Maryanne & Mike :: Green Bay wedding

July 11, 2009 - Green Bay, WI

Maryanne and Mike planned a long distance wedding all the way from Seattle. I was fortunate enough to see them in Seattle when I did their engagement session last December. Maryanne and Mike swiped me up from the airport (I had a long layover on my way to my photo retreat to Hawaii) and we did a fly by night engagement session in Kerry Park. It was great! I was so excited to shoot their wedding.

Here are some of my favorites...



Another personal touch was Maryanne's mantilla veil which was her mother's from her wedding many years ago.

It was important for Maryanne to be married in her hometown church. The priest that married them was Maryanne's cousin, which made the entire ceremony personal and meaningful.





Most of the groomsmen were from the West Coast and they had a fun time making fun of our Wisconsin accents.



I love having the guys hassle the groom...


We were so lucky to find this old firehouse in Green Bay that matched the colors of their wedding...








Their first dance was a Salsa... wow - another great wedding full of fancy dancing!

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Fauxtobooth!

We had a blast at Rachel and Zak's Appleton wedding at Trolley Square on July 18... we ran a photo booth during the dance. My photography assistant, Natalie, ran the booth and did a wonderful job taking photos.

Here are Natalie and I testing out lighting... we had so much fun!

My second shooter, Mia Stevens, even joined in on the action!

Congratulations Rachel and Zak!!!

If you are a current 2009 bride or groom and would like to add a crazy photo booth to your wedding day photography coverage.... contact me to hear more about our special promotion!

080809 - Milwaukee Wedding Photography Sneak Peak

I had a blast shooting the Milwaukee wedding of Naomi and Ryan. I have so many favorites from Saturday... I couldn't wait to post one of them.

Xavier Senior Portraits Class of 2010

Another sneak peak from my sold out senior sessions... Here are some of my favorites of Erin, including her proof book cover.


Each of my seniors receive a beautiful keepsake of all of their photos printed and bound in a beautiful and durable book.

To see BONUS images from this shoot become a fan of Ardent Photography on Facebook!

Appleton Senior Portraits Class of 2010

Here is a sample of some my favorites from Emily, Hector, and Tom's sessions...







To see more images become a fan of Ardent Photography on Facebook

Suzanne and Kodi - Green Bay Cathedral Wedding

Suzanne and Kodi
June 27, 2009
Green Bay Cathedral

Suzanne and Kodi are one of the most unique couples I've ever photographed. They met in Germany on World Youth Day, a Catholic youth festival. Of the 400,000 young people from over 200 countries they were able to meet and notice something special about one another. Suzanne was from Wisconsin and Kodi from Washington. They fell in love over the long distance and got engaged on their very first dinner date.

Their wedding was amazing - June 27 the day Catholics observe as Our Lady of Perpetual Hope. The high mass wedding at the Green Bay Cathedral was unlike anything I've witnessed. Everything except for the initial marriage rites were spoken and sung in Latin. The one and a half hour ceremony was filled with angelic hymns from the youth choir that Suzanne was a member of.


Their wedding party consisted of their large families and very close friends. All of the wedding party shots included everyone. It was a lot of fun despite the rain!



At the reception I was once again amazed with this couple! They, and all of their guests, were swing dancers! Every time I stepped near the dance floor I was worried about getting injured by a flying arm or leg from the guests dancing. The neatest part was not only where the adults swing dancing but even the kiddos! They had that dance floor packed the entire evening.
For Suzanne and Kodi's first dance (a waltz) they were silly-stringed by some little boys...


Shortly after their first dance all of the guests were treated to an Irish dance performance. The three Irish dancers came out in full costume and put on a great show!

Here are some of my favorites from the day...

Become a fan of Ardent Photography on Facebook to view bonus images from this wedding!

Dress: Blue Sky Bridal - Seattle
Cake: Alpha Delights European Bakery - De Pere
Disc Jockey: Gold Medal Sound
Floral: Sam's Club - arranged by bride
Choir: St. Joseph's Oratory Youth Choir
Reception: S.C. Grand - De Pere
Honeymoon: Whistling Swan - Door County

Reunion...

Last weekend the Mustang Fillies reunited for a routine at the Milwaukee Iron game. For most of the girls in the group it has been 8+ years since they were on the dance team.

I was a member of the Mustang Fillies in 2000 and had a blast performing at the games. Here is a photo of me when I danced on the team.

I'm the second from the right.

Most of you may not know this... but I have been a dancer my entire life. I danced on the NCAA ranked dance team at UW-Milwaukee for four years, I was on the professional dance team for the Mustangs and then I taught dance for about 4 years.

Here is the video of my girls... I am so very proud that after all of these years they were able to pull off a half-time routine!

2010 High School Senior Photograpy - sneak peak

This year's sessions rocked! This year's senior sessions sold out quickly... but those who where able to get in will have some pretty amazing photos!

I had a blast photographing these awesome kids. Stay tuned for a full blog post with a ton of photos...

Fun Fact Friday - a real live fact for once!

Fact: In Greek culture, brides carry a lump of sugar in their wedding globe. It's supposed to bring sweetness to their married life.

There are a whole slew of crazy traditions out there. Some of my brides still put a real six pence in their shoes. Many of them still have something old, new, blue, borrowed.

What are your family's or religious wedding traditions? Do you plan on keeping the tradition, or breaking away and do something totally unique?