Dana & Harley | Milwaukee Bacchus Wedding » Heather Cook Elliott Photography

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Dana & Harley impressed me when they opted for a winter engagement session, something few Wisconsin and Illinois natives find appealing. But since they spend their days in sunny and sweet South Carolina, a snowy winter ice skating adventure fit the bill. I love the contrast of that grey and icy shoot with the warmth and poppy pink of their elegant and beautiful wedding day close to Milwaukee’s lake front. From the day’s start at the old world Pfister to the day’s end at the modern, leather-meet-brandy conservatory at Bacchus, everything about Dana & Harley’s wedding day oozed elegance. Her dress struck me with its lacy, timeless beauty and how she paired it with modern vintage (is that possible?) touches of a glass bead belt and crystal cuff. Where Dana was giddy, Harley was cool – throughout the early part of the day I kept seeing him bent over a piece of paper, studying something in hand. It turns out it was the Saturday crossword puzzle and he got most of it complete the last time I checked. (I hope he saved it and it gets mixed in with Dana’s day of mementos, too – a little snapshot in time of what was happening on their day.)

I love every wedding I am blessed to photograph and they all appeal to me in their own way, but Dana & Harley’s reception was the first time I thought I could see myself doing it this way. The guests toasted them in the soft day light of the all-glass conservatory and they danced in an atmosphere more akin to an open air or tented reception. They dined in – well, the dining room, where crisp white linens and dark leather seating were accented with Marius Bell’s ingenious little floral vignettes with mercury glass votives. Instead of the usual 8 person rounds, guests filled booths and 4 tops, aunts next to neighbors, old friends reunited with one another. It was a lot like Dana & Harley took 150 of their favorite people out to a really, really nice dinner. Which is exactly what they wanted – a night to spend with those they cherish, to be toasted and to dance, but really to enjoy one another, intimately and elegantly.