If I could script a perfect wedding it might look something like a custom-designed dress that combines new fabric with fabric from the MOB’s wedding dress. It might take place on a farm and have cocktail hours (yes, cocktail hours plural) before and after the short & personal ceremony. During said ceremony, the crowd would cheer and holler. This wedding might have Izze, lawn games, gray striped straws, handmade signs, flowers by my favorite florist (daffodil*parker), DIY whimsical details, sno cones, cotton candy and popcorn. There might be pulled pork and corn on the cob for dinner. There would be a dessert bar with treats made by friends and family (recipe cards nearby for the taking), a typewriter guestbook and Elegant Farmer pie for dessert. There would be an upbeat first dance after heart-felt speeches that made your abs hurt from laughter and your eyes well-up with tears. There would be a bride that changed into TOMS shoes and guests dancing to Cake. There would be sparklers.

Most importantly, there would be a bride and groom like Maggie and David. Sweet, generous, beautiful, caring, ambitious, successful but down-to-earth, and humble. This bride and groom would be surrounded by friends and family who help all day with the wedding in 90 degree heat (while having huge smiles on their faces and looking fashionable to boot).  Everyone at this wedding would be amazing and nice and welcoming. In case you haven’t caught on, this perfect wedding actually was Maggie and David’s. Enjoy:

It would be a blog post this long — that could have been much longer — because I loved it all so much.

Maggie and David, thank you. It was truly an honor to be part of such an amazing and perfect day. You are two of the most considerate and wonderful people I’ve ever met and your family and friends are a testament to who you are as well. I wanted to take you all home with me in my pocket. Congratulations!!

I enjoyed every minute of this wedding. Not only are Megan and Brent awesome individuals … they are awesome together. They are just really nice, unfussy, and go-with-the-flow. Their barn wedding was an absolute reflection of that and everyone I talked to was having an amazing time.

Megan and Brent didn’t skip a detail either. O’Brien Barn was decked out in the coolest DIY rustic details. I loved their style and working with them was as good as it gets.

Wasn’t about to leave without a photo of myself with Megan and Brent. I simply adore them.

A huge congrats, Megan and Brent! Such an honor to spend your wedding day with you!

Megan and Brent incorporated several of my most favorite vendors into their wedding, including: Jennyface on makeup, daffodil*parker on flowers, and of course the O’Brien Barn as ceremony and reception venue.

Maria and Clay were married at one of Wisconsin’s most beautiful locations. Inside and outside — it all looked perfect. But you could have stripped all the pretty “things” away and this wedding still would have been so beautiful. Maria and Clay are a million shades of fun, super laid-back, caring, sweet, kind and smart. They have a remarkable love for each other and they were surrounded by more love than I could almost handle on their wedding day.

Filled with Swedish tradition (cannons firing, singing, dancing, table-pounding), this wedding was one of a kind. It’s one of those weddings, that as a photographer, you want to shoot over and over again.

Thank you so so much, Maria and Clay. It was truly an honor to be part of your day.  See you in a week for your engagement-turned-day-after-session :)

I ran across the above quote in an interview with Nirrimi on some blog last week.  The interviewer was asking the young artist how she felt about being so successful so early on in her career.  And I love how she responded.  I want to make it my motto for the rest of my life.  When I was shooting Jenna the other night … even though it was only 30 minutes outside … I was really happy.  And in my element.

Thanks Jenna, for always being my muse on any type of shoot, even at the last minute.  You inspire me.

Once upon a time I earned a Masters degree in Library & Information Sciences.  During those grueling (ahem, boring) two years I made a friend (whom I had met previously as an undergrad, working at the same library) named Kathy.  A couple years later Kathy saw my photography work on Facebook and left a comment predicting that I’d soon be shooting weddings all the time and simply moonlighting as a librarian.  Fast forward another few months and I’m a fulltime photographer not even working as an academic librarian at all anymore.  Kathy’s friend, Liz, gets engaged and Kathy tells Liz about me.  Less than a year after that I am in Austin, TX shooting Liz’s wedding.  Kathy is a bridesmaid and so is Meagan.  Meagan is the assistant editor at BRAVA magazine.  We all have a great time on the wedding day.

Months later, I get an email from Meagan asking if I’d like to submit some weddings for consideration in BRAVA’s wedding guide.  I submitted Ryann and Tim’s rustic country-vintage wedding and it was chosen to be featured as one of three weddings in the guide!  I was extra-extra excited when my image of Ryann and her vintage bike was chosen for the cover!!  Yay!  Ryann and Tim had an amazing wedding — simply beautiful, creative and so reflective of who they were.  I felt so honored to be chosen to capture it; it will forever be one of my favorites.

To top it all off, BRAVA’s art director, Kristin, has asked me to start shooting fashion and cover stories for them — which is awesome!

And it all goes back to Library School…there is a reason I got that degree after all :)