Josh and Nicole got married at the Oconomowoc Community Center a few short weeks ago and lucked out with a beautiful spring day in Wisconsin!  Easy is not a word I would typically use to describe a wedding but this one is an exception to the rule!  I couldn’t detect an ounce of stress from anyone, we were ahead of schedule every step of the way, the locations we chose for portraits provided shade when we needed it as well as a beautiful sunset over the lake later in the day, the venue was well lit and located on beautiful Lac LaBelle providing a stunning backdrop and to top of it off all locations were no more than five minutes from my home!  Outside of a minor injury during the happy couple’s first dance (more on that in a minute) I can’t recall a single glitch to the day.  So unusual and most welcome!  Josh and Nicole even insisted that I ride with them to the few locations we had planned to take pictures at between the ceremony and reception.  That is definitely a first for me!  And to commemorate I got a cute picture of them holding hands in their car on the way (see below).

There is nothing like walking around in public on your wedding day.  Everywhere they went people were honking and cheering for them.  So fun!  Josh and Nicole requested that we stop at The Crafty Cow in Oconomowoc for a quick drink and some photos between the ceremony and reception because it is a place they frequent weekly together and one that they wanted included in their day.  They had mentioned to their favorite bartender a day or two beforehand that they would be stopping in.  I was definitely on board with this as it’s one of my favorite places in Oconomowoc too!  When we arrived I heard the bartender tell them, “When you said you would be coming in on Saturday and that you had a wedding I didn’t realize it was YOUR wedding!”

After we returned back to the Community Center Josh and Nicole had a special surprise planned for their guests; a choreographed “Dancing with the Stars”-type first dance.  Nobody suspected a thing because they are not known for dancing at all.  They had taken ballroom dance classes in the weeks leading up to their wedding and they were so excited to show off their moves.  Their dance instructor even came to the reception to watch!  I have to say that they killed it!  Afterwards it became evident that at some point during the dance Nicole somehow cut her finger but after a few minutes of clean up all was good and soon forgotten.

Nicole told me at one point during the day that taking the pictures was her favorite part of the day.  Of course it’s my favorite part too but to hear it from the bride is for sure a HUGE win in my book!  What a fantastic day!!!

P.S.  They wrote their own vows so make sure to scroll down to see the emotion I caught during this very touching part of their ceremony!  And don’t forget to write a nice comment for the couple below all of the pictures on this blog post.  If the couple receives 15 comments they will receive a free 8×10!