Brandy & Ryan | Monona Terrace | Madison Wedding Photographer

This content has been archived. It may no longer be relevant

I started to tell the tale of Brandy and Ryan’s love story in their engagement session post and I’m so very happy to update that story to include the details of their romantic Madison wedding. In American popular culture weddings are so often described as the bride’s day and focus is assumed to fall squarely and only on a woman playing dress up to marry her prince. That construct doesn’t describe my couples to begin with, but when Ellen and I talked about the images she captured for Brandy & Ryan on their wedding day I knew immediately that their wedding was about more than even two people in love or soul mates who had found their match. Their day was about joining families, making and recognizing and celebrating Family – the Family of friends that we choose and that choose us, the Family we make when say I choose you.

Brandy brought a particular aesthetic to the wedding that I adore, as well. She’s crafty and smart, a little vintage, but more so literary and elegantly down home. And she likes to bake, which was a good thing since she opted to translate an adorable if unexpected theme – Love is Dear – into surprising details for their wedding. Brandy baked little antler cookies and included amazingly gorgeous and again, unexpected, modern florals along with handmade crafts here and there. Gilded frames contrasted with her black patent belt while polka dots and shiny red shoes said let’s celebrate. There was sparkle and there was fun, but mostly there was Brandy & Ryan and Kaylie, a family saying I choose you, now and forever.