Abby + Matt: A Gorgeous Rooftop Wedding at MMoCA

Abby + Matt’s wedding was vibrant and filled with joy!

And the views of the Capitol building and the Orpheum on the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) in the heart of Downtown Madison didn’t hurt either. ;)

Their wedding day theme was world-building, with the colors of the sea and sky worked into the details of their wedding day. Abby’s bouquet was made of paper flowers which were in turn made out of pages of The Hobbit (no one knows more about world-building than Tolkein), and instead of a unity candle, they symbolized their union with two adorable little birds making a nest together.

Help me wish Abby + Matt a hearty congrats, and enjoy all the lovely details and big moments from their wedding day!

-Sam

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

Ceremony & Reception Venue: Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA)

Officiant: Dana Pellebon (friend of Bride & Groom)

Bridal Gown: Vera’s House of Bridals

Hair & Makeup: Where it's At Studio (Bride’s hair) & Brideheads for other Hair & Makeup

Wedding Jewelry: Jeweler's Workshop

Paper Bouquet & Boutonniere: Made by a friend

Florals: DIY

DJ: John Frerick (DJ Senseless)

Catering: Fresco

Wedding Desserts: Batch Bakehouse

Rentals: Projector from Game Crafter

Caitlin + Nick: An Elegant and Beautiful Wedding at Harvest Moon Pond

Caitlin + Nick performed an amazing ballroom dance routine for their first dance!

Which makes total sense since these two met through ballroom dance competitions. (How cool is that?!)

Their wedding day was hot as all heck, but absolutely gorgeous and filled with tons of laughs, delicious food, great music, and that was all in addition to the beautiful ceremony and amazing dancing!

Congratulations to Caitlin + Nick, and help me wish these two all the best!

-Sam

Here are the vendors (with links) that helped make Caitlin + Nick’s wedding day awesome!

Ceremony + Reception Venue: Harvest Moon Pond

Officiant: Eric Whaylen (friend of the couple)

DJ: Kuhl Entertainment

Bridal Gown: Love Couture Bridal

Groom Tux: The Black Tux

Wedding Bands & Engagement Ring: Washington Diamond

Hair & Makeup: Arch Apothecary

Florist: Sunborn Gardens

Wedding Pies: Hubbard Ave Diner

Catering: Blue Plate Catering

Decor Rental: Black Sheep Events (formerly Eventfuls) for the Wedding Arch

Cat + Sam: An Intimate Olin Park Wedding Day

Cat + Sam had their first look at the same spot where they first said “I love you”

And if that isn’t the sweetest thing you’ve heard today, I don’t know what to tell you. Their first “I love you” came at the first metal bench on Picnic Point, so on their wedding day, that’s exactly where they wanted to do their first look. It was a little rainy, and a little cold, but absolutely gorgeous, and I’m so happy I got to photograph them at such a special place!

For their wedding at Olin Park, they wanted to keep things casual with their closest family in attendance, and to celebrate with pizza and donuts afterward. I loved the purple and lavender accents they used for decor, and also of course the heating lamps because brrrrrr was it cold out!

Congratulations to Cat + Sam!

-Sam

Here are all the vendors who helped make Cat + Sam’s wedding day awesome:

Ceremony + Reception Venue: Olin Park

Officiant: Judge Jennifer Nashold

Bridal Gown: Lulus’s Bridal

Wedding Jewelry: Brilliant Earth (Bride’s necklace was her dad’s wedding ring)

Hair Stylist: Kismet Salon

Florals & Decorations: Ling’s Moment

Wedding Dessert: Level 5 Donuts

Wedding Pizza: Roman Candle

Rachael + Sam: A Madison Lakeside Park Wedding

On a beautiful and windy Spring day in Burrows Park, Rachael + Sam said “I Do”

I love small and intimate weddings, and Racheal + Sam’s wedding day was just that. Small, intimate, and full of life and love. As most wedding days do, it started off a little stressful, but everything came together by the main event, which of course was the wedding vows!

Rachael + Sam had a wonderfully short and sweet wedding ceremony (where Rachael was holding their youngest) and then were able to relax and celebrate with their closest friends and family and enjoy the weather! Just what a wedding day should be!

Help me with Rachael + Sam a big congrats, and enjoy the wedding photos!

-Sam

Alisha + Nathaniel: A Black Earth Rainy Day Micro Wedding

Alisha + Nate may have had rain on their wedding day…

But like everything else about getting married during a pandemic, they rolled with it!

Alisha + Nate met during college through mutual friends, but they actually fell for each other while playing trivia together (Remember trivia? And places? And other people?) and like many of our clients over the last year, they had originally planned on a larger wedding day, but when COVID still wasn’t over in early 2021, they made the decision to have a small ceremony with immediate family this year at Nate’s parent’s house in Black Earth, WI, and then celebrate with a bigger crowd in 2022.

The wedding day was simple and lovely and in addition to immediate family, the wedding day was also attended by Alisha + Nate’s dog, Laverne. After a short and sweet ceremony, we went outside with some umbrellas for a bit to take full photo-advantage of the drizzle (I love rainy day wedding pics) and before we knew it, it was time for them to head to a celebratory dinner!

Enjoy the wedding pics of these two love birds, and join me in congratulating them on their wedding! I can’t wait for more celebrations with these two and their families in 2022!

-Sam

Here are the vendors (with links) that helped make Alisha + Nate’s wedding day awesome!

Wedding Dress: Lulus

Catering: Pig in a Fur Coat

Hair: love + light hairdressing

Makeup: Julia Grace Salon

Suit: NL Suits

Flowers: Sweet Pea Floral

Terry + Leah: A Rainbow Wedding at the Goodman Community Center

Terry + Leah had a happy and colorful wedding day, complete with Ring Bear!

Terry + Leah, like a lot of folks getting married during the pandemic, decided to do things a little differently on their wedding day. They had a very intimate ceremony in March, and are planning a bigger reception celebration in October.

Small and intimate doesn’t mean boring though, and Terry + Leah’s wedding day was fun and joyful, and full of little touches (beautiful lights and rainbow accents and so many sequins!!!!) and big touches, like having a Ring Bear (I still giggle about this every time I think about it)!

Congratulations, Terry + Leah, and we can’t wait to celebrate with you for round two in October!

-Sam

Here are the wedding vendors (with links where available) that helped make their wedding day wonderful!

Ceremony Venue: Goodman Community Center

Officiant: Eldonna Hazen, Senior Minister, First Congregational UCC

Wedding Jewelry: Jewelers Workshop

Hair Stylist: Serena of Serena's Hair Now

Brunch Catering: Lily Kilfoy

Cupcakes: Daisy Cafe and Cupcakery

Erin + Matt: A Halloween Micro Wedding

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

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

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)

Sam + Joe: A Nature-Filled Madison Micro Wedding

While Sam + Joe originally planned on getting married in Colorado, COVID pushed them to have a small but mighty beautiful Madison wedding ceremony in 2020, with a Colorado celebration to come in 2021!

Colorado holds a special place in the story of Sam + Joe’s relationship, as it was the first place they said “I love you”. While I can’t wait to be able to help them celebrate their union there in 2021, I am also thrilled to have been able to help them capture their 2020 wedding here in Madison.

The UW Arboretum, Willy Street, Lake Monona, and Olbrich Gardens are some of Sam + Joe’s favorite nature-y spots in Madison (yes, I know nature-y isn’t a word) and we stopped at all of them on Sam + Joe’s wedding day for photos and fun.

I love all the little details that these two worked into their wedding day, including a reference to the mountain goat who was making obnoxiously loud noises during that first “I love you” in Colorado, a tie pin with Sam’s handwriting on it, bracelets with their important relationship dates, the DIY jewelry that Sam made for herself and the bridesmaids, and a whole host of other special little ways to celebrate. Sam + Joe even got me a pin shaped like a roll of film as a thank you (which led to me needing to explain to my 12 year old what film is, and now feeling old, but at least old with a cool pin).

Help me wish Sam + Joe a hearty congratulations friends, and stay tuned for part two next year!

-Sam

Here are the wedding vendors (with links) that helped Sam + Joe make their micro Madison wedding gorgeous!

Ceremony Venue: Olbrich Park

Reception Venue: Vintage Brewing Company Whitney Way

Officiant: Teresa Chrismore

Bridal Gown: Torrid (with alterations by Bride’s mom & sister)

Groom’s Suit: Men’s Wearhouse

Bridesmaid Dresses: ModCloth

Wedding Bands: TQ Diamonds (Bride’s Rings by Verragio, Groom’s band by Dora)

Other Wedding Jewelry: DIY by Bride

Bride Hair Stylist: Aniu Salon in Middleton

Groom Hair Stylist: Freya at Blue Chip Barber Club

Florist: Naly’s Floral Shop

Wedding Cake: Craig’s Cake Shop

11 of Our Favorite Wedding Rings

Wedding Rings are as unique as the couples who wear them...

As you may know, Rob and I are HUGE fans of telling people's love stories, and so it would stand to reason that wedding rings, an outward symbol of the love and commitment a couple has for each other, are one of my favorite things to photograph! The variety is astonishing, and goodness knows we've seen so many beautiful wedding rings during our adventures, but here are a few of our absolute favorites! If you're not married yet, hopefully the gallery will inspire you when the time comes, and if you are married, we hope this little love letter to wedding rings serves as a reminder to cherish your own, and all that they symbolize in your marriage. 

--Sam

Heather + Mike: An Olin Park Micro Wedding

Heather + Mike, like many couples, had to make some adjustments to their wedding day plans

They had originally wanted to have a fall wedding, but when COVID threw a wrench in those plans, they decided to have an intimate micro wedding at the beautiful Olin Park in Madison, WI. It was short, sweet, and absolutely filled with love!

Heather + Mike have been inseparable since their first date at Geeks Mania, and it was an honor to photograph the beginning of the next part of their life together!

-Sam

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

Ceremony: Olin Park

Wedding Planner: Plan Simply by CJ

Florals: Bridal Wish Design

Bridal Gown: ThredUp, Nordstrom Rack (Top is Adrianna Papell and skirt is Lauren Conrad)

Groom Outfit: Mens Wearhouse, Levi, Monroe Street Shoe Repair

Engagement & Bridal Wedding Band: Stag Head Designs

Groo Wedding Band: Alexi Russell Jewelry

Aubrey + AJ: A Luscious Summer Wedding at Fields Reserve

Aubrey + AJ’s wedding day was a perfect summer day in the Wisconsin woods!

Though the wedding day plans were a bit different than they have have been originally, thanks to COVID-19, Aubrey + AJ made the best of a tough situation and had an absolutely gorgeous wedding day surrounded by their closest friends and family, in the beautiful wooded area around The Fields Reserve.

The smiles, the laughs, the jewel-toned wedding colors, the perfect summer weather; their wedding was truly a celebration of their love with those dearest to them! Congratulations to Aubrey + AJ!

-Sam

p.s. You can check out their downtown Madison, WI engagement session here!

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

Wedding Coordinator: Sammi Hintz of Wishful Weddings

Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Fields Reserve

Officiant: Daryl Castona

DJ: DJ Magic

Bridal Gown: Mori Lee Perla from Belle Saison Bridal, Austin, TX

Groom Suit: Joe Custom from Men’s Wearhouse

Engagement Ring & Wedding Bands: The Ring Austin and Rustic & Main

Hair & Makeup: The Posh Beauty Bar

Wedding Party Attire: David's Bridal and Men’s Wearhouse

Florist: Blooms By Brandi

Wedding Cake: The Looking Glass Bakery

Catering: Hyvee Catering