Once upon a time, two absolute stunners of human beings met at Marquette University as D1 athletes. They fell in hard core love and proceeded to have the most monumentally cinematic wedding at a Minnesota luxury farm wedding venue ever. The end. (Just kidding.)

While I could probably wrap up the story there and simply let the photos do the talking, we know full well that I have far too much to say about Madeline and Luke’s high-end farm wedding at Hope Glen Farm to do something as unhinged as that. 

Getting Ready at Minnesota Farm Wedding Venue

My day started as most wedding days do: Meeting up with the bride and her ladies in the getting ready space, my trusty JBL speaker in tow. While the getting ready space at Hope Glen Farm was suuuuuper dark– making things a bit interesting for the photographer in the room (it’s me, hi!)– it also made for photographs with a stunning, moody vibe to match the rustic space. Because the rest of the day was super sunny (and a cool 95 degrees, but who’s counting), this ended up being an unexpected but welcome addition to Madeline and Luke’s final gallery, rounding it out with all of the vibes. 

I spent a good bit of time capturing Madeline’s sisters and mom help her get into her gorg Vera’s Bridal gown before setting off across the farm wedding venue to find Luke fixing himself up for his first look with his soon-to-be wife.

But, Luke was going to have to wait a small while yet because it was Madeline’s dad’s turn first!

Vendors | Venue: Hope Glen Farm | Florist: Lakes Floral | Bride’s Dress: Vera’s Bridal | Makeup: Erin Elizabeth + Glam by Val | Hair: Hair by Brittany Kelly | Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Show Me Your Mumu | Groom’s Suit: The Black Tux | DJ: Gregory Ellis | Catering: Apples 2 Apples | Dessert + Cake: Bakes by Brooke | Video: Oren Hamilton Films | Day Of Coordinator: Eryka Pluff Weddings

The Highly Anticipated First Look

We all know how much I love a good father-daughter first look. There’s never a shortage of tears, and I love capturing the absolute disbelief in dad’s eyes as he realizes his daughter isn’t the little spitfire she used to be, all of those years ago. She transformed into a woman, right in front of his very eyes, and every click of my shutter aims to capture that emotion washing over dad’s face, so my brides can bottle it up forever and ever. 

The first look with the gals is always its own brand of beautiful as everyone yelps and screams, exclaiming at their sister/cousin/friend/college roommate being a total bombshell for her wedding day. I was absolutely living for the ivory bridesmaids’ gowns, all in a different style, in contrast with the rich emerald green hedge behind them. (Photographer things, I tell ya.)

Luke quickly found that his first look was well worth the wait, too, as he finally felt that long-anticipated tap on his shoulder and turned to see the woman he was mere moments away from marrying, standing there like a vision, with curls framing her face and a vibrant bouquet in hand. First looks are always so special, and I love that every couple has their own spin on it. Whether you want to wait until you come down the aisle of the farm wedding venue to see each other or do the traditional first look and read your vows to each other, like Madeline and Luke did, it’s easily one of the most precious moments there is.

The Art of the Dip Kiss

I’m not going to lie to you, the infamous dip kiss is a bit of an art form. As Madeline and Luke quickly found out while they were practicing during our pre-ceremony couple portraits, it’s no walk in the park, even for a couple of highly-athletic Marquette alum. There are a lot of limbs and logistics and laughs that go into the whole operation. 

But because Madeline and Luke are my favorite type of humans, total “yes!” people willing to try anything that I threw their way for the sake of my creative vision, they gave it a good old fashioned go.

And they nailed it. 

While I’m pretty sure they were both mentally rehearsing it at least a little bit throughout their “I do’s,” no one would have been any the wiser. By the time they reached the end of the aisle, they were ready to execute the dip kiss like clockwork. 

They were beauty. They were grace. And they were officially husband and wife. 

One of my favorite photos of the entire 600+ photo gallery is the black and white one (below) where Luke and Madeline are looking at each other post dip kiss, equal parts giving each other a mental fist bump that they nailed the move and reveling in the fact that they did the damn thing. They were finally married. 

It gives me LIFE to see these distinctive photos where the entire story is captured in a single frame. There is so much being said between Madeline and Luke without uttering a single word in that photograph, and I couldn’t be swooning over it more if I tried. 

Golden Hour at Farm Wedding Venue

The speeches, Madeline and Luke’s first dance, and golden hour were all what dreams are made of. 

We were all cracking up (and tearing up, of course!) at the speeches, including Madeline’s sisters’ rap to the tune of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song. 

When it came time for Madeline and Luke to have their first dance, I quickly sent my second photographer to the farm wedding venue’s upper deck to get an aerial view of the romantic scene unfolding. The photos we captured are just too much for me to handle, like something straight out of the final scene of Dirty Dancing!

As for golden hour, I swear the sun said, “Hold my cocktail” and brought out the big guns for Madeline and Luke alone. The way the sun’s rays caught the sheer billows in Madeline’s veil. How Luke couldn’t stop staring at Madeline, and she couldn’t keep her eyes off of him, either. The way Luke took my prompt to run through the vineyard as if they were running to catch their honeymoon flight and, well… ran with it. How willing they both were to trust my vision. 

It was all simply to die for.

Wedding Reception But Make It A VIBE

And then, it was time to PARTY. 

Never mind that it was basically seven hundred degrees in the barn. The newlyweds and all of their guests never left the dance floor, and they put on quite the show. While I usually like to be something of a fly on the wall on a wedding day, I always tell my couples to go all out with me and my camera. Get all over it; heck, sweat on it for all I care! This is your moment to let totally loose, and I don’t want to miss a single bit of that.

So, yeah, sure I could have let the photos do the talking. But then you would have missed out on all of the little details that made Madeline’s and Luke’s wedding that much more the masterpiece.