Family weddings are one of my favorite kinds of events to shoot. I  get to see everyone I love and truly spend some quality time with the bride and groom on their special day. This wedding was my husband’s cousin, Zak’s wedding.  What is really neat about this, is that I have known the groom for about 16-17ish years (I think) and absolutely love his whole family. Megan has been really fun getting to know too. She is a perfect match for Zak. You can see how happy he is when he looks at her with his gigantic smile that crinkles up his eyes in cutest way. I had real tears in my eyes during the ceremony!

It was a very intimate ceremony at Doubledays in Cottage Grove with just some close family members and the wedding party. Afterwards, we went off to Burke Park to take photos and then back to the reception where more family and friends were waiting. My son Wesley was there running everywhere and was very excited to dance fight with the light sabers that the wedding party used for their grand march. Thanks to Blaine at Now That’s Entertainment for keeping the kiddos entertained while the grownups socialized! Megan also made a super cute groom’s cake for Zak. It was so perfect. Check out the photos below to see what she had made for him!

There were some great vendors involved to make this day super special. Here they are:

Venue: Doubledays  //  Dress: David’s Bridal  //  Suits: Nedrebos  //  Rings: Kesslers //  Travel: Wayne’s Ace Bus and Limo  //  Cake: Karen The Cake Lady  //  DJ: Now That’s Entertainment  //  Catering: Doubledays  //  Decor: DIY  and Doubledays

It was a beautiful spring day at the East Side Club on the shore of Lake Monona.

Pete was watching Star Wars with his pals and Lindsay was getting ready with her gorgeous ladies. May the 4th Be With You! All the tables were sweetly decorated with gorgeous flowers and little Lego Star Wars figures. It was so cute. The guys finished getting ready and decided to play a frisbee to warm up for the day. That’s how the lovely bride and groom met! On their ultimate frisbee team! Side note, I also wanted to mention that they have the best name ever for their current team: Sofa Kingdom. So, to commemorate the day, they had a special wedding frisbee made since it is such a big part of their lives. It had a little design on it that Pete’s sister created for them. Kind of like a family crest. It also appeared on the cups the girls were drinking from, the programs and on the coasters that they used for seating arrangements. I loved all the little personalize touches that made the day so special for them. Lindsay even crocheted tiny little blue flowers to be put in Pete’s boutonniere.  She described the process and how she had to wear these big magnifying glasses to see what she was doing and had us all laughing. Seriously, these flowers were so tiny! Quite impressive.

Everyone was so fun to be around! You can really see the joy on their faces and the love in the room.

All these amazing vendors contributed to this amazing day:

Venue: The Eastside Club  //  Catering: Stoddard’s  //  Cupcakes: Bloom Bake Shop  //  Wedding Dress: Vera’s House of Bridals  //  Bridesmaid Dresses: David’s Bridal  //  Groom’s Attire: Jos A Bank //  Floral and Design: Simply Glamorous Designs by Oregon Floral  //  Hair and Makeup: Brideheads //  Wedding Rings: Bernie’s Rock Shop (Custom Design with Grandma’s Diamond

When a figure skater and a hockey player fall in love…

It reminds me a little bit of The Cutting Edge! Toooooeeee pick! Well, no one was yelling that out but I’m sure there were some jokes about it in their lifetime. I will probably giggle about that for a while now.   They got us into the UW Hockey Rink for some photos of them cruising around and then we went out and enjoyed one of the most beautiful evenings in downtown Madison that I have ever seen. What fun session!

Kendra + Robert

I love hearing how love stories start out. This one all began with a swipe right on a familiar app we all know about. Fast forward to a wonderful life together and all the fun things they like to do (including the reason for the app in the first place, heehee)  with chickens, cats,  foster dogs and kayaking through Wisconsin! These two love the outdoors and enjoy the many hiking trails our gorgeous state has to offer. They are the ones who brought me up to Gibralter Rock earlier this summer. If you haven’t seen that post, go here!

I’ve really enjoyed getting to know these two! I think it shows in the photos how much they like to have fun, and get my jokes! And also my ideas for beautiful romantic portraits. Check out the one below of just Kendra! Oofda! Hot stuff! And their first look moment is so incredibly emotional and sweet. I think I almost cried myself!

We spent the afternoon at the Capitol and took some really lovely wedding party photos and then off to the Dorf Haus in Sauk City. October Fest!! It was quite the party. This venue is really cool and has  real authentic German decor and food. We couldn’t help shooting a lot of the awesome paintings and large deer/moose?/Elk? heads? I’m not sure. Anyway, it was truly a sight to behold. Make the trip up there and enjoy!

Here is a list of all the wonderful vendors who helped make this day so special:

Second Shooter: Heidi Johnson  //  Ceremony and Reception Venue: Dorf Haus  //  Floral: Rose Cottage  //  Hair: Anaala West, Erin Youngblood  //  Makeup:   Verena Hayes Wilde Beauty  //  Dress: David’s Bridal  //  Men’s: Men’s Wearhouse  //  Rings: Chalmers  //  Cake: Carl’s Cakes  //  DJ: C’Est La Vie Events-Brian  //  Officiant: Judge Marjorie Schuett  //  Limo: Gallant Knight Limo Services