Tag Archives: Fall

Fall Wedding Season Preparations

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With summer officially drawing to an end, fall wedding season is in full swing!  What better backdrop this time of year than Wisconsin? With stunning foliage and a crispness in the air, you’re sure to have the best day ever.  However, it’s important to keep in mind that planning a wedding takes more time and effort than what’s seen on the surface. From selecting a venue to choosing a caterer and finding a photographer that best fits your needs, the amount of work and time you invest in preparing for your big day can feel endless.  It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of planning and forget how essential it is to practice self-care during this time.  The last thing you want to be feeling on your wedding day is stressed out or sleep-deprived. Keep reading below for a few tips to help ensure your fall wedding is the picturesque day you always imagined it to be!  

Shine Bright Like A Diamond

When temperatures begin to drop, your skin can experience major change. Perfecting the wedding glow takes some preparation. During the summer, you want to use a lightweight, oil-free moisturizer to keep your skin hydrated. Quite the opposite when the weather gets colder. According to Allure, opp for a heftier hydrator that will help replace the essential fatty acids that need to be there to help replenish your face.

 

A Smile Can Change The World

The onset of fall tends to largely impact our immune systems. A weakened immune system may leave the body prone to disease or viruses.  These diseases can attack both internally and externally which is why it is also essential to maintain our oral health in order to look and feel your best. You may also want to consider doubling up your dosage of Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and fruits and vegetables, to ensure your body is strong enough to fight off any unwanted sickness. Establish a routine early on and your smile will be dazzling come your big day!

Wisconsin Wedding & Portrait Photographer Couples with Dogs Film-Style Images

 

R-E-L-A-X

There is nothing better than taking time out for yourself to get some R&R. Especially in the fall, cozying up on the couch with a pumpkin spiced latte in your hand and an apple cider candle burning, will have you well on your way to clearer thoughts and better sleep. If you want to take your meditations to the next level, Healthline recommends using these smartphone meditation apps. In no time at all, you will be well on your way to improving your mindfulness. With so many decisions, from personal to financial, being made leading up to your wedding, you want to be in a clear headspace to be sure you’re making the right choices for your big day.

Fall Couple Photos in woods with dogs and campfire

 

Engagment Photos

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From Minneapolis to Chicago & just about every region in between, we have captured couples this past year. One common thread that ties them all together is their mutual love for each other and thrill of a great adventure. Many of them have a great passion for the outdoors and enjoy taking in every moment of it together whether it be fishing, hunting, jogging, hiking, or camping. While some live in the big city, they often have roots here in the Northwoods or Central Wisconsin and it is their down-to-earth personalities that make them all so easy to get to know.

Katie and I are an open book. We may share with you much more than you ever hoped to know when it comes to life, marriage, and raising a family during one of our meetings; our story stretches back over nearly 20 years. Many of our couples met online or through mutual friends while in college or grad school. In our initial hangout dates with our couples, I like to ask how our couple met and more often than not, one will look at the other and hesitantly say, “Online!.” I then reassure them that they are not alone and it isn’t weird. We think online dating or long distance relationships are great! They’re often driven by strong communication and algorithms designed to match people based on their personalities and interests. Gotta love psychology!

Dating can be rough. I know that Katie and I wouldn’t know where to start. We’re so very thankful that God matched us when we were pre-teens to become best friends and it wasn’t until nearly a decade later that we would say, “I do.” It is so neat getting to have conversations with couples from around the country who are willing to open up and share a part of their story with us. Even more so, it is is an honor when couples entrust us to capture one of the most important days of their lives. We feel privileged to be able to spend our weekends with such extraordinary people who place a premium on their wedding experience and their marriages as a whole. They know this [marriage] is a once in a lifetime event and they want to embrace it for all it has to offer and hold dear to every passing moment; because they know it will fly by so very quickly.

You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

Hold on to one another and invest as much time in your marriage as you will on planning your wedding day! Life is truly made up of all the little moments and you will remember the times that you slowed down and intentionally reflected. Make time, better yet, schedule time to be alone without your phones, screens and the like and simply be present with one another. Listen. Be quite. Just exist in one another’s presence. That feeling of complete comfortability combined with butterflies is what we all wish for in a soulmate. Take a walk, ride a bike, go on the trip you always wanted. Sometimes life gets a hold of us and once it does it is hard to step off the merry-go-round. If you’re the journaling type, which we hope you are, take a few moments out of your week to put pen to paper. Write it all down, the good with the bad. When you look back and reflect, you will want to be as true to yourself as possible – and to your future generations who read your words you will want to provide wisdom. Share your mistakes, your frustrations, your passions and your regrets. Life is short, but also precious – so cherish and revere it. #liferevered. Make memories and dream big!

“If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.”
― Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Favorite Bridal Party Photos

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Photographing Bridal Parties is one of the most intimidating aspects of wedding photography. How good are you at speed dating? You have 30 seconds to make them like you or at the very least listen to you. If you can do that then you have to make them smile or even better have a good time! People are more interested in how you make them feel and the experience you offer for the short 30 minutes to an hour than the ‘quality’ of images you produce. If you can combine fun, beauty, and speed to your bridal party photos people are not going to forget their experience with you.

For Katie and I, we generally attract outgoing, down-to-earth, laidback couples who have friends and family who know that their wedding photographs mean a great deal to them. Very often our couples request that their guests put their phones and cameras away so they can simply be present. Your bridal party is there to enhance their overall joy and excitement for the day. While I take the lead when it comes to bridal party photos, Katie is able to capture the in-between moments that happen on the side. These tend to me some of my most favorite images when culling through a wedding. Ideally, we like to overlap our coverage as much as possible. When Katie isn’t photographing the reception site directly after the ceremony, she is alongside me with her trusty 50mm.

A suggestion to our couples would be to come with ideas of where you would like to go and give us the freedom and time to create some great candid and posed bridal party images. We love suggestions and Pinterest boards to get a feel for the types of images the really speak to you as a person. For us, we like images that feel natural and unforced, yet have a stylized feel. Movement and location are really key. We like to shoot portraits a few hours before the sun goes down. As you can image, during the midday it can be difficult, especially for those who are sensitive to light or the heat. We want to keep everyone looking a feeling great. Secondly, we don’t want you to feel like your entire wedding day was spent in front of us! We like efficiency and truly want to focus on the two of you! Those are the photos that are going to grace your home and fill your album. Let’s make some fun memories and ensure that everyone has a great time. Wedding photography isn’t what it use to be!