05/13/2026
Two months before their wedding date, she sent me a message.
No venue. No florist. No 300-person guest list. Just her, her person, their two kids, their parents. And a feeling that this was exactly how it was supposed to be.
We started at Interstate Park and then crossed over to the Wisconsin side, where the beach took over. Their son throwing rocks into the water. Someone writing in the sand. Shoes came off. The bride and groom waded in—without hesitation—like they had nowhere else to be. Because they didn’t.
That last scene on the beach is going to live in me for a while. Sun sitting just above the cliffs. Water catching all that gold. Everyone doing their own thing, but still so completely together. No one directing it. No one performing. Just a family, fully present in a moment that was entirely theirs.
Dinner at 6, the only thing with a set time, was where dad signed on as their officiant, and I as a witness. 🥰
This is what it looks like when you stop hosting your own wedding and just…show up to it.
This is a weddymoon, where your wedding day is centered around feeling like a honeymoon—fun, exhilarating, restful and unmanaged.
📍 Interstate State Park + St. Croix River Beach, WI
