Every time I photograph a new wedding I think to myself, “This is how I would have done my wedding if I were to do it all over again.”  It doesn’t matter how diversely different the wedding is from the last one I shot…Wisconsin barn wedding, downtown urban chic, backyard barbecue, elegant ballroom.  I love them all and leave the event convinced that that’s how I would have done it.  This is definitely the case with Tim & Julia’s backyard tent wedding.  I am seriously so lucky to have bridal couples choose me to photograph all the beautiful details and moments of their day.  If you are married you know how much work goes into planning a wedding, especially in the day and age of Pinterest and social media.  To be invited to photograph the love the couple shares for each other in addition to the work they put into making their wedding day special for their friends and family is such an honor and Julia and Tim’s day was spectacular!

I met Julia a little over a year ago when a friend of hers (thank you Claire!) recommended me for their photography.  I wasn’t able to meet her fiance, Tim, at the time because he is in the military on active duty and wasn’t able to make the trip from North Carolina where they live.  They grew up together and met at church.  I am always in awe of people I meet that are married and were high school sweethearts but this takes the cake!  At our meeting she described her wedding style to be “rustic casual.”  It would take place from beginning to end at her parent’s house, where she grew up, which is situated on the Bark River in Nashotah.  The setting is so beautiful.  You could hear the soothing river water all through the ceremony.  They had twinkle lights and mason jars filled with candles nailed to trees all throughout the property, yard games galore, kids catching fireflies, adults enjoying a warm summer night either dancing under the big tent out back, sitting around the bonfire or just enjoying each other’s company.  Makes you wish you were invited, right?

Julia and Tim are so in love it makes me smile thinking about them together.  They didn’t want to see each other before the ceremony so they did a “first touch/prayer” instead of a first look.  Check out the picture below!  She wore her grandmother’s wedding dress, which her mother wore before her.  The dress is pure silk and still in its original form!  Her brother, who went to Northwestern Military Academy where he learned to play the bagpipes played after they were announced husband and wife.  OK, now I’m rambling because I just can’t help myself but before you leave you must scroll down to see the most romantic first kiss I’ve seen to date.  It. Was. Awesome!

Oh, and make sure you write some kind words for the couple in the comments section below this post because if the couple receives 15 comments they will receive an 8×10 print of their choice from their wedding day!

P.S.  Check out the picture of Tim holding up Julia too.  She says that’s how she greets him when he comes home every day from a hard day’s work.  How cute is that?