Hannah + Charles - The Barn Wedding - racheljensenphotography.com

Hannah and Charles – late August wedding at the lovely venue, The Barn in Weyauwega with Rachel Jensen Photography.

What a day! I’ve been excited for this wedding for over a year! Not only did I finally get to shoot a wedding at The Barn, but Hannah was my first ever senior client outside my own family. It kind of felt full circle for me. Charles I have only ever met at their engagement session (which you should definitely check out here). This wedding had the most laughter I’ve heard in one place in a long time. Hannah and Charles had the kind of wedding that makes me so grateful for this job because I love being witness to all the happy!

The wedding day….

Now for the day’s events. Typically I see the girls first as they’re getting ready, but logisitics of the day changed the norm a bit. On this day, the groomsmen were the first to have photos done before I had even seen Hannah. I took groomsmen photos at The Barn first. Then the groomsmen had to leave so the girls could sneak in unseen. No first look at this wedding so we had to make sure Charles couldn’t sneak a peek, even on accident. There was a bit of time from the arrival of the first truck full of groomsmen until the last and by the time they were all there I knew this was gonna be a fun day. They were a perfect balance of party attitude to wedding appropriateness and everyone was looking quite dapper in their blue suits and last minute but still perfect ties.

Charles and crew left the premise. Hannah and entourage were then free to pull in to the venue. First we had to let Andy, known to Hannah as daddy, get a chance to see his first girl in all her wedding beauty and it was wonderful! It is likely I will get in trouble for writing this, but it’s worth it. Andy was quite overcome with emotion at how stunning his baby girl looked. The bridesmaids had a bunch of photos together which were so pretty with the terra cotta colors and the mix of style and material. Can I just say, I really love how it’s the norm now to pick a color or two and let the bridesmaids choose the dress style. It’s so much more comfortable for them on the wedding day.

Let’s get Hannah and Charles married!

Okay, enough anticipation, time for these two to get married. Guests made their way to the ceremony site and ushers sat the grandparents. There were a few lip quivers of emotion when Hannah and Andy walked down the aisle to Charles. A simple lovely ceremony ensued complete with a ring warming which I had never seen before. Each member of the wedding party held the rings close to their heart and blessed them before our bride and groom put them on their fingers forever. Charles tried to kiss Hannah before the officiant said to, and laughter ensued. Then at long last, Pam announced them as Mr. and Mrs. Wilson and marched done the aisle as husband and wife!

Now it was picture time! I know from doing this quite awhile, family formals don’t have to take long IF they’re well-advised and organized. I also know they can be very telling of how the rest of the night will go. In the 14 minutes we took for family formals (I checked the time stamps) I knew this group has some characters and I was gonna shoot a lot of people partying! They did not disappoint. We got the bridal party together then and of course got some shots of just Hannah and Charles. Those speak for themselves so I’ll move on!

Let’s eat!

If you’re still with me and haven’t just scrolled ahead, thank you and I’ll wrap it up here soon! Silver Lake Lanes of Scandinavia catered the dinner. Those ladies did a great job. Speeches were just the right amount of jokes and sentiment, the bridesmaids were considerate enough to bring grandma and shot and join in with her, it was all spot on. Now it is time to dance….

And dance they did. The first dances under the chandelier were all sweet and emotional. Then the party hit. DJ AJ had that dance floor packed. Everyone was busting their best moves and going through all the photos had me smiling for a long time. A really long time. There were a lot. Side note – I made a decision during this reception that when I grow up I want to be like Hannah’s grandma.

Hannah and Charles, your day was spectacular. It was soooo much fun for everyone who had the honor of being there. I pray I captured all the emotion in the photos so you can look back on this day for decades and remember how much you are both loved! Thank you for letting me be a part of it!

Guests – if you didn’t remember to grab a card to request the link from the ceremony and dance photos (when they’re all done in a month or so) – you can do that here! There are a lot of good ones you’re going to want to keep!