TIPS FOR A RELAXING DAY GETTING READY FOR YOUR WEDDING.

You've spent months and months planning for this day and now it's finally here! You're excited, nervous, and going over every detail in your head making sure you didn't forget anything but is there a way that you can avoid all of that stress and nervousness? If there is any part of the wedding that is going to run late it's going to be the getting ready or setup. I'm going to share some helpful tips that will hopefully make your wedding day stress free and stay on time!

• Hire a wedding planner or day-of coordinator

I know you're already spending a lot of money on this day and you have to be smart where you spend your money, but when there are a million decisions to be made and last minute details to set up why not have a professional there to handle all of that for you? Your wedding day is also an experience that you don't want your friends and family to miss! If your mom is helping to set up the ceremony site she might be late to help you get dressed in your gown and that could mean less time for beautiful portraits later. Please don't let anything get in the way of you relaxing with a mimosa while your hair and makeup gets done :)

• Plan extra time for hair and make-up for you and your ladies

What can throw off your entire schedule? Hair and make-up! Ladies, we all know how long it takes to get ready for a night out, lets be realistic and assume that a wedding day will take just a bit longer. I like to pad the getting ready schedule with a little extra time but I also like to tell the girls that they need to be ready by 1:00 when really I need them ready by 1:15 and somehow we always need that little time buffer. This works great for the family portraits part of the day as well!

• Have all of your details ready for when your photographer arrives

One super easy thing you can do is to set out all of your details for your photographer before they arrive! I always start the day by photographing your dress, shoes, jewelry, flowers, etc and if I can grab everything at once and not have to interrupt while your make-up artist is applying mascara or your planner is helping to find the groomsmen lost pants (yes, this does happen) the getting ready will just flow seamlessly and on time. Haha if you haven't noticed, I'm a fan of keeping the day on schedule :)

• Schedule time to eat lunch

Lets be real, everybody gets hangry now and then, and when you're nervous and stressed that can get even worse! I know your stomach is full of butterflies, but please take a minute to eat a sandwich and drink a bottle of water before you get in your dress! You might not feel hungry, but when you accidentally don't eat your dinner because you're having so much fun catching up with your guests, you'll be thankful that you've at least had lunch!

• Keep your getting ready space clean of clutter

It sounds trivial and like that's not really capturing the "real" wedding day and what happened, but do you really want to be looking back on these pictures with your kids and them seeing your hot pink panties and bottle of wine in the corner as your getting in your wedding dress? That is one of the parts of the day that it's okay to pretend that everything was "picture perfect" and people don't need to see the pile of curling irons and make-up bags on the other side of the room.

• Write a special note to your future spouse

Getting ready to day "I do" is a whirlwind of events! How awesome would it be to take a few minutes to yourself to relax, take a few deep breaths, and read a little note from the person you're going to marry in a few hours?! Maybe you tell each other how much you love them, maybe you tell them a funny joke to relax, or maybe you tell them what you're looking forward to on the honeymoon (don't worry, I don't read it or judge) but I've found that little time always calms and grounds my couples when nerves and stress starts to rise.

I've learned a lot of things after photographing 125+ weddings, and I know that things don't always go as planned, and problems may happen, but with a little planning and preparation you can minimize your stress and focus on the only important thing which is getting married!

A Cozy In Home Session | Madison, Wisconsin

Wedding trends come and go, but there is one trend in the photography industry that I hope will always be here and that is in home sessions! Who doesn't want to get all cuddled up and cozy in your home?! And if you're worried that your home isn't photogenic or perfectly styled, rent an Airbnb for the night! That way you get a little staycation as well :)

Patty + Jayson | Exploring the Northwoods Engagement Session | Copper Falls State Park, WI

One of my favorite things to do is to hike and explore for portrait sessions! When Patty and Jayson asked if I would be willing to have a little adventure I immediately said, "of course!!" Our initial plan was to actually hike out to the ice caves at the Apostle Islands, but unfortunately the weather just did not cooperate and give us an opportunity to do that, but luckily there are still so many gorgeous places to wander and explore! We met at Copper Falls State Park, where I had actually never been, and hiked a couple trails to some really beautiful locations :)

And to make things even better, these two fabulous people brought their adorable pup, Aurora, who really loved the hikes as well. Who doesn't love a dog that looks like a sweet little fox?! Patty and Jayson had actually hiked this park in the summer so it was really neat for them to get to see what it looks like in the winter as well! I could go on and on, but give me a super sweet and adorable couple AND an adventure portrait session and I will pretty much be the happiest photographer, ever!

Erica + Chris | A Fun and Snowy Engagement Session | Delafield, Wisconsin

We waited, and waited, and waited... for snow!! You would think that in Wisconsin that that we always have beautiful snowy winters that looks like a snow globe, right? But that was not the case this winter when we didn't have big snowfalls until February! Luckily though Erica and Chris were patient and it totally paid off! We met in Delafield and had such a great time wandering around Lapham Peak. This was actually my first time at that park and it's definitely somewhere I look forward to going back to! And we got to cross off one other cool first, it was Erica's first time walking on a frozen pond!

A Personal Post | A Fresh New Year Ahead

Whew. I don't know about everyone else, but for me 2017 was a crazy year! It was definitely a year of personal growth, and that in turn means changes for my business. Lessons that I thought I knew and beliefs I thought I had were just reinforced! I know I've said it many times, but I believe it now more than ever, that life is short and experiences with people are what matters! You honestly never know what life is going to throw at you and even though you think you've got everything planned and figured out, something will happen and you've got to adjust and change your course.

I like to think that one of my strengths as a photographer is my calm and easy-going personality and that lends itself perfectly to wedding days and even portrait sessions when the unexpected happens. But I also like to think that helps to attract the kind of people that I want to work with! I have been so blessed to have so many wonderful people that have come in to my life through my business, and I am honestly so grateful for the opportunity to preserve so many important memories for them! I have said numerous times that weddings and portraits should be about creating an experience, that's why I suggest making the extra effort to hike to an epic location or really think about the parts of the wedding day and things that matter the most to the two of you.

As you can see from the collection of images I've put together above I really try to practice what I preach in my life, but have I really done this in my professional life? Well I don't think I'm quite there yet in my professional life, but I'm more at peace with that! One of the new things that I've learned is that it's not always about the end goal, that the journey can be even more important! Haha basically I'm going in to 2018 with a more zen mindset. It's so easy to get caught up in the unfairness and unpredictability of life that I think sometimes we forget to just stop, slow down, and appreciate all that we do have. I'm grateful for my amazing friends and family, a very special guy that makes me feel loved and special, a job that I absolutely LOVE, and good health which allows me to eat all of the pie that I want :) Outside of that, I'm still working on improving and growing my business, but my focus now is about really creating those experiences that I keep talking about!