Emily and Rudy had postponed their early summer wedding in Lake Geneva in hopes that they’d be able to celebrate as planned at their venue come August. However, with the conditions still staying relatively the same they decided that instead of postponing until 2021 that becoming husband and wife was ultimately most important.

We met Emily at the Geneva Inn where she and the girls were getting ready prior to making their way to the cabin. Then together with 15 of their family and friends, they were married on Rudy’s family’s land. A secluded intimate setting, they exchanged vows under the big tree by the pond, and later enjoyed chef-prepared hor d’oeuvres and cocktails on the outdoor patio, a perfect for setting up an “al fresco” styled dinner. A long harvest table was decorated with a lush greenery eucalyptus runner on top of white linens and an abundance of pillar candles helped provide a cozy ambiance come twilight. They and their guests danced the night away underneath the tealights. And although in the end it was not the wedding day they had initially envisioned, seeing the joy expressed all day long, made it all feel so right.

Loved this down-to-earth couple and how easily they wore their hearts and emotions on their sleeves. It made photographing the day such a joy! Congratulations Rudy & Emily, and thank you for inviting us in to your intimate & stunning wedding day!

And without further adieux, I present you the backyard wedding of my dreams: 🙂

Katie & Zach’s wedding day was nothing short of romantic, choosing three spectacular venues in the Delafield area. Beginning with getting ready at the historic Delafield Hotel, followed by the architectural charm of Noble Victory Memorial Chapel and grounds at St. John’s Northwestern Academies. Later they celebrated with loved ones at the picturesque Chenequa Country Club, overlooking the same lake Katie grew up, during our sunset photos Katie excitedly pointed out their home directly across the lake. Loved ones’ speeches carried the way through their plated dinner, and Katie and Zach did not have a lack of kind words about them – they are simply adored by all their family and friends, as is anyone who has the privilege of coming across their path!

Their story of meeting was love at first swipe! After visiting his brother in San Francisco, Zach was patiently waiting at the airport for his flight back home to Nebraska when he first met Katie. It was here that they buzzed into each other’s lives. Although Katie’s life was in Minnesota and Zach was finishing his doctorate in Nebraska, they endured the distance. They spent long weekends together and short ones apart, but made sure that the weekends apart to still binge-watch shows “together”.

Many of their dating days involved long drives back and forth from Nebraska to Minnesota , even during brutal midwest winters, but Zach says “falling in love with Katie was the easiest thing I’ve ever done.” And with the help of one of Katie’s best friends, and with all their closest friends present on the shores of Lake Minnetonka, Zach decided to ask Katie to marry him.

Katie Zach I am so happy our paths crossed and thank you for allowing us to be a part of your gorgeous day! Enjoy their highlights!

Katie Zach I am so happy our paths crossed and thank you for allowing us to be a part of your gorgeous day! Enjoy their highlights!

Lisa & Mark were micro wedding magic. 90 minutes of coverage. 3 locations. 15 minute ceremony. Wedding party of 4 witnesses. Live stream ceremony. From NM to TX to WI –at the end of the day, all this couple really wanted was to be married. Low-key, low-fuss, I am *really* loving this spontaneous “get married wherever trend” that the year 2020 brought!

We began by meeting the girls at the Hilton Madison Monona Terrace for some finishing detail shots, before heading to Monona Terrace to meet the guys and get ready for their first look! (By the way, ummm EPIC spot! Loved this neutral clean space overlooking the Capital, in between downtown and the water. All angles were a gem! Must return.)

Lisa made all the bouquets herself (would you have guessed?) and was the only decor needed. After their first look and some wedding party photos, we drove to the nearby Winnequah Park where we met the officiant and decided on a ceremony spot. Then with their 4 witnesses and live stream guests we watched them say “I do!”

Congratulations Lisa & Mark! We loved being a part of your intimate day!

As seen on Wisconsin Bride: https://wibride.com/red-white-and-beautiful

Amelia had just moved into her first home after commuting her first three years of college. Her parents were throwing her roommates and her a fish fry at their house the Friday before classes started when Amelia noticed this group of cute guys across the street playing yard games. Amelia, having grown up in the country was SO excited to have neighbors, and cute ones at that! She decided to put herself out there and take them a pan of leftover fried bluegill (the way to any Wisconsin man’s heart). Later that night, as Amelia walked into a popular hangout for college students, who is the first person she sees? None other than the “cute Tyler” from across the street. As if the universe was trying to pull these together, they hit it off instantly and the rest was history!

They planned an intentional wedding centered around Amelia’s love of horses, as seen in their venue The Carriage House, a modern barn feel with subtle equestrian nods throughout their decor and signage. Amelia’s childhood horse Victoria Buckham nicknamed “Posh” made her first modeling debut, and guests enjoyed multiple activities from photo booths to yard games to cocktail drinks named after their beloved dog children. Guests arrived to dinner greeted by cheery textural tablescapes and pops of color, including various shades of red for Tyler’s favorite color. As  everyone was seated they encouraged their guests to join them in starting their first meal as husband and wife with “something sweet” mini cupcakes placed on each plate.

There were so many beautiful parts to their wedding day, but nothing that compared to the way Tyler was so moved to tears while reading Amelia’s private letter she had written for him. It was the moment it all became real. The guests were arriving, the ceremony music was starting. And Tyler walked towards the altar and patiently waited to finally catch that first glimpse of his beautiful bride. Amelia and her dad turn the corner down the aisle, and Tyler’s reaction said it all. Romantic, emotive, cheery, this one is a sweet one. Full vendor list below. Enjoy!

I’m super excited to finally share this one with you all! Last summer, in the middle of cancellations and postponements, Jan, the owner of Relics Rentals, was thinking instead on how our industry could pivot. When she contacted me to share her vision for a pop-up wedding day, I first was like “Yes! Wait, what’s a pop-up wedding?!”

“These small, tiny, petite, micro, mini, pop up, intimate, low key, whatevs weddings have been around for several years in other markets, but the pandemic created just the right environment to finally introduce them to our Milwaukee market. Pop up weddings are the perfect solution for these uncertain times: * small guest counts * outdoors whenever weather permits * planned, executed, and hosted by an experienced team of event professionals * environmentally friendly due to less waste since multiple ceremony celebrations are scheduled in one day at the same location using the same rentals and decor and vendor team * more cost-effective for couples during these economically challenging times since they’re “sharing” the expenses” says Jess with Relics Rentals.

Every detail is considered, basically a styled shoot but with a real life couple. With top-of-the-line vendors and all the planning already taken care of for the couple, really all a couple must do is show up in wedding attire ready to get married and celebrate! During such unpredictable times where it was harder than ever for couples to plan, the pop up weddings offered a great solution.

I soon would find out this pop up event would be held at my all-time bucket list venue in Wisconsin, Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum. This, combined with the unique structure of a pop up event, I of course was 100% down for whatever these ladies were dreaming up. This would be their first pop-up wedding event and the design was inspired by the interior of Amsterdam’s Bar Botanique with its rich spectrum of greens in emerald and citrine, jewel tones with pops of navy blue and hints of bubblegum pink, apricot hues, and bright yellow.

For this pop up wedding event we had two couples and their guests enjoy what this vendor team created for them (scroll to the end for the full vendor list)!

CAITLIN & BENJAMIN 08.08.20 12PM

From the Couple: We were inspired by all the other couples who were finding ways to make their wedding day dreams happen amidst the pandemic. Our wedding was originally going to be Summer 2021. However, as you know, Covid turned the world upside down, but the unfortunate circumstances provided us some wonderful opportunities. The pop-up wedding was a perfect option for us – Caitlin does not like to have to make decisions so a pop-up wedding really helped limit the number of decisions that she/we would have to make. It also eliminated a lot of the planning difficulties which take up time and energy – resources that are limited for us who are both full time students with jobs.

All-in-all: an easy, stress free option for a long-distance couple! Relics Rentals and their team of vendors put together such an amazing wedding for us with all of their excellent ideas and vision to fill in the spaces where our creativity came up short. We absolutely loved our venue overlooking Lake Michigan – stunning! The popsicles and the ice-cold beverages were certainly a hit on a warm summer day! We were so excited to have our families and friends together at our wedding ceremony!! It’s super rare for us to have our families together because we live in separate states. Although it was a head-in-the-clouds kind of day, the conversations, hugs, and smiles shared with our friends and family that day are something we’ll remember forever.”

KATIE & JOSH 08.08.20 3PM

From the couple: “We had a big wedding in the works for next Spring, but haven’t really been able to get anything accomplished because of Covid-19. We got engaged last August, so we’ve had a while to think about getting married. We also live in Madison, so getting to and from Milwaukee for planning just wasn’t feasible. I’ve (Katie) been ogling over the pop up weddings for a while and the thought of everything being ready and just showing up was truly enticing. It’s very hard to not know what 2021 will be like. We both are extremely laid back, but still wanted a wedding that was nice. We had the opportunity and we decided that why not?! The perfect wedding doesn’t walk into your life any other time so we decided to go for it.”

These two have a really unique proposal story – they BOTH proposed!

“I (Katie) actually proposed first. We have one of those letterboards by our kitchen and front door and we can post nice little sayings and whatnot on it. I got really excited and bold one day and just wrote, will you marry me? On it. I got nervous every time Josh walked past it, but he didn’t notice it for a day and a half! It was obviously worth it when he did, he stopped dead in his tracks and after confirming that I was, indeed serious about the question, he said yes. We were able to then do the sort of traditional proposal where I directed him to what kind of ring I wanted and he got one and surprised me with it one day.

Josh came into our library and asked if I was hungry (it was about 4ish in the afternoon and as always, I WAS hungry) so he asked if I wanted to go out for dinner! We hopped in the car and started driving, and Josh told me he wanted to pick the place, but it was taking a really long time and we were all the way across Madison before I started getting suspicious. He actually hopped on the freeway and said we were going to Milwaukee to our favorite restaurant by our old apartment! This was not typical behavior, as we are not usually so spontaneous. When we got to Milwaukee, instead of going to the restaurant right away we went to the lake to a park where we had our first date and we took a walk to a bench where we had been on our first date. That’s where he proposed to me! We were so happy, but also very hungry at that point so we did go to our favorite restaurant after that!

Katie & Josh love going for walks, bike rides, hanging out with their dog, going to outdoor concerts like Concerts on the square or Chill on the Hill, Jazz in the Park. Really anytime they can get outside or if food, beer, or wine is in the equation – they are SET! Katie adds “And when I can convince Josh, a game of scrabble!” 😉

HUGE congrats to both of our couples! It was such a pleasure working with you both on this unique wedding day & I’m so excited to finally be sharing it! And thank you to the Relics Team for allowing us to be a part and for putting together such an incredible vendor team – we will remember it forever!

VENDOR LIST:

Visionary, design, rentals, decor, planning: Relics Rentals // Coordinator: Blue Fancy Events / Cake or Desserts: Mia Stav Cakes  & Pete’s Pops / Florist: Bird & Bumble / Invitations & Stationery: Wit & Co / Stringed Trio: Elegant Music Services / Photography: Meghan Lee Harris