Brooks + Olivia's Classic White Wedding at Oak Hill // Oak Hill Weddings// Illinois

THIS. WEDDING. Ok so when Olivia contacted me I nearly jumped for joy but I had to admit to her, I had a wedding the following day in….Minnesota. With Olivia’s wedding in Illinois, surely I am crazy to think I can do this and still sleep. But I couldn’t turn this wedding down and now that it is edited and delivered and I finally got to blog it to share it with all of you, I think you will see why it was ENTIRELY worth it. This wedding is one of those if I could have a “Do over” wedding it would look something like this. The crisp, clean whites, the warm backdrop, the little chapel, the location with room to roam about, donkeys?! A barn, a tent, an amazing getting ready location, Oak Hill Weddings has it figured out. And Olivia, a talented photographer herself definitely knew what she was doing. I also I want to point out that Olivia chose a 6 hour package and as you can see with the right timeline, every key moment was covered. She is so resourceful, she knew what would work! So if you think you can’t afford a certain photographer, maybe your just looking at the wrong package?

I am going to stop talking so you can enjoy your scroll of this amazing wedding! Check the bottom for vendors that made it happen!

ROCKSTAR VENDOR TEAM:

Wedding dress store/ Designer: Marah’s Elegant Bridal Designer: Mikaella
Bridal Accessories: * Earrings- Aldo Veil- Marahs Elegant Bridal
Brides Shoes: Just Fab
Hair/Make-up: Gymkana Blue- Dubuque, Iowa
Bridesmaids Dresses/store: Lulus.com/A&M Bridal/Vera's House of Bridal
Florist: Cuba City Greenhouse, Cuba City, WI
Cake/dessert: Wedding Day Bakery, Galena, IL
Band/DJ: Raspberry Lemonade Musicians & M Productions
Caterer: Rafters
Invitations/designer: I did! Olivia
Videographer: Weston Road Films

Marcus + Mandy's Cozy Backyard Wedding // Private Residence // Arbor Vitae, WI

THIS wedding! Early Fall, Gorgeous backdrop of Mandy’s family backyard. I was met by her dad, maybe the sweetest guy I ever met, he gave me tour around the property, later I found out just how close he and Mandy are, they made the bar and backdrop decor in the tent together, and he was also the officiant and it was spectacular. It was a hazy overcast day and the trees were still green, deer were running in the food plot, “tall dogs” Mandy calls them, lol. Her mom and sister slipped her into her amazing dress, likely a top favorite dresses I have ever photographed! and then she met Marcus after a walk through the path. These two have such passion and connection, I just stood back and let it unfold. The day was so laid back and fun. At one point I asked if Mandy wanted the bouquets for the bridesmaids photos and she shrugged and said, “doesn’t matter”. So they threw on jean jackets and laughed. Mandy is the fun friend you want to hang out with, and Marcus is her strong balance. I loved spending the day with these two and all of their people. The party was hopping when I left, I bet it was a good one! Enjoy! Scroll down for amazing vendors, like the maker of mandy’s showstopper custom dress!

Vendors:

Wedding dress designer/store: Dreamers and Lovers
Brides Shoes: Blue by Betsey Johnson
Hair/Make-up: Hair -Jessica at Briar Rose, Makeup- Erin Korthoff from Be Unique by EEK
Bridesmaids Dresses/store: Their dresses are all random
Florist: Lori's Flower Cottage
Band/DJ: A Personal Touch DJ
Caterer: Rockman's Catering
Invitations/designer: Minted

Paine Arts Center and Gardens Wedding // The Macks // Oshkosh Wisconsin

In the midst of wedding season, baseball season and the season of an infant, the one thing that I had to give up for awhile was my blog. And now that the season is changing into my slow(er) time of life, I wanted to focus back on my blog.

Someone asked me if people even read blogs anymore, and I don’t have the answer to that, my best answer is, I guess I don’t read blogs much anymore so I can honestly say it’s possible. But for me it’s important to get the content out there but most of all to share these beautiful weddings and people I get to work with, with the world.

Starting back up with Mike and Melanie, I can honestly say I would vote this wedding one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever been to. I mean it’s gorgeous, this venue is insane really and the couple is basically molded out of pure gold. But that’s what you see. What was beautiful about it, is what you can’t see. You can’t see Mike’s sisters jumping into action and taking care of me and keeping me calm after I was stung by a bee (for the first time) right under my eye. What you don’t see is the surprise moment when Melanie announced she thought her birth mom was present at the wedding. What you can’t see is Melanie, face to face with the brave woman who gave birth to her and shared her with amazing parents. You can’t see that Melanie’s brother is also adopted and so are all of her cousins. Also unseen is the LOVE this family shares with children who need them. The absolute OPEN heartedness of Melanie when greeting her birth mom. The OPEN arms and warm welcome from Melanie’s adopted parents to her birth mom. And every word of every speech especially the one where the entire room cheered a woman who had already left the wedding, for making the choice to give Melanie to this family and the courage that took and the love that that took, It was a very moving day for everyone and I really felt a part of it.

I am trying to keep the posts short so I can be sure to share much more! Don’t miss the team of vendors who made this day absolutely out of this world. (Below)

VENDORS:

Wedding Venue: Paine Arts Center and Gardens
Wedding dress designer/store: Martina Liana
Bridal Accessories: Sara Gabriel (earrings) & Veil, the rest is just etsy!
Brides Shoes: Badgley Mischka
Hair/Make-up: Hair: Beauty by Michelle Senour; Make Up: Dana Michele Makeup
Bridesmaids Dresses/store: Jenny Yoo
Coordinator: None - Bride!
Florist: Thistle & Plume (Grace Koh)
Cake/ Dessert: Eve's Cakes (Eve Blanchard - Bride's Aunt!)
Band/DJ: Van Rixel Productions; DJ is Tyler Olson
Caterer: Zuppas
Invitations/designer: Minted