Val & Mike | Madison Wedding

Val and Mike were married at Quivey's Grove, a quaint, old restaurant just outside of Madison, in Fitchburg, Wisconsin. The restaurant is housed in the old house, while the bar and causal dining is located in the barn, connected to the house by an underground tunnel. Their open lawn is a pretty place for a ceremony, allowing enough room for a couple large tents for dinner and dancing, and open space for guests to linger.

I love kids at weddings and Val and Mike had a lot of them. They took advantage of the space and had a large "bounce house" for kids (and the adventurous adults- bride and groom included!) to climb through and jump in. To further entertain all the kids at the wedding, they made sure to have a craft table, music geared to little ones early in the evening and they even opted for cookies instead of cake for dessert.

Cecilia and Jason | Downtown Madison Wedding

The distinct ambience and character of a Madison wedding shines when the ceremony and reception are both in the beautiful downtown area. And what better place to get married than the oldest church in town, Grace Episcopal Church. I love old buildings, and especially old churches. Madison is lucky enough to have quite a few, but Grace is the iconic church that everyone knows- the church with the red doors across from the Wisconsin State Capitol.

I love fun details. Cecilia's shoes were definitely a fun detail. Blue! What a fun way to include the wedding tradition of wearing something blue. The bridesmaids were in short black bridesmaid dresses, starting with yellow heels and transitioning into yellow flip-flops. Hair was done by Rana Kay Design and the dress was from Brandi's Bridal.

Cecilia and Jason had a warm day in June for their wedding. Actually, I think it was one of the hottest days of the summer, but the heat of the day is always forgotten once the party starts. We went across the street to the Capitol for some photographs before heading to their favorite "biker bar" for drinks.

 The party kicked off at The Madison Concourse Hotel, located a block from the Capitol. Music was provided by Jukebox Bandstand.

Wendy & Keith | Monona Terrace Wedding, Madison

 Wendy and Keith had a beautiful day for their May wedding. We had such an early spring that it was hard to know what the weather was going to be like in May. Planning an outdoor ceremony in Wisconsin is always a bit risky, but the rooftop of the Monona Terrace was perfect. It wasn't too hot or windy, and the view of downtown Madison and Lake Monona is hard to beat.

 The wedding party took a walk up to the Capitol building for some photographs. The glasses on the wedding party was planned as a "surprise" by one of the groomsmen. We love hearing how the wedding party thinks we make the whole process of being photographed easy and fun. Couples also often tell us that their favorite part of the day is when they were being photographed, just the two of them. I think that really shows in their expressions, too. 

Wendy has enjoyed the honor of being in a lot of weddings.  A LOT OF WEDDINGS. Which means many bridesmaids dresses. And many of them are purple. Okay it was seven dresses, and the shades of purple varied, but that's still a lot.

To celebrate this, she asked guests to wear bridesmaids dresses to the wedding. Extra credit for those that wore purple. Many had fun with it, some even going out of their way to find outlandish gowns to don. Many other details made for a beautiful and enjoyable evening. The cake matched the wedding invitations, ducks, food stations, a music themed dash around the room for group photographs- it's all in the details!

We said good night to Wendy and Keith after one last photo session, a night session using the Monona Terrace rooftop with the Capitol as our backdrop. A romantic end to a stunning day.

Jamye from Beyond Elegant Events pulled the day together, Daffodil-Parker did the flowers, the cake was done by Craig's Cake, Scott Mueller Mobile DJ kept the dance going all night, Poetry in Motion created the videography and Khloe's Hair Studio made the bride look fabulous.

Laura & Dain | Wisconsin Dells Wedding

I liked using some of the various album pages last week so much that I'm going to do it again this week. This is not the whole album, but it gives you a chance to see more images from the day and tells more of their story.

Laura and Dain had the proverbial "good luck rain" on their wedding day. And it happened in the cutest way.

The wedding took place at Trapper's Turn Country Club, part of the Kalahari Resort. The ladies got ready at the club while the guys prepared for the day at Dain's parents' house. Check out the cute details with the love note on the bottom of the shoe and the family mementos sewn into the dress.

Shortly before the tented ceremony began, the rain came. Luckily, not a severe storm- just a regular summer rain shower. Guests were shuttled to the ceremony site, just off the green, by golf carts and hurried under the large white tent. When the bridal party waited to head down the aisle, the "last-minute purchase" of matching umbrellas protected them- as much as possible. Personally, I thought the images of the couples lined up in the rain were very cute (though I was dry under the tent). Laura coming from the golf cart, escorted by her father who held the umbrella, was just perfect. Really, the rain was light enough at that point that Laura stayed pretty dry and still looked absolutely perfect.




During the ceremony, the rain ended. The mingling after the ceremony and the family photo session carried on as planned, as did all the other photographs. The rest of the day was lovely, and the sun even popped out before photographs of Laura and Dain were done.

Flowers were by Wild Apples, cupcakes were by Bloom Bake Shop, the dress was from Edith's Bridal, hair was done at the Kalahari salon and music was by Jukebox Bandstand.

Chelsey & Erik | Janesville Wedding

I loved everything about Chelsey and Erik's wedding. I loved the colors, the details, the weather, the couple!

The wedding was an outdoor ceremony and indoor reception at the Janesville County Club. The colors were the fun and trendy "yellow and gray", with a modern vintage theme. For example, while Chelsey used mason jars for candle holders, the clean, modern floral patterns on the ribbons were definitely not "country." Floral Expressions did the gorgeous flowers and the beautiful cake was done by Craig's Cakes.

We are using Chelsey and Erik's wedding to display our coverage of a full wedding and to highlight one of our Artistic Albums. Below are several of the album spreads. Visit with us to see the whole album!

Erin & Marty | Madison Wedding

Erin and Marty had a beautiful wedding at Midvale Community Lutheran Church, on Madison's west side. The whole day felt easy because Erin was so laid back. She was relaxed and really enjoyed the wedding day with Marty.

With a downtown reception only a block away, a stop at the Capitol for photographs is almost a "must." Erin's shoes were cute gold flats that we had to show off.

 The reception was at the Madison Concourse Hotel, in downtown Madison. The service and attention to detail is always wonderful! The seating chart (bottom left) listed guests by name with their table number. Hair was done by Rejuvenation Spa. Flowers were by Blooms. The cupcakes were by the Concourse. 

Do You Love Me? Could You Count The Ways?

Valentine’s Day- the holiday everyone loves to hate. 

Why? Pressure.

It’s the one day out of an entire year that you feel like your love is being quantified. And no one likes to feel like they don’t measure up.

There is a certain level of expectation on Valentine’s Day. You feel like you are being judged. You feel like you are being watched and compared, to see how well, how much, you love someone. 

But also, in turn, how much you are loved.

Which brings me to the reason why people love Valentine’s Day. 

Everyone wants to feel like they are worthy of being loved. 

Everyone wants to feel special and appreciated. 

When you look at it that way, giving in to the hype of Valentine’s Day is actually a small gesture that you can do for your honey that has big impact. 

The whole rest of the year can get crazy-busy, and the romantic gestures can get forgotten when you are pressed to deal with schedules and to-do lists. This could be the one day that someone feeling a bit unappreciated is hoping that their significant other will slow down and remember all the tender, mushy reasons they love each other.

So, how do you show it? Easy:

(he/she/him/her used interchangeably)

Open her car door

Hand over the remote and let him choose the show - or better yet, turn off the TV

Write her a letter - Don’t know what to write? Try listing the reasons she makes you feel good or what you love about her. Mail it. Or hide it in a place she’ll find it.

Flirt

Make him a scavenger hunt

Bake her dessert - even if it comes from a mix

Make him breakfast in bed - or if your schedules are different, have the coffee ready when he wakes up

Do a chore that is usually done by the other

Play a board game together

Have a movie night - at a theater or on the sofa

Cook dinner together

Stargaze

Play together- play pool or minigolf, go bowling or ice skating

Change your routine

Turn out the lights and spend the evening in firelight or candlelight

Say “I love you and I appreciate all that you do, even if I forget to tell you the rest of the year.”

See Keep The Romance Fires Burning post for more ideas.