Adam LeSage Photography

The first thing that I learned about Lynn is that he is an Eagle Scout.  Along with some of his groomsmen, who were innovatively stringing soda cans to attach to the back of the car.  Figuring out ways to make everything as stable as possible -- which worked great.  Later, though, they tossed the sign in the back of Lynn’s pick up truck and it came flying out as they drove down the highway.  Oops!

Meanwhile Adam was hanging out with the girls, getting ready at the church Erin grew up in.  The girls munched on bagels(food before walking down the aisle is a must!) as they got ready.  Just before the ceremony, Adam and I switched places and as Erin’s girls lined up she quick asked her sister, “Do I look pretty?”  Her sister responded with, “of course”, kissed her cheek and ran up the stairs to join the other girls.  Erin’s dad passed her sister on the way down and teared up as soon as he saw Erin.

After the ceremony, Erin and Lynn hopped in Erin’s mom’s car and took off for our first picture destination. On the way, we drove passed a house with some gorgeous fall color and Adam mentioned on how it would be great to shoot there.  When we got to out first location we found out that house was Erin’s grandma’s, so after we got some gorgeous shots in the field we went back to the house to get the fall colors in some pictures.

Our last stop was at the golf course their reception was at -- we whisked them away for a few images before the party started.  After pictures and dinner a party was had, the dance floor was full!

Thanks, Erin and Lynn, for letting us be a part of your beautiful fall wedding!

We have history with Steve and Shantel.  Not the shady kind of history that no one wants, but the kind of history that made their wedding a reunion.  We shot Steve and Jennifer’s wedding last August, and Jennifer was Shantel’s matron of honor, and Jeremy and Autumn’s wedding last fall, Jeremy being one of Shantel’s hour brothers.  So we walked into the church and immediately recognized a lot of the wedding party.

Shantel has always entertained us.  We often try to get the wedding party to be their crazy selves and every time we give Shantel any amount of freedom she always cracks us up.  Makes us laugh so hard we can’t breathe.  Steve is a laid back, light hearted man who grinned and laughed all day.

Shantel and Steve picked all their locations -- a creek nearby, the New Zoo, and the marina that Steve helped to construct.  It had rained earlier in the say so we were able to make use of some awesome puddles. 

My favorite part of their wedding was their first dance.  Shantel has been in dance her whole life, so after the normal lovey dovey first dance, they broke out and did their own thing -- a combination of current music and Michael Jackson.  Steve might not have been in dance his whole life, but he certainly held his own.

Thanks, Steve and Shantel, for letting us be a part of your day that was full of laughter!

Matt and Stefanie have been dating since high school, and finally, twelve years later, they got married.  In those 12 years they’ve made a lot of friends – they had a 20 person wedding party.

All morning Matt just wanted to see Stefanie.  She wanted to wait until she was coming down the aisle – but she let him catch a glimpse of her as she peaked over the balcony at the hotel, waving and yelling down, “I love you!”

Stefanie’s dress was a perfect princess dress, and it suited the grand church and the huge, beautifully decorated reception hall.  They had wine bottles on the tables with specially made labels – including pictures from their engagement session.  But my favorite style part of the wedding was Steph’s shoes – they were awesome!

Matt and Stefanie had a jar on the head table for donations to the American Cancer Society.  Matt said, “the bigger the donation, the bigger the kiss…”, and they had some pretty big kisses.

Thanks, Matt and Stef, for letting us be a part of your beautiful, long awaited day!

There’s pretty much no way Dana and Dennis weren’t going to get married.  Their friends and families have known each other for years.  They knew each other as acquaintances when they were young – but it wasn’t until Dennis was 16 that he really noticed Dana.  He re-met her at a party, and the next morning he asked his dad if he remembered Dana.  When his dad responded that he did, Dennis approvingly said, “she looks different!”.  From that point forward Dana and Dennis spent more and more time together.

Dana and Dennis got married at the Botanical Gardens on a hot, hot day.  A nice breeze was our saving grace out there – but the ceremony was short and sweet. 

Afterwards we took a lot of pictures right at the Botanical Gardens.  They have a new part of the Gardens that is like a half built home.  They guys decided to crawl up there while I looked on taking pictures and laughing ridiculously hard.  They were such a fun group. 

Their reception was at Black Forest in Howard.  Adam and I had never been there before – but the upstairs reception hall was beautiful!

We snuck outside around sunset to get some more images.  The mosquitoes were driving us crazy, but I think the images were worth it.

Thanks, Dana and Dennis, for letting us be a part of your wedding day and for braving the heat and the mosquitoes!

If when I get married my wedding goes just like Melissa and Aidan’s, I will be a happy girl.

Aidan and Melissa are from Chicago but when they got engaged last year in Eagle River they decided they wanted to get married there.  They chose Eagle Waters Resort for their reception location and stayed there all week to relax before the wedding. 

When I got there Saturday morning Aidan was signing.  With serious zeal.  He’s really into music, the first thing he did, after offering me water, was show me all the music he had planned for the day.  He was so excited to marry Melissa.

I met Melissa at the church.  She was wearing a gorgeous dress with a vintage looking veil, and a smile.  A huge smile that she couldn’t make disappear because she was just as excited as Aidan.

After their ceremony we went straight out the back of the church to a field with great light for pictures with the wedding party.  We also took some romantic pictures of just Aidan and Melissa.

When we got back to the hotel Melissa took off her veil and let her hair down to be more comfortable for the reception.  It suited the relaxed images we took by the water perfectly.

They had an intimate dinner with just around 100 people, and then went back out onto the patio for dancing.  It was warm with romantic lights strung across and people scattered about, sitting at tables or standing to the side when they were taking a break from dancing.  Adam disappeared and I found him standing towards the back taking a video clip on his phone, trying to capture the ambiance so he could take it home and share it with Catie.  He said that this was what a wedding day should be -- relaxed with all the family, the friends, and the joy. 

Thanks, Aidan and Melissa, for letting us be a part of your absolutely beautiful day!