As soon as I met Sarah and Kylie I new I *needed* to be the one to photograph their wedding. They had that energy and excitement of two people who know exactly what they want, and what they wanted was each other.
Sarah and Kylie planned their destination Door County wedding day at Peninsula State Park over Pumpkin Patch Festival weekend. They knew it would be a busy weekend and full of traffic, but we had plans to account for that, and that weekend was particularly special because it was the weekend they traveled up with family in the past, and this way they would get to share day two of the festival with their guests.
Door County Wedding Photographers
The couple’s wedding plans broke all the traditional wedding rules (like our favorite weddings always do!) They were getting ready together, planning to board a trolly with their family and take that to the wedding location, and they would help with their own ceremony set up.
Traffic was crazy coming into Egg Harbor from Green Bay as the highway was closed (but we accounted for this, so all was well). When I arrived at their hotel, the Door County Trolly was already pulled up front and a few guests were chatting with the driver and loading up coolers. I headed upstairs to photograph a few details with Sarah and Kylie including their rings, flowers, and the New Glarus “Two Women Lager” they had included in their guests gift bags as a tongue-in-cheek joke about their LGBT wedding and love of local beer. As I grabbed my gear and they did a last minute check to make sure they had everything, we checked the time and knew that the trolly was scheduled to leave right that minute.
Peninsula State Park Wedding
Wedding ceremonies often begin late and I said the same reassuring statement I’ve said a million times, “Don’t worry, it’s not like they can start without you!” But to our surprise, as we walked out the front doors of the hotel, the trolly was gone. It had left a few minutes before its scheduled time with all the guests on board…all the guests except for the brides.
Sarah called family who were onboard, asking how this could have possibly happened, and everyone sort of looked to one another with a “I don’t know, I thought someone else knew” sort of feeling. Apparently as they had pulled away, Sarah’s tiny nephew, the little ring bearer had said, “Why isn’t Aunt Sarah here?” but nobody responded and the trolly pulled away.
Unfortunately due to the traffic of Pumpkin Patch, turning the trolly back around and coming through Egg Harbor a second time would have pushed their ceremony by a full hour, and so the couple got into their own car and drove to their ceremony. As they pulled into Weborg Point where their ceremony was to be held, their guests were waiting with drinks and apologies ready for them, laughter all around. The couple was naturally disappointed to have missed this first part of their wedding plan, but they also knew they would have quite the story of how all their wedding guests left them behind.
LGBT Friendly Door County Photographers
After drinks, hugs, teasing, and laughter, the ceremony got underway with guests seated on long wooden pews in front of the water view and Kylie’s uncle officiating. We got the inside story of how they’d met at the school they work at and connected over Facebook messenger, including hearing their first few messages verbatim, which was so cute. Sarah’s nephew was so excited to the deliver the rings, he ran up the aisle as fast as he could, arms extended, one ring in each hand. And that was the energy that followed all the guests for the rest of the afternoon — just people so excited to be together, bearing witness to this middle part of a love story.
Weborg Point, Peninsula Park, Fish Creek
Sarah and Kylie stepped away briefly for some fall photos along the woods at Weborg Point, then out onto the break-wall for sunset photos as the sky shifted from yellows to soft pinks and deep blue, the little town of Fish Creek with its white buildings and mooring sailboats dotting the horizon.
Congratulations, Sarah and Kylie! Thank you for letting me be a part of your special day!
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