When I say that Tony and Bridget had a perfect 8 hour day with us, I’m not exaggerating.  I still can’t figure out if it was the way they scheduled their day, or the fact that they were consistently on time and in step with their wedding timeline, or if it was the fact that their venue offered a beautiful backdrop for photos all around, or who knows, or maybe it was the fact that they were the nicest people in the world and made us feel so comfortable working with them. Who knows?! But what I can tell you is that in 8 hours it was the perfect amount of hours for them, and for us to get to capture stunning images of them.

Their Getting ready coverage began at 1:30pm. We spent the first 30 minutes taking pictures of the dress, bride getting makeup and hair, bridesmaids gifts, all of that jazz, including pictures of the outside and inside of their beautiful Lake House in Fontana, WI (we secretly love this whole area around Lake Geneva).

Then at around 2:00pm the bride began to get dressed, and we spent some time with her Mom and Sisters. We even got a mini Bridal Session right on her backyard. Granted not every bride has a beautiful Lake House, but hey, I told you this wedding was perfect! 😉 So if it wasn’t classy enough, a vintage bus came around right on time (bus from www.ydrivelimo.com) to pick us up and drove us to meet with the rest of the Bridal Party to the Pier, and we were ready to begin their First Look at 3:00pm. 

You had to be kidding me if this First Look doesn’t make you want a Puppy! 😍

One really cool backstory of this couple was their love for shoes! Not only our bride wore Miu Miu shoes with rhinestones, but in Tony’s words, “Obviously, when it was time for me to start working on my wedding outfit, as it does usually for me, it started with my shoes.” Tony has worked for Oak Street Bookmakers in Chicago, they are a Chicago-based footwear manufacturer that has been making shoes and boots in America since 2010. The company was founded by George Vlagos who's parents immigrated to this company from Greece.  George's father is a cobbler/shoe repairman by trade and has owned and operated his own local shoe repair outside of Chicago for over 35 years.  For us we really relate with this story because one of our relatives also runs a shoe factory.  As a young child, George was raised helping his dad in the shop and quickly developed a love for working with fine shoes.  Oak Street Bootmakers serves as the next step in his family's heritage as shoemakers and we take a lot of pride in the quality of product that we make.  He wore our classic Wingtip made from Chocolate Calfskin produced by a French tannery owned by Hermes (Tannerie d'Annonay).  They were paired with a Ralph Lauren RRL suit, shirt and tie.  

Leo, their dog, was involved in the preparation and execution of our wedding literally from the get go.

“When I decided I was going to propose to Bridget, not involving Leo in my proposal wasn't ever considered!  I popped the question on a walk with Bridget and Leo - something we do nearly everyday but remains a special time for our little family.  His involvement carried into the planning of the event as well, as the first and only question Bridget had for the manager of the country club concerned their rules on pets!  It seemed natural, after considering him at each step of the planning, that Leo be involved in our photos as well.  Having had a chance to see the final outcome, I'm so glad we decided to have him there with us!  For the photos of our first look, I can't tell who is smiling more - me or Leo!  Having him there not only helped me stay calm and relaxed, but also made the moment more special, as he is an absolutely huge part of our lives.  I think the guests got a kick of seeing him with his corsage and bolo tie as well!” - said our Tony.  

I do want to brag about this couple, because even when they only had us for 8 hours, somehow they managed to squeeze in a full 2 hours to do some creative photos with the two of them, and also with their Bridal Party. Then gave us more than enough time (30 minutes) to take a breather and setup for the ceremony at Big Foot Country Club. (why doesn’t every bride think of this?! She is an Angel!) 

The story continues… weather, perfect! lighting, perfect! Their vows, omg, perfect! Live music, perfect! Big Kiss, perfect! so perfect in fact, that he even dipped his bride during that romantic kiss! (sigh! ❤️❤️❤️!

After the ceremony, we gave our bride and groom about 15 minutes to greet everyone as we began to gather families for the formal Family Photos. For once, we were extremely happy to photograph family formals :) we even managed to have over 50 people in one shot. Call that a Family Reunion! :) super neat! I’ll be honest, photographing families at cathedrals is not our jam, but hey, we do it, and we do it with love when that’s our only option!

Now, take a look at these decorations. So simple, chic and elegant. I love that she didn’t have to spend millions on her decor, and yet she thought of everything. Look at this cute touch of green on each folded napkin. Natural and stunning!

Towards the end of the night, while everyone was wrapping up dinner, we loved that our couple a special time seating at a fire pit that was at Big Foot Country Club. Such an intimate moment. As we were snapping the photos, I was wondering what they both were talking about. They seemed so full of love and happiness. This is what I call, a romantic shot! 

After being treated as guests, and after the couple insisted that we seat down to enjoy dinner, (it almost felt like were were having a date with Jon :) such a perfect time for us to post some photos on our Instagram account. We published a quick sneak peek using their wedding hashtags, and oh my! people began to like these images like no other wedding. 

So, when some of you may wonder if 8 hours is enough coverage time for your wedding day, I gotta tell you, we had enough time to capture dinner, wedding toasts, formal dances, cake cutting, and even got to capture about 30 minutes of heavy dancing. 

We asked our groom if he had any piece of advice for other grooms, and this is what he had to say:

I suppose, the main thing is to remember and soak it all up!  Our wedding day was absolutely amazing, everything we ever dreamed of - but it went by way too fast!  Starting with the first look, the schedule and timeline for the day is pretty packed - I kept trying to remind myself to enjoy each moment as much as possible.  My second piece of advice is a bit more specific to only those who plan on doing their first look on sand - bring a shoe brush and lint roller!