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Alli + Spencer: A Wisconsin Wedding

Weddings

September 17, 2015

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I'm so glad you stopped by the blog! Here you'll find advice on planning your wedding, tips on what to wear to photo sessions, and of course, my favorite clients & people!

Hi, I'm meghan

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That’s right, you guys. I photographed a Wisconsin wedding. Want to know how this one happened? Sit back and hold on, this is a long story….

Perhaps some of you don’t know this but, I was actually raised along the Mississippi River, half in Minnesota and half in Wisconsin. We moved from Hastings, Minnesota to Hager City, Wisconsin when I was just about to start second grade. My parents softened the move by getting me my first cat. I forgave them – that’s irrelevant.

Starting second grade at a new school was tough. I wasn’t largely outspoken. I liked to read. I probably was a Teacher’s Pet, as many others liked to classify me as. I befriended the kids that didn’t have friends – mostly because they were eager and easy to latch onto. I spent most of second grade hanging out with a boy that wasn’t very popular and the kids liked to tease that we “loved each other.”

What does this have to do with my Wisconsin wedding, you wonder? Well, third grade happened. And third grade is when there came a shift in my friendships. One day, I glanced down at my watch and noticed that it was 10:13 am. I said to the girl next to me, “Hey that’s like KDWB. 101.3” (this was the “cool” radio station that played all the popular songs). The girl looked at me like she couldn’t believe I actually listened to that station. Once she got over the shock, we became easy friends. She soon introduced me to one of her friends – Enter Alli.

Something clicked with Alli and I. Something real and strong. For the next 3 and a half years, we were inseparable. I remember spending so many nights in her home, her mom becoming my second mom. We became pre-teens together, and learned all that that entails from each other and one another’s moms. It wasn’t a birthday party if Alli wasn’t there. I spent long summer days riding bikes up and down her neighborhood, and long school days giggling about boys and teachers and what we were going to do that night at her house. Alli was the one to introduce me to Avril Lavigne’s first hit “Complicated.” I can still picture us in her bedroom, turning the radio up – Alli already knowing all the words.

Alli was almost as avid of a reader as I was. One day during recess I saw her sitting on top of a picnic table, a book in her hands. Even for Alli, it seemed uncommon to see her spend her recess reading instead of being social. I asked her what book it was and she showed me the cover.

Harry Potter.

“Harry Potter?” I asked. “What’s that about?”
“It’s about a boy who finds out he is a wizard. My mom picked it up for me. It’s pretty good.”

If Alli was reading it, I had to be reading it. And thus began my Potterhead status. So basically I have Alli to owe for my entire life’s obsession with the Boy Who Lived. Pretty big deal.

I remember one day I left my science project at my house (I believe it was a cake, decorated to look like the inside of a cell). Instead of calling my own mom (who was already at work), I called Alli’s mom, in tears (grades were very important to me in 6th grade, you see). She ended up driving to my house, somehow breaking into it (with permission from my parents), retrieved the cake, and brought it all the way to school for me. I’m telling you – they were my family.

Then, near the end of sixth grade, things got tough. Tougher than they should for 12-year-old girls. My parents had decided to divorce – we would not just be moving out of our home, but moving to Idaho – 1200 miles away. I was leaving the best friend I’d ever had, and on top of that, her father had been diagnosed with cancer. It was in a time before internet was big, and cell phones were still blocks. It was a large distance for two 7th graders to cross.

We kept in touch as well as we could though, and I tried to see her whenever I would visit my dad in Minnesota. I still hold such a special, special place in my heart for my first true best friend. She is kind of like my first true love, you know, on the friendship side of things. You never forget your first love.

I remember the first time I met Spencer. We were all still in high school and I had asked if Alli and our friend Stephanie wanted to go to a Jimmy Eat World concert with me while I was staying with my dad for the summer. They were so natural together – like that’s how it always has been, and how it always would be. I couldn’t imagine a better fit for Alli. They navigated the waters of college together, staying strong and holding on to one another. I remember being so happy she and him were still together, every time I had the chance to catch up with her. I’m telling you, it would have seemed wrong to see them with people other than each other.

Then, one Thanksgiving, after 9 years of being together, Spencer stood up in front of their entire families and asked for their attention. He said he had a lot of memorable Thanksgivings in his life, but that he wanted this one to be the most memorable. Then he got down on one knee and asked Alli to marry him. Alli says she was so shocked she thinks she blacked out for a second! He presented her with the diamond from her mom and dad’s engagement ring, making it even more special to her.

As soon as I found out they were engaged, I hoped beyond all hope that Alli would ask me to be their photographer! I could think of no higher honor for me to do for my childhood best friend. Of course I instantly said yes, as soon as Alli asked me if it would ever be possible for me to be there on their wedding day. I put their date on my calendar for one year away, and anxiously waited for it to arrive.

When the day did finally arrive, parts of it felt like I was walking through a time capsule! I saw faces I hardly recognized but knew they were somehow a part of my childhood, even if I didn’t know their names. I loved following Alli and Spencer on their journey, which started at the St. Francis Catholic Church – the same church that Alli’s mother married Alli’s father, and, after he passed away, where Amy also married her husband Jayson. Every detail of the day was so sweet and perfect -from Alli’s bouquet honoring her father with a photo charm, a tender first look between Alli and Spencer with the bridal party peeking from down the sidewalk, Alli’s grandmothers as her flower girls, a few tears shed during the exchange of vows and rings; to the tiger-striped party bus that carried the bridal party to each location, the most tender Best Man speech I’ve ever witnessed, and a rockin’ dance floor that welcomed everyone. I couldn’t be happier for these two soulmates and was blessed to be the one to capture their day!!

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  1. Clara says:

    What an awesome story! I love that you got to shoot her wedding =] Looks like it was a LOT of fun. Love her bright bridesmaids dresses!

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I'm Meghan and I'm so glad you're here! My blog is where you'll find advice on planning your wedding, tips on what to wear to a session, and of course, my beautiful clients!

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