Trixie and Dave were married on October 1st 2016 at Trixie’s family home in Wisconsin. It was such a special heartfelt ceremony surrounded by family and friends. Having been together for 7 years and having lived in many places together, Trixie and Dave had friends joining them from all over the country. This wedding was unlike any other wedding we have ever photographed. It’s hard to even find the words to describe the awesomeness of the whole weekend of festivities….thankfully we have the photos to tell the story! I have been friends with Dave since our college years at UNCW and when he got in touch about photographing their wedding in Wisconsin I knew it would be an unforgettable experience! Part of what made this wedding so unique was the amount of people involved in making it happen. They say it takes a village……in this case they had their family and friends come together to help them create the celebration of a lifetime. They had transformed Trixie’s parent’s property for this wedding and we got to see a lot of photos of the progress over the last year. It was so special to see everyone come together for the big day. Here’s a little more abut their life in Wisconsin and why they decided to have the wedding there…

“We chose my parents house for the wedding location because Dave and I agreed it would be the most FUN out of all the options we looked into.  It was very us!  Everything we needed was here: hotels, an after bar close by, accessibility for shuttles and the park & ride.  It gave us a reason to help my Dad finally finish his pond after 8 years.  Most importantly for me I really wanted to get married somewhere that meant something to me and that Dave and I had both been before.  The house just seemed perfect because Dave had also been living here for a year so we were getting married at his home too!  Its just a really special place for all my family, and to be able to have one of the 4 family weddings here meant a lot to my parents too.  Its special because it’s my home!  I grew up here and always come back here and currently live here…now with my husband. On the wedding day the house still seemed like the perfect location because we could look around and see all the hard work we put in during the year to make it perfect for that day.  To look around and see the transformation of our home was surreal. The long time spent planning along with countless hours of labor that went into turning a barren junkyard into a wedding paradise…getting married was the easy part!”

When we pulled into the driveway to begin our day of photographing the festivities we saw that given the looming rain showers  the men were putting up a big red and white tent over the ceremony chairs. Sure it was last minute but at this point it was the right choice and it was a great site to see everyone get together to make that happen. Given that Dave’s nickname has always been ‘Red Shoes Dave’ (he always wears red shoes) it was fitting that the tent was red. Then there was also the groomsmen present (more red shoes) and did we mention Trixie surprised him at their first look with Red Cowboy boots?! You will see in the photos, it was just the best!

In addition to all these little surprises there was a very big surprise that happened early that morning. I often tell my couple’s that on their wedding day it’s the unexpected moments, the ones you cannot plan, that will be the best memories that stay with you forever. Needless to say Trixie and Dave’s wedding day was full of surprises, including her sister, Sissy, having her baby early that morning. Of course she was meant to be in the wedding party, but life had other plans for her on that day. As we arrived at the house for getting read photos Trixie asked me if we had time to go and meet their new nephew before the ceremony. We decided that was the new plan and hoped into the car to go meet them and welcome the new baby into this world. Someday Tanner will look back and see photos of these beautiful moments…..before his Aunt and Uncle’s Wedding ceremony and only few hours after he was born. I loved hearing more from our lovely bride about this and more of the memorable parts of the day….

“There are too many extra memorable parts of the day!  There were so many surprises!!  The biggest being my sister, Sissy, having her baby that day.  It was a month early so no one ever thought it would happen so soon.  Getting that phone call early in the morning on my wedding day! I will never forget!  Then, Tanner, coming so soon after that call we actually had time to go meet him before the ceremony.  It was an unbelievable, emotional start to the day before the wedding even began!  Other wonderful memories were having our close family friend, Paul, marry us in front of the beautiful pond, getting to dance to Little Feat with my Dad to the band my friends and I followed all through our childhood, standing at the front of the room with my new husband while he was thanking the guests and seeing all the faces together in one place for the first time, listening to another family friend play jazz during the cocktail hour (it was a surprise), getting lifted above the crowd on the dance floor on an inflatable duck!  It was such a memorable day the list goes on and on. ”

The inflatable duck on the dance floor was one of the funniest things we have ever seen! Big thanks for my (tall) and talented associate Cary Tozer for capturing what might be my all time favorite dance party photo of the bride and groom lifted way up high aboard the inflatable duck!

After we met their new baby nephew we were driving over to Trixie’s neighbor’s Dairy Farm for portraits and we decided to make a pit stop at their favorite bar for a good luck shot! I loved the spontaneous decisions all day and it made for great photo ops of their favorite places! We had a great time in the rain at the Dairy Farm too and god bless Trixie as she wasn’t afraid of a little mud if it meant getting some great portraits! (you’ll see in the post!) What fun to photograph them amongst the corn fields and under pretty stormy skies! They looked fabulous!

When we left Wisconsin that Sunday we talked the whole way home about what a beautiful celebration this was and how much FUN everyone had. It is clear that this is a couple who brings out the best in each other and truly loves being together. Something we will never forget was their first dance to ‘Even though We Ain’t Got Money’ by Danny Jones….all of a sudden the entire tent started singing along with them and I have to say there were many happy tears during those moments.

Venue: Bride’s Family Home, Photography: Katie Kaizer Photography, Band: Powered by Five, Catering: Dinners with Class, Lighting & Sound: Eric Barbieri – World Direct Promotions, Myles Hayes