Click here to see a wedding slideshow of Mary and Phil's wedding!

Angela and Nate

September 16, 2006

Wedding and Reception: Wintergreen Resort, Spring Green Wisconsin

Wintergreen Resort is a beautiful Frank Lloyd Wright inspired building right in the heart of beautiful Spring Green Wisconsin. This was the site of both the wedding and reception for Nate and Angela’s wedding.

The drive to Spring Prairie and the remote drive to Wintergreen was gorgeous. I’ve been lucky enough to go to some parts of the state that I have never seen before this year to photograph some lovely weddings. When I met with Angela and Nate they told me the minute they saw this place, they knew that it was “it”. When I got there, I saw why. Rolling hills, just a touch of autumn color and a beautiful natural lodge.

One of my favorite parts of the wedding day is getting to be with the bridesmaids and the bride as they get ready. It’s so fun to see them all get ready, to hear the stories of the wedding preparations, and to see the bridesmaids who are already married reminisce about their wedding day. Angela’s dress was re-created with the lace from her mother’s wedding dress and her bridesmaid Kristin made her garter. Nate works for Nike, and check out the awesome patent leather groomsmen Nike Air Force One Shoes, custom made. JUST DO IT!

There were so many people from so many areas of the country for this celebration that we ran a bit late taking pictures of groups after the ceremony. It’s just something that happens, when you have every one you love in one place, you want pictures. But I could tell Angela and Nate were getting worried, they wanted to go to another location for more pictures, and we were rapidly losing light. So I wrapped things up, we went to the second location and had we actually been on time, the pictures that you’ll see in the slideshow at sunset would have never happened. That’s what you call fate…Kismet…Karma. Whatever you wanna call it, it was some sweet light.

When we got back, Angela’s Dad grabbed me and said “How much trouble am I in for making you late with all those family photos?” And I told him that he did me a huge favor. An hour earlier the photos would have been nice. Fine. But they would have been missing the lovely sunset glow.

Kismet. Karma. That’s the thing about weddings, if you just go with the flow, trust that it will all work out and live the day, it’s all good.

And sometimes, your Dad really does know best . Even if he doesn’t know it!

Congratulations to Angela and Nate, and best wishes in your new home in Amsterdam

Click here to see a wedding slideshow of Angela and Nates wedding day!

Elizabeth and Mike

September 9, 2006

Wedding: St Joseph’s Parish, Wauwatosa, WI.

Reception: Western Racquet Club, Elm Grove, WI

I have a firm rule that I do not check the weather reports for the Saturday’s that I have weddings until Thursday. They never know what they are talking about; it doesn’t help to get riled up on Monday for something that could drastically change. Then when I check on Thursday, if things don’t look so good I just rely on my second best defense: Denial. According to the weather gurus it was supposed to rain all day on Elizabeth and Mike’s wedding day. But in fact, conditions were great, overcast and cloudy, a photographer’s favorite. After the formal pictures we had enough time to go to the Art Museum for some fun pictures with the wedding party. However, once we got to the lakefront….WIND!! It was comical, seeing how many bridesmaids it took to hold down Elizabeth’s veil. We had to have someone crouch down behind Elizabeth in the photos of her and the girls and hold the veil otherwise Elizabeth looked more like a bee keeper than a bride. But she handled it with humor and grace, and we got everything we wanted and some crazy fun pictures of her veil going every which way.

And it never did rain! Congratulations Elizabeth and Mike!

Check out their wedding slideshow to see photos from their wedding day!

Click here to see a wedding slideshow from Elizabeth and Mike's wedding!

Great online wedding publication

I belong to the Wedding Photojournalism Association and they recently started an online wedding publication called Wedpix. It ain't your momma's wedding magazine. It covers more unusual wedding situations than "Jordan Almonds vs. Hershey Kisses, what makes the best favor?".
Enjoy!

WEDPIX

Kathryn and Kevin’s engagement session

Chicago, Illinois

Shooting this engagement session was a blast. A special thanks to my buddy Dennis Lee for coming along with us and acting as chauffer so we didn’t have to battle traffic.

The windy city lived up to it’s name, and when we started bright sun and wind made the photographic conditions a little challenging. But as the evening progressed on, we had some awesome weather and Dennis and I were teaching Kathryn and Kevin that it was all about the “tasty light” that made photographs great. Kevin caught on right away and when we rounded a corner at Navy Pier and saw the pastel light hitting the skyline Kevin said “That’s tasty light, right?” It sure was!

The highlight of the photo session was at the end when Kevin spied the flying swings and thought it would be great to get some photos on it. Did I mention that I don’t do rides? Like, at all? Ever? My kids have tried in vain to get me to go on rides with them. I always beg out, because, well, I’m a puker. But to get the shot, I was willing to do it. Apparently that’s the magic bullet for me. I’m happy to report I did not lose it, and we got some great stuff. Be sure to watch the slideshow so you can see my self portrait on the swings at the end. Trust me, it’s worth it.

Click here to see a slideshow of Kathryn and Kevin's engagement sesssion

Vana and Aaron

August 26, 2006

Round Lake, Hayward Wisconsin

Completing my tour of the great north woods was Vana and Aarons ceremony on a lovely lake in Hayward, home of the world’s largest musky! They rented a big home for both of their families to stay in for the week, and when I met them they had been vacationing for a few days there. The whole feel of the day was relaxed, intimate and full of laughter and just a few tears :)

Vana is one of those people who would look good in a gunny sack (does anyone say that anymore?) but when she put that dress on, WOW. It was a gown that suited her perfectly. I couldn’t put my finger on who she reminds me of until I watched the slideshow a few times and realized she looks a lot like a young Grace Kelly. The affection and love between her and Aaron was hard to miss, and the people who attended the wedding mirrored it right back at them.

No wedding goes off perfectly without a hitch, but I’d say they got pretty close. A gorgeous day, a gorgeous location, a gorgeous bride, and the world’s largest musky. Doesn’t get much better than that.

Congratulations!

P.S. When in Hayward, I recommend the fudge at Lynne Marie’s Candy Shop. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go work off the 10 “fudge pounds” I gained up north.

Click here to view a wedding slideshow of Vana and Aaron's wedding!

One funny fudge story

When my bride Sue emailed me from Denver that she was going to be in town and wanted to get together to go over album stuff, she also mentioned that she had read on my blog about being up north and the fudge and that she loved fudge too. So, being the full service photographer that I am, I brought her some from Hayward. I also might have mentioned something about not having to share it with her hubby, but he'll never be able to prove it. When she got home, I got this email from her:

Hey Kim - Just wanted to thank you again for taking the time to meet with me yesterday and of course the fudge!!! The TSA agent at the airport was looking to confiscate it after the x-ray machine detected a suspicious looking object in my bag...nope, not the fudge, but I guess 600+ wedding photos look rather odd via x-ray and requires a physical examination of one's bags - during which I had about 3 agents swarm over in my direction and upon pulling my proofs out of my bag say..., "Hey that's Port Washington - I know Port Washington, I live in Grafton"," What beautiful pictures", "Congratulations"....I guess by that time I looked rather harmless and I could take my fudge and pictures and be on my way :-)

I was also really proud of myself too, I made it all the way home with some to share with Brian, though he still doesn't believe me that you told me I didn't have to share.

Kissin' for a Cause


When Tammy and Mark got married, they decided if they had to kiss a dozen or more times dictated by the "Dinging" of the glasses they were going to make it work for them. So they asked if people wanted them to kiss, to make a donation to the youth group that they were involved in their parish. It was also the youth group that brought Tammy and Mark together, so it had even more meaning to them. I just got an email from Tammy telling me that their story was featured on the Archdiocese website! Check it out!

Tammy and Mark

Alison and Dave

August 19, 2006

Bayfield Wisconsin

Wedding: The shores of Lake Superior

Reception: Bayfield Inn

When you travel 7 hours to shoot a wedding on the beach and an outdoor ceremony you really REALLY hope the weather is good. It wasn’t only good, it was spectacular. Perfect puffy clouds and streaming sun for the wedding, mild August temperatures for the fun boat ride around Lake Superior, and a picture perfect Wisconsin evening.

Guests came from all over to attend Alison and Dave’s wedding, and they were all charmed by the city of Bayfield. If you haven’t been there it’s just a beautiful little town right on the shores of Lake Superior. And let’s not forget the fudge! I recommend the fudge in “The Candy Shoppe”.

And LOTS of kids at this wedding! Alison really made sure this wedding was fun for them and her daughter Maia by having “kids hors dourves” PB&J sandwiches, chicken strips, pudding, sloppy joes! I did notice a few of the adults “sneaking” the kids food.

It was a great wedding and just what Alison and Dave wanted…close friends and family and their familes all having a great time in a beautiful setting. Congratulations!

Click here to see a slideshow of Alison and Dave's wedding!

Chasing the Big White Dress in the Great White North and other weirdness

“Chasing the big white dress” comes from when my oldest son told someone that’s what I did for a living when he was 5. It was career day at school and I walked in prepared to talk to kindergarteners about photography in the most basic terms. Outside the door, each child had written what their parents did for a living. Next to my name my son wrote “My mom chases the big white dress for the Home Depot”. At that time, I worked for a studio called “Portrait Depot” and shot weddings for them. How he came up with the big white dress theory, I have no idea. But it has become my standard, and all my friends and family have adopted it.

Kim’s friend: “Whatcha doing on Saturday?”

Kim: “Whatcha think I am doing, it’s June.”

Kim’s friend: “Chasing the big white dress”

Kim” “Duh”

Kim’s Stepmother: “Honey, we are thinking of having a cook out on Saturday. Can you and the boys come?”

Kim” “Uh, it’s Saturday. You know, SATURDAY, in the summer. If it were February, maybe”

Kim’s Stepmother “Ohhhhh. Right. Big white dress”

Kim: “Duh”

So in that spirit, I am going to be out of the studio from tomorrow, August 18 where I will travel to Bayfield Wisconsin. Don’t know where that is? Please take your right hand and face it towards you palm up. Hence, you have your “hand map of Wisconsin” (if you didn’t learn this as a child then shame on your school system). At the very tippy top of your middle finger is Bayfield. A beautiful place nestled on the shores of Lake Superior, where I will photograph Alison and Dave’s wedding. The following week-end, I will be in Hayward Wisconsin (top knuckle on your right ring finger) to photograph Vana and Aaron’s wedding. I’m very excited about these weddings because it will give me a mini-vacation up north and because both of them are above the “Fudge line”. It’s just my personal hang up, but no good fudge comes from below Stevens Point. It’s the air up there or something, all good fudge comes from “up north”.

Also, I am so PSYCHED because I get to add to my collection of photos in front the weird landmarks in Wisconsin…oooh, that’s gonna be a good blog addition for the slow months. You cannot believe how many odd Plexiglas faux animal replicas there are in Wisconsin. In Hayward, I am totally looking forward to the “World’s Largest Musky” display. Seriously. You can’t make this stuff up.

So, I will be OUT of the studio August 18-28^th. They haven’t heard much of that newfangled thing called CELL SERVICE or the INTERNET up in them thair parts. I’ll do my best to check in, but if I am MIA it’s because I can’t get a signal. Likely I’ll be totally on a fudge high, anyway.

Patrick and Becky

August 12, 2006

Wedding: St Albert the Great, Sun Prairie Wisconsin

Reception: Overture Center of the Arts, Madison, WI

Let’s just say I knew this was going to be a wild wedding when one of Becky’s bridesmaids’ looked at her in her gown and said to her: “Yeah Beck. You’re bringing Sexy Back”. Then there was the moment when Patrick realized 30 minutes before the ceremony that the rings were at the hotel room…20 minutes away. At first he said some things that I am pretty sure are not allowed in a Catholic Church, but then they handled it just like Becky and Patrick handle things…with humor, a shrug of the shoulders and the optimistic attitude that it would all work out. And it did. The rings were there for the ceremony, I didn’t ask how.

The reception. Here is my true confession. I know all of you go to a few weddings a year, tops. All that fun, kinda retro music is great for getting people out on the dance floor. Stuff you might LOVE I am so desensitized to that I barely hear the music since I hear it all the time, I just react to how people are dancing. So then chicken dance comes on and WHOOOO-HOOOOOOO…the chicken dance!!!! SO. MUCH. FUN….right? Now just imagine you are a wedding photographer. And 35 out of 52 Saturdays of your life every year you get to hear the chicken dance. Suddenly not so charming, is it? This is the one time I can confess…when the UW Marching Band comes in surprising all the guests and plays the chicken dance and 375 people go WILD and start doing it, it’s BIG FUN. Thanks to Patrick and Becky, I’ve gotten over my cynicism about the chicken dance.

Now I just have to work on liking “We Are Family” again. Who’s gonna help me out with that one?!!

Click here to view a wedding slideshow of Becky and Patrick's wedding!

Hey Kim, what's with the lame-ass music on your slideshows now?

Yeah, yeah, I know. The first couple slideshows I started out with this year I had cool music. Cool songs that I painstakingly picked the right song that matched what I knew about the couple, the theme of the day, etc. But...there's this thing called copyright, see. And I was under the assumption that as long as I was not SELLING the slideshows, rather just posting them on my blog and giving my clients a copy for their personal use it was cool. I was wrong, and when I discovered this, I switched to royalty free music in deference to the artists who created the songs and for respect for their copyright. I still hate it, though. Royalty free music is pretty darn lame. Right now a few professional photographer organizations I am involved with are lobbying to purchase "one time usage" rights from the biggie music companies like BMI and RCA. So hopefully someday I'll be able to have cool music again. Until then, crank up your itunes selection.

Lori and Chris

August 5, 2006

Wedding: Galilee Lutheran, Pewaukee

Outdoor Photos: Frame Park, Waukesha

Reception: Country Springs, Pewaukee

Who knew people who majored in math could be so fun?! I’d met Lori and Chris a few times and found them to be really sweet and charming and just a really NICE couple. What I did not count on was their razor sharp wit underneath all that NICE-ness. A few times during the wedding reception I caught myself cracking up because of all of the unexpected funny moments.

I loved this idea…instead of kissing when the guests “dinged” the glasses, Lori and Chris had on each table a series of obscure questions about themselves. Things that were not easily guessed like “What gift from Lori’s mom is on top of the toilet in the bathroom?” And each table had different questions. I have to say, I think Lori and Chris ended up kissing MORE than the norm, though . The guests were RABID to find out the answers and they traveled from table to table to ask if anyone knew the answer to their questions.

They also had M&M’s on the table and would kiss when people brought up 5 orange M&M’s. There was a whole lotta kissing going on during dinner .

Before the wedding started, Lori found herself suddenly very nervous, a little light-headed and nauseous from the excitement. So we moved her into a cooler room, and within a few minutes she was okay. When I asked her if she was doing alright before her brother walked her down the aisle she said “I’m much better. I found that if you just burp when you get nervous, it really helps. And you can put that on your blog!”

Just a little tip from someone who’s been there to any of my upcoming clients Burp. I had not idea this blog thing would turn into such a wealth of wedding information!

Congratulations!!

Click here to see a wedding slideshow of Lori and Chris' wedding!

Monica and Jason

July 22, 2006

Wedding: Wauwatosa United Methodist Church

Reception: Elm Grove Women’s Club

Ever hear the theory of six degrees of separation? See if you can follow this. My friend Tracey nannies for my friend Angie. Monica and Angie are friends. Tracey’s sister Julie worked with Jason, and knew he was single and told Angie she had someone perfect for Monica. So Angie and Julie introduced Monica and Jason. And the rest, as they say, is history. So Angie called me a few months ago and said “I know there’s NO chance you’re open on July 22, my friend Monica is getting married.” But I was. Karma, fate? When things like that happen you know there’s a reason for everything.

Because they are just so cute, I had to include a few of their engagement photos in the slideshow. We took the photos at the place where they met and took their first walk together. And one year later to the day, they married.

Congratulations!

Click here to see a slideshow of Monica and Jason's wedding!

Adrienne and Chris

July 15, 2006

Wedding: Gesu Parish, Marquette University

Reception: Historic Pfister Hotel

This is probably the third wedding I have photographed for what I affectionately refer to as “Marquette People”. And without exception, every single one of those weddings have been great. Happy people. Fun wedding parties. And most of all, just a great spirit of FUN. Adrienne and Chris didn’t let me down. Even though it was HOT. And not just, oh, a little warm, but HOT HOT. But that didn’t deter them at all.

As I was editing this wedding, I kept laughing. Because in about 90% of the pictures, Adrienne is laughing. I couldn’t believe it, there are maybe 5 pictures from the wedding where she is not laughing or smiling. You’d be laughing and smiling too if you married a great guy like Chris. When they were planning the wedding at the Pfister Adrienne wanted the pretty purple chair covers to complete her wedding dream, but the practical side of her won out and she decided that was too big of an added expense. So as a surprise to Adrienne, he contacted the Pfister and got her the chair covers without her knowing it. I think she just married the man of her dreams.

Click here to see a slideshow of Adrienne and Chris' wedding!

Erin and Adam

July 8, 2006

Wedding and Reception: Cedar Beach, Belgium, Wisconsin.

I know after reading these wedding blogs you must think to yourself “Could Kim possibly really like each and every one of her clients THAT much?” The answer is yes. I mean, COME ON. Check out Erin and Adam’s slideshow, don’t you LOVE them by the end of it? If you don’t. there is something very, very wrong. Look at how Adam looks at her with his adorable mop of hair, look at Erin’s face when she puts on her gown for the first time and all her funny faces that she makes and how she gazes at Adam during the ceremony. And FYI, do you see the people dancing at the reception? Sure you do. But if it was 90 degrees outside and it was in a venue that had no air conditioning would you and your guests dance like that? They did. All night. I could NOT believe it. I was fretting like the mother that I am that everyone would go home and it would be 5 drunk people on the dance floor all night. No way. People danced like crazy, they sweated like crazy and they had fun like crazy.

When Erin and Adam processed down the aisle after the wedding the thunderstorms that had been threatening all day finally hit and the skies opened up JUST as they got to the end of the aisle. It was the perfect ending…and they processed to “It a Beautiful Day” by U2. It was a beautiful day all around. You don’t have to have perfect weather to have the perfect wedding. You just gotta have the love. Erin and Adam, they have it.

Click here to see a wedding slideshow of Erin and Adam's wedding!

Miri and Adam

July 2, 2006

Wedding and Reception: Charles Allis Art Museum

Milwaukee, Wi

At first, when I heard the story of Miri and Adam finding each other I thought it nothing short of miraculous. Miri was born in Armenia, and moved to Israel later in her life. Adam grew up in the Milwaukee area. Worlds and worlds apart. However, during the wedding ceremony, the Rabbi explained the meaning of the Yiddish word “Beshert” Translated, it means divine providence, fate, destiny or inevitability. The Talmud teaches that God personally chooses matches for people and at some point in their lives, they will meet.

They met on the internet. Got to know each other, grew to care for each other and in a leap of faith, Adam went to Israel for 4 months. One year later, they were married. I can’t imagine a better example of the word: Beshert.

Miri speaks 5 languages, English not being her fist language. Her parents spoke no English at all. They estimated that at this wedding, no less than 12 different languages were spoken by the guests and family members. And yet, the merging of these families was one of the most joyful weddings I have photographed.

Congratulations Miri and Adam!

Click here to see a wedding slideshow of Miri and Adams wedding!

Sarah and Nathan

July 1, 2006

Wedding and Reception: Boerner Botanical Gardens, Greenfield, Wisconsin

“It was a warm and blustery day”

Winnie The Pooh

That’s my quote about Sarah and Nate’s day! It was warm and thank goodness for the wind, because not only did it help cool off for the gorgeous outdoor ceremony, it provided some of the most fun “Blowing Bridal Veil” shots! And Sarah’s just the type of girl to roll with those things with no fuss. When her veil flew off she simply chased it down, much to the amusement of the visitors in the Botanical Gardens. And you just gotta love a girl who announces to everyone she sees, even perfect strangers, “I’m getting married today!!” I’m not sure Sarah noticed that she was wearing a big white wedding dress and pretty much everyone figured that, she was too wrapped up in the fact that she finally got to marry her “Nater McTater”. Her joy was matched only by Nate being the emotional one at the ceremony.

So now Nate and Sarah’s marriage begins. I might have been thinking of Winnie the Pooh with the winds, but Nate and Sarah were thinking of another great quote from a childrens book that will likely sum up their crazy, wonderful, running-with-the-bulls life that was in their wedding announcement:

“Let the wild rumpus begin!”

Where the Wild Things Are

Click here to see a wedding slideshow of Sarah and Nate's wedding day

Suzanne and John

June 24, 2006

Gettting Ready: Historic Pfister Hotel

Ceremony: St John’s Cathedral

Reception: Miller Pavillion, O’Donell Park

One of my favorite part of the wedding day is the getting ready. It’s the part of the day that I really get a sense of what the wedding is going to be like. Is the bride nervous? Is there one of “those” bridesmaids? And it’s not always that I get to photograph the guys getting ready, but in this case I was able to see John get ready for his bride. I cannot imagine that anyone who has met John has not liked him immediately. For me, that moment came when he asked me how Suzanne was doing and I said she was doing great, and he responded “She’s really hot, isn’t she?” Which TOTALLY caught me off guard and cracked me up.

But it’s true, Suzanne looked like she walked off the pages of Bride’s magazine. And not just because of her natural beauty, but she just had a glow about her that everyone could see because she truly enjoyed her wedding day. Surrounded by the people who meant the most to her, you could see that happiness radiating everywhere. I love that. I love being able to photograph that. You can’t bottle that stuff. Even if you are hot.

Click the the link below the pictures to see their wedding slideshow!

Congratulations Suzanne and John!

Click here to see a wedding slideshow of Suzanne and John's wedding day!

Emily and Kyle
June 23, 2004
Wedding: Christ the King Lutheran, Menomonee Falls
Reception: Silver Spring Country Club, Menomonee Falls/Sussex-ish

Emily and Kyle's wedding took place on a Friday complete with awesome weather and close friends and family at hand. I like the dynamics at smaller weddings because you really get to know the people at them and how they know the bride and groom. And with 100 guests, it's not like the wedding was small, but with the average Wisconsin wedding being 250+ guests 100 guest makes it feel more like an exended family reunion. Which suited Emily and Kyle's personalities perfectly!

At most weddings guests know I am the hired photographer. I have cameras hanging off every conceivable spot, I am dressed very simply in black and have a large waistpack on. People generally ask me how the couple hired me, if I have a website, things like that. Polite dinner chit chat. But time and time again I was asked at this wedding "So, how do you know Emily and Kyle?" When I would explain that had met them a few times and they hired me to photograph their wedding people seemed confused. So each and every person took this as a opportunity to tell me how special this couple was and how fabulous they were and what they meant to them. And as I spent more time with the guests I could not help but think that Emily and Kyle are mighty lucky to have so many people who care so much about them that they wanted me to know that this was one special couple.

But even if they had not told me, I would have known. I saw it all day from the people who surrounded them with love. A big shout out to my pal Uncle Bruce, who did the video and who kept me laughing all day. You know who to call when that pretty daughter of yours who caught the bouquet gets married :)

Click on the link below for a slideshow of Emily and Kyle's wedding!

Click here to see a wedding slideshow of Emily and Kyle's day!

Weddings Southern Style, Joy and Dan

June 17, 2006

Wedding : First Baptist Church, Marietta Georgia

Reception: The Atlanta Country Club, Atlanta Georgia.

So, say you are a wedding photographer. And you by chance have ONE Saturday off in 5 months. What would you do? Well, if you are me, you fly to Atlanta to shoot a wedding. Am I nuts? Actually, it was a great experience. I was a second shooter for my friend Emmanuel Neiconi from Neiconi Studios in Birmingham, Alabama. He was in a bind and needed a second shooter and posted on a professional internet forum I am on for wedding photographers. So I grabbed the kids and hopped a plane to the deep south. My mom and sister live in Atlanta, so we turned it into a mini-vacation!

Second shooting is a blast. All of the fun, none of the pressure. It’s the best way to learn and grow as a photographer. Every time I have done it, I have learned something new from the people I shoot with. And shooting weddings out of Wisconsin is always interesting because they have very different customs than we do. In the south, weddings are generally either early in the day followed by a luncheon, or later in the day followed by a more informal dinner. The wedding I photographed started at 7pm! I kept saying, “But when is dinner?!” Almost all of the formal photographs were done before the ceremony The bride and her family and bridesmaids first, then she was squirreled away and the groom and his family and groomsmen. Endless, endless amounts of formals…ugh. I was glad it wasn’t me doing them! It’s a bit more traditional in that area in that way. Then the ceremony, which was about, oh…6 minutes long! More formals, then off to the reception where they had food stations set up for the guest. The guests go to the reception and start eating, and when the bride and groom get there, they are “announced” in and go directly to their first dance. After that, the cut the cake, and then the grooms cake, another southern tradition. I made a perfect fool of myself when I remarked to the groom that he got the colors wrong on his groom’s cake. You see, it was in the shape of a dog bone and had a big “G” on it that looked just like the Packer logo. But it was black and red. Apparently that is also the logo for the Georgia Bulldogs, his alma matter. Whoopsie. I needed to remove my cheesehead blinders. And to make me pay, he made me “Woof” during the song “Who let the dogs out” at the reception.

The reception lasts about 3 hours and at 11PM the bride and groom make their “Grand Exit”. Huh? No partying until midnight? No chicken dance? No polkas? Nope. They leave in a rush of flower petals and streamers, sometimes sparklers thrown by all the guests and get into a limo and they are off.

A few other things I learned while in Atlanta. Just because a word has a “g” in it does not mean you need to pronounce it. I learned that I was not “Going to shoot a wedding” I was “Fixin’ to shoot a weddin’” My name has two syllables! “Key-um”. And when one nice guest asked me where “my people” were from I had no idea how to answer. For future reference, my people are from Wisconsin. All the little kids called me “Miss Key-um” and answered all my questions with “yes m’am” something I found charming and tried to make mandatory for my own kids. It didn’t stick.

Enjoy lookin’ at the pitchers, and slideshow y’all!

Click here to see a wedding slideshow of Joy and Dan's wedding!

The Georgia Aquarium

While in Atlanta I took the kids to the new Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta. What a cool place. I'm not one that is usually impressed by fish, but this aquarium is really beautiful. You can walk under a wall of water while stingrays, tiger sharks and all sorts of beautiful fish swim overhead. They have Baby Beluga Whales that look like they are doing a ballet in the water. And it was awfully nice to see my kids transfixed by something not created by Nintendo or Pixar.

Meaghun and Jon
June 10, 2006

Wedding: St Patricks, Madison Wi
Reception: Overture Center, Madison Wi

I don't know why, but I get the cutest brides. EVER. Take a look at Meaghun, even if you don't know her, you can practically hear her giggling in the photos. And she giggled. A lot. The weather was awesome, the bridal party fun, and who doesn't like walking around the capitol taking pictures with giant plastic cows everywhere?

And the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison is a wedding photographers DREAM. The light! The architecture! I sent an image of this venue to another photographer friend who lives out of state and she emailed me back and said "I would have peed my pants when I walked into that place. You suck. I was at the Elk's Club this Saturday".

In the slide show be sure to check out the creative cake decorations placed on each table. I was confused for a moment until I remembered that Meaghun and Jon work for General Motors. Brilliant!

Congratulations!!