Alba + Erika: A Laid Back Bilingual Backyard Wedding

Erika + Alba’s wedding was not only gorgeous, it was also their dog Stella’s 10th birthday!

It was obviously very kind of Stella to share her special day with her moms, and what a day! The weather was perfect, the decor lush, and there were small multicultural elements to the day that I absolutely loved, including lots of ceramic bulls (see how many you can spot)!

The wedding ceremony itself was bilingual, as Alba + Erika used both Spanish and English to communicate their vows to one another. The ceremony was short, but oh so sweet, and was immediately followed by a toast from Erika + Alba to their guests, but also very importantly, their fur baby Stella on the occasion of her 10th birthday! She was too busy rooting around in the garden to pay much attention to the toast, but got her fill of love, pets, and sunshine throughout the day!

After the guests departed for the Muskellounge for the wedding reception, we took some time for couples portraits, including photos of these two digging up a bottle of Wild Turkey that they’d buried in Erika’s mom’s garden (I honestly don’t know why it was buried, but I’ve decided to make up increasingly implausible stories in my head about it for the rest of my life), and photos of the two newlyweds and their girl Stella!

I can’t believe how lovely their wedding day was, and I am so happy to have been able to celebrate with these two! Help me wish Alba + Erika a BIG congratulations (and a great big happy birthday to Stella as well)!

—Sam

Here are the vendors that helped make their wedding day awesome!

Ceremony Venue: Erika’s Mom’s Backyard

Reception Venue (not pictured): Muskellounge

Officiant: Alba’s Brother-in-Law

Hanna + Kait: A Chic Meets Laid Back Downtown Madison Wedding

Kait + Hanna’s wedding day was full of smiles and joy and absolutely beautiful

Also, who doesn’t love a queer wedding during Pride Month? No one I’d want to be friends with, that’s for sure!

These two met during July of 2020 (what a time, right?) at Picnic Point for a COVID-cautious first date, and the rest is history! They returned to Picnic Point again for their engagement photos, which you can check out here!

The ceremony itself took place at the Madison Central Library (the fanciest of Madison libraries) and was bright, fun, and filled with music. I kid you not, as the wedding party members were coming down the aisle, the string quartet was playing a song I knew I recognized but couldn’t put my finger on, until at the very end, I realized it was an instrumental rendition of Fat Bottom Girls by Queen, and if I hadn’t been wearing a mask, you’d have seen me smiling ear to ear.

After the ceremony, we headed to the Capitol Building in downtown Madison for couples photos (Hanna + Kait were troopers through the heat though, which was considerable), and then off to State Line Distillery for the reception! And holy smokes, State Line Distillery was such a fun venue! We’ve never photographed a reception there before and it was awesome! Loved those Cicada murals too!

Enjoy the photos from this sweet and fun wedding day, and help me wish Kait + Hanna a big congratulations!

—Sam

Here are the vendors that helped make their wedding day awesome!

Ceremony Venue: Madison Public Library (Central Library)

Reception Venue: State Line Distillery

Officiant: Pat Werk

Hair & Makeup: Beauty Unveiled by Tia

Wedding Rings: Soha + Aubree

Hanna’s Suit: Bindle & Keep

DJ: Andrew Larson of Saturn’s 8 Entertainment

Florist: Robert Eimstad (family member)

Desserts: Bloom Bakeshop

Catering: Flour Girl & Flame

Wedding Coordinator: Sarah Robinson of OSO In Love Events

Gloria + Jerry: An Intimate Downtown Wedding

Jerry + Gloria had a beautiful and intimate ceremony in downtown madison

They were surrounded by their children, parents, and closest friends and family for a small and intimate ceremony at Grace Episcopal Church right on the square in downtown Madison. It was an insanely hot day, but these two looked effortlessly cool during their couples portraits before they headed to Eno Vino for cocktails and The Vintage for their small reception!

Help me wish these two a BIG congratulations on their wedding!

—Sam

Here are the vendors that helped make their wedding day awesome!

Ceremony Venue: Grace Episcopal Church

Reception Venue: The Vintage (not pictured)

Officiant: Alberto (Friend of Groom)

Hair & Makeup: Allure Artistry

Wedding Bands: Zales (Gloria) + Kay Jewelers (Jerry)

Bridal Gown: Moments to Cherish

Groom Tux: Moments to Cherish

Florist: Melody Rose Designs

Desserts: The Vintage (not pictured)

Catering: The Vintage (not pictured)

Cali + Cezanne: A Dairy-Loving Wisconsin Wedding Celebration

Cali + Cezanne got married in early september but wanted a wisconsin-based celebration with their midwest family and friends

And what a celebration it was! First though, I have to tell you the cutest thing ever, which is that before Cali (she/her) + Cezanne (they/them) starting dating, they were colleagues at work and Cali was trying to set Cezanne up with a friend. Good news for everyone then that Cali’s matchmaking efforts backfired, and instead, these two ended up together, and the rest is history!

Now onto the celebration! The wedding celebration was held at Seven Acre Dairy Company, which was absolutely the perfect venue for the festivities! The Wisconsin-themed wedding day was filled with small details that felt so homey and magical, and just wait until you see the outfit changes Cali + Cezanne had!

I am so honored that I got to celebrate with these two! Please join me in wishing them a big congratulations!!! Also, help me wish happy 90th birthday to Cali’s grandfather, who recently turned 90 and was surprised with a cake during Cali + Cezanne’s wedding celebration!

—Sam

Here are the vendors that helped make their wedding day awesome!

Ceremony + Reception Venue: Seven Acre Dairy Company

Hair & Makeup: Megan Steiner (childhood friend of the bride’s)

Wedding Rings: Wwake for metal bands, and blue band for Cezanne is from Nora Kogan

Bridal Gown: Della Curve Bridal

DJ/Band: Kuhl Entertainment, Greg Morrow

Florist: daffodil*parker

Desserts: Seven Acre Dairy Company

Catering: Seven Acre Dairy Company

Liz + Nathanael: A Dreamy Offbeat Wedding At Lussier Family Heritage Center

who knew what one game of werewolf would lead to…

Liz + Nathanael met by chance while playing Werewolf at a gaming convention, and the rest is history! This amazingly sweet couple had a pinball machines for guests, beautiful origami cranes as favors (handmade by the bride’s brother), and true to their delightfully nerdy hearts, they even rolled for initiative with special D20s to see who was going to read their vows first!

We were overjoyed to celebrate with these two and their families, and please help us wish them a big congratulations! Enjoy the photos of their beautiful day!

—Sam

Here are the vendors that helped make their wedding day awesome!

Ceremony + Reception Venue: Lussier Family Heritage Center

Officiant: James Swartout (friend of the couple)

Hair & Makeup: Soulful Artisan, Stephanie Jessup

Jewelry: Spalding Jewelry

Bridal Gown: Brides by Young

Groom Tux: Indochino

DJ: Kuhl Entertainment, Tauri Robinson

Florist: Sunborn Gardens

Desserts: The Baked Lab

Catering: Blue Plate Catering

Videographer: Dolister Films

Pinball Rentals: Craft Beer Pinball League

Daphne + Ben: A Beautiful Summer Wedding in Downtown Madison

Daphne + Ben capped off 8 years together with a beautiful summer wedding day!

These two high school sweethearts have been together for 8 years now, and picked the most gorgeous summer day to get married at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in downtown Madison, WI, and celebrated their reception at the Memorial Union Terrace!

I could feel the joy radiating off of Daphne + Ben during every part of their wedding day. It was an absolute honor to celebrate with them and their friends and family. Enjoy the photos of this gorgeous wedding day!

—Sam

Here are the vendors that helped make their wedding day awesome!

Ceremony Venue: St. Patrick Catholic Church

Officiant: Father Andrew

Reception Venue: Memorial Union Terrace (Great Hall)

Desserts: Sweet Perfections Bakery

Amy + Anne: A Chic Downtown Sun Prairie Wedding

THese two enjoyed a beautiful summer wedding day in Sun Prairie!

Amy + Anne’s wedding day was one year to the day from their first kiss, and what a way to celebrate in style! They meticulously planned proposals to each other after picking out rings, but neither of them was able to wait until when they had planned, which just speaks to how excited Amy + Anne were to get going on spending the rest of their lives together!

Enjoy photos from this absolutely gorgeous queer wedding day!

—Sam

Here are the vendors that helped make their wedding day awesome!

Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Loft at 132

Officiant: Stacey Christenson (friend of brides)

Hair & Makeup: Studio XIXI

Wedding Rings: Skalitzky Jewelers

Gown: Vow'd

Suit: Indochino

DJ/Band: Kuhl Entertainment / Tauri Robinson

Florist: Sun Prairie Flowers by Hen and Chick

Catering & Desserts: Chef Dave

Terri + Megan: An Intimate and Joyful Queer Wedding Celebration

Believe it or not, These two had not one but two failed proposal attempts

Megan (they/them) had planned to propose to Terri (she/her) on a gorgeous waterfall hike in Iceland, but COVID ruined those plans, and then less than two months later, Terri planned to propose to Megan at Disney World, but plans were thwarted by a hurricane! After all the plans gone awry, they both proposed to each other sweetly tucked away in their house and then began work on planning a small, intimate celebration in September!

Their wedding day was filled with personal touches, most importantly a beautiful memorial to family members who have passed, including Megan’s brother, and Terri’s father. Other personal touches include their dogs, Lars and Apollo walking each of them down the aisle. Megan gave Terri a beautiful gold bracelet that contained a locket with pictures of Terri’s dad. Terri gave Megan gorgeous custom cufflinks with their various furry friends’ faces. Megan made Terri’s bouquet and their own boutonniere out of pages from their favorite book! (The book is House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, which is one of my favorite books also!) Megan’s dad wore a tie Megan colored for them back in 1994 and he also made the s’more flavored wedding cake (which was delicious)! Megan + Terri had custom cocktails made for the celebration, and for their wedding favors? They hand-picked different books for each of their guests and wrote a person inscription in all of them.

It was a beautiful and deeply personal wedding day with so much love, laughter, and joy. I am so, so grateful to have been able to celebrate with these two and their family and closest friends! Help me with them a big congratulations!

—Sam

Here are the vendors that helped make their wedding day awesome!

Ceremony + Reception Venue: Air BnB

Hair Stylist: Union Hair Parlor

Bridal Jumpsuit: Strike Bridal Bar

Mx. Suit: Bindle & Keep

Custom Cocktails: Mint Mark

Haylee + Julia: A Chic Modern Wedding at Barnwood Events

These two had a beautiful wedding day!

It was a gorgeous day (absolutely perfect weather) for an equally gorgeous wedding celebration for Julia + Haylee. The wedding was chill and simultaneously chic, and I am so excited to share these photos with you all! I’m even more excited and honored to have been able to celebrate with these two. Help me wish them a big congratulations!

—Sam

Here are the vendors that helped make their wedding day awesome!

Ceremony + Reception Venue: Barnwood Events

Catering: Buck & Honey’s

Paige + Aaron: A Wedding Celebration with a Theme of "Finally"

Paige + Aaron had a small and romantic celebration with their closest family

And they laughingly joked that the theme of their wedding is “Finally”, because they’ve been together for 10 years, after meeting in high school Spanish class.

These two are so sweet and smiley (and like me, apparently they both cry quite a bit at weddings) and it was an amazingly lovely wedding day!

Help me with them a big congratulations and enjoy the photos!

—Sam

Here are the vendors that helped make their wedding day awesome!

Ceremony Venue: Rock County Courthouse

Portraits Venue: Rotary Botanical Gardens

Officiant: Jodi Timmerman

Jewelry: Kessler’s Diamonds

Bridal Gown: David’s Bridal

Groom Tux: Men’s Wearhouse

Florist: Floral Expressions

Drea + Doug: A Pokemon-Themed Wedding at the Bur Oak

Drea + Doug had a perfect mix of fancy and laid back for their wedding day!

With lots of DIY touches and fun ideas (like the Table Dash, which was a blast), as well as all the Pokemon references you never knew you needed from a wedding, these two put together an amazing shindig!

After 10 years together, they wanted their celebration to be distinctly them, and for their closest friends and family to be able to party with them in style. The Bur Oak was a wonderful backdrop for their big day, and I loved seeing all the laughing and shenanigans (that’s how you know it’s good party)!

Help me wish these two a great big congratulations, and I am so excited I got to celebrate with these two!

—Sam

Here are the vendors that helped make their wedding day awesome!

Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Bur Oak

Catering: Beef Butter BBQ

Wedding Coordinator: Ashley with The Bur Oak

Marshall + Francesca: A Lovely Outdoor Wedding Day 3.0

Marshall + Francesca had not one, not two, but three wedding celebrations!

They first got married in February 2023 (you may remember them from such weddings as this one), but also had a gorgeous formal wedding celebration in England in March 2023 so that Francesca’s family in the UK could celebrate with them. Finally, wedding day 3.0 came about in August of 2023 which was meant to be the big celebration with their friends on this side of the ocean!

It was a gorgeous day for wedding 3.0, and the Barnwood Events venue is stunning this time of year (more on that in another blog post, but I want to mention that Barnwood Events is the most accessible venue I’ve ever shot in), and folks were clearly so happy to be celebrating with these two! There were smiles all around, and so much laughing, and even heat and mosquitoes couldn’t keep folks from feeling so much joy for Marshall + Francesca!

After dinner and speeches, we snuck out for a little golden hour light, and wow did the sunlight and the venue grounds deliver some perfect scenes for photos!

Afterward, it was all about the dancing, as you’ll see in the photos. ;)

Help me wish these two a BIG congrats to Marshall + Francesca, and also let’s congratulate them on not having to plan anymore weddings! (Though they’re very good at it!)

—Sam

Here are the vendors that helped make their wedding day awesome!

Ceremony + Reception Venue: Barnwood Events

Officiant: Casey Varecka (friend of the couple)

DJ: Isthmus DJs

Florist: daffodil*parker

Wedding Cake: The Baked Lab

Catering and Non-Cake Desserts: Ugly Apple