Erin + Matt: A Halloween Micro Wedding

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Mad Scientist Meets Library Science at this Halloween Micro Wedding

Erin + Matt had originally planned for a much larger wedding at the Madison Central Library downtown, but like so many weddings planned for this year, COVID-19 had other ideas.

Instead, these two shifted gears to plan the sweetest Halloween micro wedding ever, with safety for their guests & vendors being top of mind. I LOVE the mad scientist meets library science decor they went with, and how they had 100+ guests join them via Zoom to share in the celebrations!

Enjoy these photos of Erin + Matt’s awesome wedding day, and check out their engagement session here.

- Sam

Here are the wedding vendors (with links) who helped make their day awesome!

Ceremony & Reception Venue: AirBnB (John George Ott House)

Officiant: Janelle Greene (friend of the couple)

Wedding Coordinator: Lauren Schaefer, The Get Together Events Co.

Wedding Gown: Vera's Bridal & Monetti Tailoring

Groom’s Tux: The Black Tux

Bride's Engagement Ring: TQ Diamonds

Bride's Wedding Ring: Maksimoff Designs (Etsy)

Groom's Wedding Ring: Middleton Jewelers

Bride’s Hair & Makeup: Breanna D, JV Hair Artistry

Venue Decor, Wedding Party Flowers, and Flower Crowns: Daffodil*Parker

Wood Flowers for DIY Bridal Bouquet and Groom Boutonniere: Sola Wood Flowers (assembled and arranged by the Bride)

Wedding Cake: The Looking Glass Bakery

Catering: Adamah Catering

Placecards: JDCraftStudio (Etsy)

Paper goods (invite & postponement): Minted.com

Paper goods (save the date bookmarks): designed by bride

 
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Kate + Ben: A Couple's Session with Kitties and Fall Colors

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Kate + Ben Hadn’t Had Portraits Taken Since Their Wedding Day

And that’s not unusual for married couples, but thankfully, they did something about it, and booked a session when the fall colors were out! We started off with some quick photos of them with their kitties, and then we moved to the Arboretum for some of that late fall light!

Enjoy these photos of Kate, Ben, guest starring their kitties Simon, Bruce, and James!

-Sam

p.s. Fun Fact: Kate and I met through a mutual friend, Amanda Fincutter of Ora Photography, and all three of us have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

 
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Celebrating Luci's Adoption With Family Portraits

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Kris, Lesley, and baby Luci at the UW Arboretum

2020 has got to be an odd year to expand your family, given the limited social interactions, and in some ways limited support that friends and extended family can offer, but Kris + Lesley made their adoption of baby Luci official this year, and wanted to be able to celebrate with family photos!

Enjoy these sweet family portraits, and congrats to Kris, Lesley, and Luci!

-Sam

 
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Fall Family Portraits in the UW Arboretum

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Who says teenagers hate family photos?

Okay, I mean, everyone says that, obviously, and most of the time it’s true, but this family has 3 teenagers (or nearly teenagers) and even if they’re just faking it really well, they always seem to have a pretty fun time during our annual fall portrait sessions, and that makes for some super fun photos! I mean, dance-offs are always fun right?

Also note that parents Erin & Dan also make time for photos of just the two of them, which I strongly encourage all parents to do during family portrait sessions!

Enjoy these fun family photos in the Arboretum!

-Sam

 
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Fall Family Portraits and Leaf Piles!

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Ah toddlers and 5 year olds… Is there anything as guaranteed as them to drive parents crazy and also make them smile? Probably not

And so it is with Alex & Kayleigh, being delightful and hilarious during our outdoor portrait session at the UW Arboretum, and also making sure that their parents and I got a great workout running around to keep up with them. My legs were very sore the day after this session!

One of my favorite things about photographing Kim, Peter, Alex, and Kayleigh, besides the adorable children of course, is Kim & Peter always take at least a little time to get some photos of just the two of them. Parents, that is so important! Just think about it next time you’re doing family photos, and I promise you won’t regret it!

Enjoy these fun family portraits, and if you’ve got any toddlers or 5 year olds at home, I hope they make you smile and give you a little break today. ;)

-Sam

 
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Jax's Senior Portraits in the Arboretum

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This is an interesting year for senior portraits, because it’s been an interesting year for seniors

Hearing Jax talk about how he and his friends spent their time in Junior year compared to this year reminds me of the struggles we’ve all had adjusting to the curveballs 2020 has thrown at us, but I’m always amazed at how adaptable young adults are. I’m hoping before senior year is over, Jax can safely get back to eating ice cream with friends over lunch. ;)

Here’s to this year’s seniors, especially Jax!

-Sam

 
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Katie + Axel: A Romantic Wedding at the Old Schoolhouse in Merrimac, WI

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The Old Schoolhouse in Merrimac was the perfect backdrop for Katie + Axel’s wedding day!

Katie + Axel’s wedding was romantic, laid back, and full of personal touches. (Katie actually helped me decorate for my own wedding day in 2016, so I was not surprised at all to see how beautiful their wedding decorations were!) They were also lucky enough to have their wedding on one of the last gorgeous and warm (but not too warm) days of the year, surrounded by their closest friends and family. :)

Enjoy the photos from Katie + Axel’s wedding and help wish them a hearty congrats! Also, if you want to see their super cute winter engagement photos, check them out here.

-Sam

Here are the wedding vendors (with links) that helped make their wedding day amazing!

Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Old Schoolhouse

Officiant: Yvonne Hooks (Bride’s Mom)

DJ: Theran Curkeet

Bridal Gown: Vera’s House of Bridals

Groom’s Tux: Men’s Wearhouse

Engagement Ring and Wedding Bands: Kay Jewelers

Dessert: Sandy Kakes (Cupcakes, Wisconsin Dells) and Asha Patton (cutting cake by a family friend)

Catering: Cliff “Cooks” (Bride’s Parents)

 
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Family Portraits on Willy Street

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I got to spend time with this adorable family on Willy Street for their family portrait mini session!

Lindsey, Ben, Aisa, and I got to enjoy what might have been the last nice weekend of 2020 by popping over to Willy Street and walking around the murals and parks there for their family portrait mini session.

Check out the photos from this fun session!

-Sam

 
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Family Portraits at Pope Farm Park

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I got to photograph Char + Corey and their kids (and grandbaby!) at Pope Farm Park and we all got to enjoy the lovely late summer weather!

We photographed Char + Corey’s wedding just over five years ago and I was so happy to get to see everyone again and meet the newest addition to the family (plus significant others) at the same place where I photographed Char + Corey for their engagement portraits! Kind of a full circle kind of moment and I freaking love those. :)

Enjoy the photos and help me wish a happy belated 5 year anniversary to Char + Corey!

-Sam

 
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6 Reasons You Should Have a Micro Wedding

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We loved micro weddings before they were cool

First of all, what are micro weddings exactly? A micro wedding is typically a wedding that is 20 guests or under.

Second of all, this post is not for you if you have spent your entire adult life, or at least your entire engagement, dreaming of throwing a giant celebratory wedding day bash with every single one of your family, friends, and casual acquaintances in tow. If that sounds like you, there’s no judgment here! We love big parties too! In fact, while my first wedding was a micro wedding, Rob and I had a reception that was so large we literally invited our three favorite clerks from our local Blockbuster Video (and they came!), which means that not only are we old AF, but that we can enjoy a big get together and the fun photo opportunities they provide as much as the next person!

That said, this post is for you if you’re a couple that cringes at the idea of a big to-do, or the idea of being the center of attention in a large crowd. This post is for couples who want to do something special to celebrate their union, but aren’t necessarily looking for the traditional trappings of a wedding day, like first dances, endless speeches and glass clinking, or big crowds. Read on to hear about 6 reasons that micro weddings are the bomb (is that still a cool thing to say?), and why you should totally consider one!

Reason #1 - Less Stressful

Even as a person who loves weddings, I can acknowledge that wedding planning is stressful as hell. There are so many moving parts, that unless you hire a wedding planner (and there are some amazing ones we can recommend), you’re looking at basically a second full-time job just to get your wedding planned and off the ground. Having a micro wedding involves considerably less (though still some) planning, and is therefore considerably less stressful!

Reason #2 - Less Planning Time

With less to plan, you can pull together your dream tiny wedding in much less time than it takes to pull together a larger gathering. That means if you want to be married in two weeks, you can make it happen! Just make sure the vendors that are important to you (such as photographers, officiant, etc.) are available for your preferred date.

Reason #3 - Less Costly

Less guests = less costly. It’s just basic math. When planning a micro wedding, even if you get pretty darn fancy about it, and even if you’re providing food (which is optional), you’re still feeding and providing refreshments for far fewer people than a traditional wedding. In addition, because of the smaller guest list, you open up a world of possibilities for venues or locations. Being able to get more creative with where your wedding is held (due to the smaller guest list) allows you to often pay much less, or potentially nothing at all, for your wedding venue, and that’s a win for your pocketbooks! Also maybe more money left over for a honeymoon or for other wedding-related things you’d like to splurge on!

Reason #4 - More Flexible

If you are planning a 120 person wedding outdoors, you are going to need a backup plan in case of inclement weather, and having access to such a backup plan that accommodates that many people is often expensive and also maybe not the experience you were hoping for. When you’re having a micro wedding, where your guest count is 20 guests or under, you have a lot more flexibility when it comes to things like inclement weather and rain day backup plans! You also have more flexibility to do things like have a weekday wedding, because there are less guests to plan around, and that can also help you save some money with some of your vendors who may offer discounts for weekday weddings, versus weekend weddings (not applicable to all vendors of course).

Reason #5 - More Time With Your Guests

Speaking of your guests, one of the biggest regrets I had from both my weddings, and one of the biggest regrets I hear from our couples, is that they feel they didn’t have enough time to spend with each of their guests, because there were so many and because the day goes by so fast! Well, micro weddings don’t necessarily make the day go by any slower, but what they do give you is the gift of more intimate and undivided time with your closest family and friends. The people who matter most to you in the entire world. Being able to spend more quality time with these special people on your wedding day is an absolute gift, and it’s one of the most amazing and joyful things about having a micro wedding.

Reason #6 - More ‘You’

The larger the wedding, frankly, the harder it seems to be to make it exactly what you want, and to make the day reflect who you are as individuals and who you are as a couple. That doesn’t mean big weddings can’t be unique and awesome, it just means you have to try pretty hard to make them so, and that it’ll likely add to your wedding day expense to do so. When you have a micro wedding, you’re stripping the wedding day down to its most important components; the two of you and your love for one another, and your absolutely closest friends and family. The day automatically becomes more ‘you’ in doing so, and you have a wonderful opportunity to go all out on small details if those are important to you, because you’re going all out for yourselves and a handful of people, versus a ballroom full of people. This is truly a gift!



So if you love the idea of a micro wedding but are on the fence, consider these reasons why you should totally, positively, absolutely go for it! We also offer special elopement and micro wedding packages to meet your needs and we absolutely adore micro weddings! Get in touch if you’d like to talk about options, and also check out this gallery of Micro weddings for inspiration!



-Sam











Why We Love First Looks

 
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It's no secret; we LOVE first looks! 

Okay, I'm not going to say that everyone should do a first look before the actual ceremony, but... I'm willing to firmly declare that most couples would benefit from a first look. 

There are lots of reasons for this, and only some of them are selfish on my part. 

Reason #1

Precious alone time! This may be literally the only time on your whole wedding day that you and your partner get to have a private moment. And while it's wonderful that you get to spend your big day surrounded by friends and loved ones (and the random folks your friends and loved ones brought with them), it's also pretty darn great to have even 15 minutes where it's just you and your partner. Where you get to hug and be excited and have an intimate moment acknowledging that holy crap you're about to get married! This is a really beautiful time, and a little moment of peace in an otherwise fun but hectic day! 

Reason #2

More gorgeous photos of the two of you! Okay, this one is a little selfish on my part, but I also have you two in mind here! Regardless of whether you wait until the ceremony to see each other or you do a first look, the photos are going to be wonderful and meaningful, however, when you do first look photos, the pressure is off! You can take your time being excited to see each other. You can bask a bit in the excitement of this momentous occasion with your very favorite partner in crime. And all the while, we can be taking more gorgeous photos of the two of you, which is an opportunity we don't get when couples wait to see each other until the ceremony. I promise you that first look photos will be some of your favorites of the day

Reason #3

Cocktail hour! Not for us, for you. Let's be honest, would you rather be taking formal photos after your ceremony while everyone else is enjoying the cocktail hour, or would you rather already be done with formal photos, sneak away for some fun pics of just you two (or even you two and your wedding party) and then still make it back in time to enjoy a celebratory drink that you worked so hard to plan? I know which one I'd prefer, and I have a feeling you do too. When you do a first look, you get to spend more of the day together, as partners, because you're not hiding from each other for more than half the day! And that also means that you can knock out things like formal family photos before the ceremony, so that you can get footloose and fancy-free faster! 

 

Ultimately, whether you and your partner decide to do a first look, or wait until the ceremony to see each other, is a matter of personal choice, but if you don't have a strong personal or cultural reason to wait until the ceremony, I'd encourage you to let this tradition go, and do that first look! 

--Sam

Bonus Reason! 

 Just look at these gorgeous first look photos from some of our recent weddings!