guest to walk in between them. Usually, at that moment of greeting the couple, every guest, even the shyest or the youngest will look at the bride and groom and smile warmly at them.

This is the moment I’m looking for. Smiles are the most beautiful expression for portraits and seeing this moment creates a recollection of all your family and friends having a wonderful time at your wedding. 

Devon and MJ had a large guest list, so even though I still missed several guests I still was able to deliver over 150 pictures of guests to the couple.

Soft sunsets and warm glows

Devon and MJ’s wedding was the second weekend of December, which can be a tricky time of year for weddings. I’ve done several December weddings and many of them include memories of blizzards or weather as low as 20 below.

Devon and MJ however, were one of the lucky ones and they got a beautifully sunny winter day. It wasn’t super warm. It was in the high 30s and low 40s and it was a little windy, but you could stand outside. Before the wedding, I took outdoor portraits of both the girls and the guys. 

Because of the time of year, I didn’t want anyone to have to walk that far, so I put everyone in front of the nearest tree line and where the sun wasn’t directly shining in people’s faces.

The ceremony was at 2 pm, so we took our first portraits around 1 pm and it was still pretty bright and sunny, but afterwards when we took photos of everyone together it was 4 pm and basically sunset.

This made for beautiful photos. I brought the wedding party right out of the building and the sun was behind them, creating a beautiful golden glow around people and in the background. I especially love the couple portraits, as the sun gave everything a slightly hazy and dreamy vibe. After our portraits, Devon pointed out to me how beautiful the sky was on the opposite side of the horizon, vibrant blue and purple, so I asked her and MJ to dance and kiss a little bit in the parking lot, just enough for five portraits.

Fun reception

Our photo schedule had me arriving about an hour before Devon was ready to put on her dress and then I was scheduled to leave a half hour after the first dances.

However, after the first dances, DJ Dan, started to get everyone to dance and it turned out that this wedding was one of those that turned into a riot of fun.

The groomsmen in particular, were absolutely hilarious as they ripped up the dance floor. Even when you’re taking photos it’s hard not to feel the infectious fun and joy coming from the people you’re photographing. 

It was so much fun that I stayed longer than I was scheduled. This was great, because I was able to get photos of Devon dancing with her bridesmaids and MJ dancing with his groomsmen. Both photos were one of those “I’m having the time of my life” type photos. I also stayed long enough to see a bit of the shoe game and since I was still there I grabbed a couple portraits and then packed everything up.

It was nice to finish the wedding season off with a wedding that was a joy to be at, instead of being stressful or just being strictly about the work.

Ceremony: Kettle Moraine Community Church

Reception: Holiday Inn Pewaukee

Dress: Vera’s Bridal (Madison)

DJ: Sound Blessed by DJ Dan

Rings: Craig Husar Brookfield

Flowers: Waukesha Floral 

It was almost unexpected how it came about, because it was late in 2014 and the wedding season was almost over when I got a last second call from Sarah to shoot her wedding day.

Because it was late in the season, when Sarah called and asked about shooting a wedding in less than a month, I fortunately had the date available!

With it being such short notice, a lot of the planning was actually a whirlwind of activity. We only talked on the phone once where I jotted down some quick notes about where to meet, what time things started and the fact that Sarah had two small children she really wanted to include in the wedding day and wanted them to be a big part of the wedding photos.

When the big day came, we met at Studio 890 in Elm Grove where Sarah and her daughter were getting their makeup done. They both looked absolutely lovely and the daughter and mother were mirror images of each other with their beautiful blonde hair.

At the salon, I was able to catch pictures of Sarah and her daughter getting their hair done and caught reflections of them looking in mirrors at themselves and the beauty technician behind them. I also snapped a fun picture of Sarah’s daughter sitting all by herself on the couch reading a beauty magazine with dozens of other beauty magazines on the coffee table in front of her.

I thought that scene was absolutely adorable and I loved grabbing that picture.
From there we went to Sarah’s parent’s house and I mentioned this in an earlier post when I shot the wedding of Sarah’s sister; but I really cherish Sarah’s mother. She is such a neat lady! So kind and easy to work with. I know mother’s of the bride can get a bad rap, but this lady was so awesome, she should trend a new stereotype!

At the house I cleaned up many of the necessary pictures of the bouquet, the rings, the announcements and the dress. I also took a few portraits of Sarah with her son and daughter. I was especially proud of a portrait I took of Sarah and her daughter leaning in to each other with their foreheads touching and the window streaming in light behind them.

The day only got better as we then traveled to the South Shore Yacht Club in Bay View and that was an absolute scenic SPOT for a wedding. It was out over Lake Michigan with yachts and docks surrounding the building. I still have a shot of Sarah and Bob walking on the dock in the late evening with the sun setting and just letting the scene do all the work. There was nothing else I needed to do, because it was so gorgeous and so captivating.

We took many portraits on Bob’s yacht and in the cabin and on the deck hanging on to all the sailing lines and it was just one of those days, where everything seems to be so scenic and you’re living in a vacation meets reality kind of life.

They had the wedding upstairs inside the yacht club and the place was tailor made for parties. The wedding itself was small with probably only 40-50 guests, which was a more intimate sized wedding. They had several different greetings which I really enjoyed by the front of the door with cards describing how they met and each other separately.

We also, of course, took more portraits of Sarah inside this dark wooden stairwell. Here we grabbed a closeup of Sarah’s face, which is still one of my most favorite wedding images ever; one that I use as my main advertisement when talking to new clients and attracting new clients toward inviting me to photograph their own wedding! Such a simple photo, but still just perfect.

I also took a portrait of Sarah framed in a doorway with the sun behind her and in every wedding since then I’ve duplicated this effect of trying to take a portrait of the bride in her white wedding dress and letting the sun shine through the dress behind her. Everything is sparkling and shimmering and it just makes the bride just glow with white light!

After the wedding we had the speeches, the toasts, the food, and the cake and of course the dancing.

You could tell right away that the guests loved to dance and there were many kids at the wedding that loved to dance as well. I spent a long time capturing so many fun pictures of guests dancing the night away with a multi-color strobe light splashing many different colors on the people’s faces!

By the end of the night, I felt uniquely fortunate that Sarah found me on such short notice and had me spend her wedding day with her. With it still being my first official season as a wedding photographer, I was able to take that wedding and use so many of the photos and lessons I learned in the following year.