Dear Amalie & Eric,

Will you be my friends forever? Check yes or no. In all seriousness (although that was serious), I had a great time photographing you last week. Your chemistry is off the charts and your tastes and personalities are beyond any awesome adjective I overuse on this blog. Thank you for finding me and contacting me. Thanks for having a couple drinks with me at the Old Sugar Distillery before your session. Thanks for going there even though it was jam-packed and you two knew about it way before it was cool. Thank you for lighting a Chinese lantern to rid some negative energy from this world. Thank you for giving me a Chinese lantern to light one day when it’s darker outside. And for the wine and homemade maple syrup. I mean, come on … is it not clear why I want to make you be my friends?

Special thanks to Jennyface for her brilliant makeup talent. Dang, she makes my girls look gorgeous.

I guess it looks better at night :)

PS — Can I tell you the story of how these two met? They didn’t. Well, that’s how they describe their story … that they never really met. One night, when they were both out, Amalie saw Eric and just approached him. She grabbed his hand and started walking away with him saying, “you’re coming with me.” Yup. That was two years ago. And now they’re getting married.

I know. It’s not fair I get to work with people like this.

Well I’m officially at the halfway point of Wedding Season 2011. It’s easy to get lost/buried/burnt-out in the hustle of a 1,000 hour work week and endless hours spent at the computer, editing. But then I go shoot a stunning wedding like the one here, and well, I’m reminded to slow down and take this all in. The fact that I have the best job I could ever imagine and get to spend my weekends with incredible people at breathtaking events.

I’ll let the images do the talking — you’ll see that this wedding was obviously stylish, classy, beautiful  and amazing. My favorite memories of the day happened at the beginning and end of Holly & Kohler’s ceremony. After Holly walked down the aisle with her dad, Kohler grabbed her hand and pulled her aside to whisper something in her ear. I can only imagine it was something along the lines of, “you are gorgeous/striking/beautiful and I’m so lucky to be marrying you.” I thought it was such a sweet gesture and a wonderful way for a groom to communicate his first impressions of the bride before the ceremony even begins.

My other favorite moment of the day was after the ceremony ended and Holly and Kohler sauntered slowly down the aisle together while “At Last” played. Seriously — not the recessional song anybody would expect. But it was perfect. Thank you times 1,000, Holly and Kohler. You have done nothing but shower me with appreciation and hugs and warmth. It means the world to me, and so does the fact I got to share in your day with you. xoxo.

From the moment I stepped into Sara’s parents’ beautiful home I felt welcomed as part of the day. The love and warmth in both families is contagious. The northwoods setting was gorgeous, and despite pouring rain scattered throughout the day … everything was just perfect. I’ve never seen so many guests crying before the bride even walked down the aisle. I actually started tearing-up as well … the emotion in the room was so thick.

Sara and Joshua, you are so caring and beautiful. Thank you so much.

I’m sitting here by my open window, thinking about the two weddings I have this weekend. Both outdoors, both personal, and both in rustic settings (flower farm and an apple orchard). I’m excited.

I love it when couples work with local artists who are doing interesting things. My friend, Sarah, started her own linens service for weddings and it’s amazing. Her collection consists of vintage linens she has collected over the years, as well as linens she created herself. Her business is Midwest Textiles and I highly recommend working with her if you want an alternative to the normal, plain tablecloths and other dinner linens.

I can’t explain her work as well as she does on her website, so go check it out. I love her About page … it’s one of the best, most genuine descriptions of a sustainable & local business I’ve read. Sarah is super genuine as well and I hope we work together on more weddings in the future (first one is this weekend; I’m excited).

Below are a few frames from a shoot we put together in May (yes, May. I am so behind on blogging).  It gives you an idea of the variety in her collection, which is always expanding and evolving. The day we shot was craaaaazy windy, but I love the life and feeling these images have — especially in combination with the dreamy setting sunlight. My couples often ask how they can get this look in their wedding photos … and my answer is to shoot as close to sunset as possible … which gives you that dreamy, ethereal look that’s impossible to achieve earlier in the day :)

Sarah’s direct contact info is: midwesttextiles(at)gmail(dot)com and 608.215.7989

Bikes and East Main Street and water. I liked this session. In fact, I was just looking through my portfolio and realizing that nearly all my favorite images have water incorporated somehow. Makes sense, as I can easily sit by a lake or the ocean for days without being bored.

Stef and Justin are sweet, super easy-going, intelligent, quiet and yet not awkward or difficult to talk with (in fact, they are very easy to talk to and enjoyable to be around :)). Their wedding will be at one of my favorite places next year — the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Cannot wait.

Big thanks to Jennyface for making Stef look extra-beautiful.