I think it’s safe to say that we’re all ready for winter to be over. Truthfully, we’re always a bit hesitant to schedule engagement sessions in the winter and yes, it’s because we’re wimps about the cold. :) But when there’s a fluke day that makes Midwesterners think that it feels like summer (when, actually, it’s only in the 40s), then we’re up for heading outside with our cameras. Warm sun, beautiful light, and no bulky winter coats needed — the perfect day for a winter engagement session.

Here are just a few images of the adorable Jason + Kasey!

A few months ago we received a sweet email from a girl named Anna, saying this:

“You don’t know me, but I am probably your biggest fan. I’m not getting married soon. I’m not even engaged. But when my boyfriend of 4+ years pops the question (which is hopefully soon!), I assure you that you are going to hear about it within a day because I CANNOT WAIT to fill out that contact form on your website!”

A few months after that, we received an excited email from a boy named Andrew, saying this:

“You might remember a girl named Anna who basically sent you a fan-email. That’s my girlfriend and… I just bought a ring!”

Fast forward through a few more emails, some secret phone calls and text messages… to a chilly – but sunny – late November day.

We’ve been part of secret proposals before, but we’ve never photographed one together. And we were seriously more nervous than Andrew was, we think. :)

Because Anna already knew of us, Andrew decided to have us be the “surprise”. He told her he had an early Christmas present for her, but she would have to wait to find out. We watched as they pulled up and then saw Anna notice us, with tears in her eyes. :) We were so flattered; she was excited about us?! Just wait, Anna…

So we continued the session, playing games and laughing a lot, just as we normally would, but three out of the four of us knew something would happen after a little while…

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Trying to write something about this wedding in a concise way is really overwhelming right now.

Overwhelming, in a good way.

When we received Jonathan + Ariel’s initial inquiry they told us their wedding – in three words – would be: simple, small, and lovely.

We tell our couples that we come to their wedding as family or close friends — and Jonathan and Ariel took us seriously.  It was only their immediate family.

And us.

So we, along with less than 20 other people, had the joy of witnessing them exchange their unique, hand-written vows, which were filled with passion and delivered with no reservations on an unusually warm and very sunny October day in Wisconsin. With just enough leaves on the trees to still make it feel like fall.

After the ceremony, on our drive back to Jonathan’s parent’s home, we saw a horse training facility in the Middle of Nowhere, WI. Ariel is an avid horseback rider and is the manager of an equestrian facility outside of LA, so we knew we had to pull over and ask the owners if we could take a few photos there. :) As you’ll see, they kindly let us wander their grounds and it was so fun watching Ariel with the horses. She was in her element and it was beautiful. Jonathan is an extremely talented graphic designer, you can thank him for a few TOMS catalogs :) but he’s also into photography and  architecture. His appreciation for architecture most likely comes from his father, who is an architect in the area and recently designed his own home, where the reception took place.

We could tell you more about their families and more about the non-showy speeches and lovely reception, because there was no pressure. No big crowd. No script needing to be followed. Just love conveyed through words and actions, confirming that their parents love them. But we’re trying to keep this from becoming a novel.

I’ll end with this – one of my favorite images from the day is of Ariel, sitting on the floor of her brand new in-law’s beautiful home, sharing dinner with… us. When we say we were honored to be a part of this wedding, we’re not exaggerating. We truly felt like honored guests, who happened to be taking a lot of photos. :)

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Just to give you an idea of how large our editing/blogging queue is: we shot Andy + Lacey’s wedding this past weekend! But there are no rules in blogging, so here are some photos from their engagement session. :)

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Weddings take a lot of work.   A    l o t .  Especially when it takes place at a family member’s home and there’s more than an acre of land – or, say, 70 acres.

Leah + Steve, with the help of many, many hands of family, friends, and neighbors poured their heart, sweat and energy into preparing the home where Leah grew up, and maintaining the apple orchard and surrounding land for their wedding. They cleaned out the barn, created an arch out of reclaimed wood from a barn down the road, she and her mother picked raspberries back when they were ripe and canned them, saving them for the guests who would jump on a school bus — after arriving from all over the country — and step foot onto the land where Leah used to run and play. And these are only a few of the projects that were involved in preparing for this day. :) Like I said, weddings take a lot of work. You guys know already know that. But for reeaaal, this was worth it.

Days like this are some of our absolute favorite. Meaningful, backyard, handmade, homemade, homegrown, relaxed goodness. Now go ahead, enjoy some of what we experienced, will you?

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