A contemporary approach. A sophisticated result.
Documenting a pregnancy is a beautiful way to remember that exciting time of expecting a new little one.
I was excited to document Jessica’s pregnancy because we had also photographed Jessica and Ryan’s engagement session and wedding several years earlier. I love being included in these special milestones. Jessica wanted a session that was low-key, natural and not overly “cutesy.” Here are a few images from the location maternity session we did at Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison.
As Dana and Pat planned their wedding, there were several things that were very important to them. One was having a ceremony and reception on the lake. Another was having a fun, live band to play during the reception.
Both of those elements made their wedding day remarkably fabulous–and certainly more expressive to their individual style than a cookie-cutter approach would have allowed.
With the reception taking place at the Elk’s Lodge, which sits right on Lake Monona and only blocks from downtown, Dana and Pat wanted to arrive to their party by pontoon boat. To make the trip, it made perfect sense to also have a wedding ceremony right on the lake.
As any bride and groom looking for outdoor wedding locations in Madison knows, the city parks fill fast. Such was the case for Dana and Pat. Their first choice had been Olin Park, located on the other end of downtown, also on Lake Monona. With it already being booked, they started looking for other options. The perfect solution came when Pat’s father offered to host the ceremony in his backyard. His home, in the city of Monona, sits on the other side of Lake Monona from downtown. This was a gorgeous location that offered access to the water for the boats and had the added bonus of being personal to the family.
You can see more of their wedding on the blog: a behind-the-sccenes peek and about their 1,000 origami cranes.
Having a great party is probably every wedding couple’s goal. And the dance at the reception is a large part of that party. There is an level of energy that a live band can create at a wedding reception that a DJ is just not able to produce. At Dana and Pat’s wedding, the local cover band Blue Light Scene was amazing! They sounded great, covered a wide array of music and kept the crowd on the dance floor.
It was a fun day and I’m sure it was memorable for all the guests, from the beginning to the end!
The idea of having an early June garden wedding brings to mind the most picturesque vision of what a wedding should be. Casual and relaxed, while still being a little formal and traditional. You get the benefit of colorful flowers so you don’t need to worry about extra bouquets and decorating. And everyone gets to enjoy the beautiful setting, not being stuck inside a dark hotel ballroom.
Caitlin and Josh had such a wedding, both comfortable and elegant. The ceremony and the reception were held at Olbrich Garden in Madison. The Rose Garden has a large, open grassy area that holds little, white chairs and the brick path as an aisle that allows for a processional to the rose arbor. Caitlin and Josh walked down that brick aisle together, a perfect sentiment to how they were starting their new life together, united as equals in marriage.
They attended to the details beforehand so they could just enjoy their wedding day, keeping everything very low-key and personal. For example, they forwent cake and served their wedding guests pie, including Josh’s favorite Key Lime. Everything was exactly how they wanted it.
We love working with sweet wedding couples, and Ashley and Joe certainly fall into that category. As you may remember, their wedding was chosen to be featured both in both the 2016 printed Corridor Wedding Guide book and on the Corridor Wedding Guide website. You can read all the details of their wedding over there.
We have finished up with their wedding album and would love to share some highlights of their engagement session. We used the images from their session to design the Save The Date magnets that they sent out before the wedding. The next post will show off both some wedding highlights and their gorgeous album!
Recently, we shared the backyard garden location from Paula and Bill’s family portrait session. You can see the photos here.
While having the session done is the first step, actually getting the photographs to
show off is the important part. The whole reason you go to the effort of getting your family together, all cleaned up and coordinated, is have those special photographs up on the wall so everyone can see them!
I love going into homes with a lot of wall portraits and smaller photographs displayed on shelves or counters. And, of course, Paula and Bill’s home is a great example.
When people go into someone’s home, they will often gravitate towards the photographs on the wall. Seeing old wedding portraits or baby photographs of kids now grown give visitors a special glimpse into the past. It’s like letting them in on a secret story from an all-but-forgotten time.
Paula and I walked through her rooms and discussed where these new portraits will go, along with looking at the older ones she will continue to display. I loved hearing her stories about her kids’ weddings and seeing all the grandchildren as toddlers.
I think it’s a good idea to keep those older portraits, even if they no longer get prime wall locations. It’s usually pretty easy to find a new wall to call home for those well-loved photographs, such as a hallway or bedroom.
The only issue for Paula was that she loved more images from this session than we could beautifully show off in her home.
The best answer was to do a family album, as well.
One of the best perks of a family album is how portable it is. When you are not able to get everyone to your home to see your lovely family hanging on your wall, you can take the photographs to them.
Along with the wall portraits and family album, we did miniature versions of the album. These pocket-sized books are a fun way to share the album with everyone, as they tuck into a purse and can be passed around easily.
We love being able to make great portraits that we know will be cherished and enjoyed for years. It’s wonderful to know how important these are for the families we work with to create them!
To celebrate their wedding anniversary, Paula and Bill’s kids knew that the only thing Paula wanted was to get the whole family together and have a portrait session.
And since this was to be the first time in many, many years that the whole family was going to be together in the same place all at the same time, it was important to get this session scheduled to lock in the date.
I think it’s especially meaningful to families when the location we do the session reflects their tastes and they have a connection to it. Paula has spent years cultivating her perfect backyard garden. The whole family has seen the garden grow and expand over the years from Paula’s careful attention and hard work. They have all enjoyed the view from the back patio and while sitting around the fire. This is a place they know and relax in.
So, it was an easy choice for her family portrait session location. There would have been no better place than Paula’s backyard.
When we get families together, we love to take advantage of the opportunity. Of course, we get the whole entire family together for a large group portrait, but we work through as many other combinations as we can. This is good for the individual families and also the special groupings, like all the cousins together.
When Paula and Bill’s family look at these photographs, not only are they going to love the people in them, but they are also going to enjoy the special setting, knowing how important it is to them all.
Anna and Atit celebrated their marriage twice. Their Catholic wedding ceremony took place in Jefferson, Wisconsin, several days after their Chicago hindu ceremony. (You can see more images here.)
This is the album that showcased the Catholic ceremony. Along with photographs of the ceremony, it had images of their family and the reception that took place afterward at the Madison Concourse Hotel in downtown Madison, Wisconsin.
Anna and Atit selected their favorite 100-and-some photographs that I designed into the final album.
Often, the design of a wedding album is a collaborative effort. The bride and groom can have as much control over the images that go into it as they want. Some couples will pick them all, others prefer me to make the storytelling selections, and still others will pick some and have me round out the design by picking the rest.
Once images are selected, they are worked into a custom design. This is an important step with my albums that I create. Since no two weddings are alike, and certainly no two brides would pick the same images for her album, I don’t use templates to create albums. There is no way I could force couples into one-size-fits-all boxes. The design is completely dependent on the images that were chosen and the style that the bride and groom like.
When this custom design is then ready for the couple to look over, they give their approval before the album goes into final production.
The cover of an album can range from fabrics and leathers to custom designs and photographs. Anna and Atit opted for a solid blue leather cover for their album. Since their wedding colors were blue and brown, it coordinated perfectly.
After much discussion, we came up with ideas for Nicolas and Laura’s engagement session. They wanted to avoid downtown and wanted a “natural” setting. They picked Governor Nelson State Park as their location for their engagement session. The 422-acre Wisconsin state park in Waunakee sits on the shore of Lake Mendota, across from downtown Madison.
Most wedding couples opt to do an engagement session before their big day. We love being able to do engagement sessions, as it allows us to get to know the couple better. We see how they interact together and in front of the camera. We also get to learn more about them, as a couple. We find out if they are reserved or playful, outgoing or a little shy. They will often tell us if they are nervous about being photographed and this gives us the chance to show them that the process of a portrait session is a lot easier than they think!
Outdoor weddings are fun when the weather is good- and for Caitlin and Josh, the weather was perfect. Here is a peek at what I’m working on:
