Summer Wedding Inspiration | Madison, Wisconsin

With lots of inquiries coming in the last couple of weeks I know there are lots of newly engaged and excited couples just starting to plan their weddings. Like I tell all of my clients, there are just way too many choices when it comes to your wedding day, so it's important to first figure out your style and the type of wedding day that you've always envisioned. Having those clearly defined parameters will only help to speed up the process of making the overwhelming amount of decisions that comes with planning a wedding.

And I also thought I'd take a second to highlight what I thought was a cool and unique choice, different colors for your bridesmaids dresses! Kacie and Matt had a gorgeous summer day for their wedding, and the subtle hues and color accents just all blended so perfectly with the beautiful outdoor scenery. Having multiple colors that are all in the same hue, tone, etc can be a fun way to add more color and character to your wedding day!

Intimate Elopement Inspiration | Wisconsin Winter Wedding | Oregon, WI

Living in Wisconsin means living in winter for a good chunk of the year. While most people complain that it's so cold and snowy, I say embrace it!! I love that we have all 4 seasons in Wisconsin because as a photographer I get lots of variety in backgrounds even without having to travel. Haha although you already know I do prefer to travel for my weddings :) So I wanted to show that even when it's cold and snowy, you can have a gorgeous wedding and even get gorgeous outdoor portraits!!

This styled shoot was definitely a labor of love. All of these amazing vendors braved below zero temperatures to see the vision that Kirstie and Mallory from Elevate Events created. Also have to give a shout out to Renee at Madison Wedding Flowers for cutting down her own Christmas tree to have all of the gorgeous pine! It was a crazy fun day and I just can't thank all of these amazing people enough for all of their hard work!!

Venue: Charlie's on Main  |  Coordination & Styling: Elevate Events  |  Floral: Madison Wedding Flowers  |  Dress: Sarah Seven  |  Suit: Topman  |  Models: The Rock Agency  |  Make Up Artist: Alexa Rogers of Lexa's Luxurious Looks  |  Hair Stylist: Lisa Bloedel of Lexa's Luxurious Looks  |  Cake and Trifles: Brown Rice and Honey  |  Stationery: Letters by Lindsey  |  Table Settings: Sur La Table, Anthropologie, World Market and Target  |  Bridal Jewelry and Fur Coat: Forever 21  |  Horse: Cody at Liberty Stables - Noel Niles, Owner  |  Copper Arbor: Built by my Dad, thanks Dad!

How I Became A Photographer | A Personal Post

This week I'm working through my backlog of images that have been patiently waiting to be finished (having a computer go down did not help my productivity!) and I came across this image and for some reason it just made me think of how I got started in photography! And seeing as how I'm juuust a little behind on blogging, I thought I would take a second and just share my story for those of you that don't know.

Growing up I never had anything even close to a "fancy" camera. I always had cheap point-and-shoots, but every time I filled a roll of film I could NOT wait to get it developed. Fast forward to high school when I finally took a formal photography class through a local university that was just a creative film photography class held at night for beginners. Even having the most basic of assignments (photographing lines, stopping motion, etc) made me so happy and excited!

You would think I would've gone to college to study photography, but it wasn't until I was almost done with my accounting degree and I spent a semester abroad that I decided life was just too short to spend 40 hours a week doing something that I wasn't passionate about. It was then I decided to go after my dream career and did a 180 from the corporate world and headed off for a formal photography education in Massachusetts! I was spoiled learning on medium format film and digital camera systems and all of the professional lighting gear we could want. After I learned what an f-stop and shutter speed actually were, I headed to New York City for a couple internships before moving to Boston where I finally started to shoot weddings and fell in love with being a wedding photographer.

This black and white portrait kind of made me wish I had shot it on film, which started the whole thought process of where I started on film, but it kind of inspired me to get back to those roots and going out to shoot just for fun and to never forget the pure joy and excitement that I feel when I pick up a camera. I have been doing a lot of reflecting lately on where I want to go with my photography business, but I haven't been doing enough of remembering why I started in the first place. I'm glad I saw this image today and it reminded me of why I started this crazy journey to begin with :)

Wedding Inspiration | Pastel + Bright Pink Wedding | Chicago Wedding Photographer

I have been in a spring mood this week (it could be the tease of 50 degree weather we had recently) and really looking forward to spring and summer blooms! Last spring I took part in The Big Fake Wedding in Chicago at the City View Loft. If you haven't checked out what The Big Fake Wedding is all about and you're planning a wedding or know someone that is, you should. You get to see all of the wedding vendors in action as a real vow renewal happens! If you've ever wanted to crash a wedding to help you plan, here's your chance. I'm also really hoping by putting all of these pretty spring images out there will make the snow that we got this week the last time until December... a girl can hope, right?! :)

My Favorite Wedding Images From 2015

I used to choose my top 10 favorite wedding images each year, but I either got too lazy to narrow it down this year, or I just had too many images that I liked ;) It's so fun to go back and look through all of the wonderful weddings I had the opportunity to photograph. 

My favorite images to take are definitely the candid moments just full of emotion, but I found myself drawn to more portrait and some detail images the last couple of days! Here is a little collection from just some of the weddings of 2015. I'm so happy for all of these great memories!!