Shawna and Jo: Rustic Manor Wedding in Hartland, Wisconsin

I’ve written about Shawna and Jo on this blog before—you can check out their sultry summer engagement session here if you haven’t already seen it. Now, over a year later, I finally got to photograph their wedding at beautiful Rustic Manor in Wisconsin! These two are a powerhouse couple with tons of friends and some pretty special family stories between them, so I knew their wedding would be one-of-a-kind. And it was.

For starters, Shawna and Jo are majorly active in the queer activist community around Madison, Wisconsin, and are subsequently surrounded by all kinds of amazing, badass people. (Not unrelated, there was so much fun fashion and excellent aesthetics happening this day I could barely contain myself.) They both got ready in the same building as their reception (hello, convenient), so I was able to move between their rooms and capture them getting ready, exchanging gifts, and even saying hello to their little dog before the ceremony.

The ceremony itself was moving, powerful, and unapologetically political. I loved watching the faces of the guests and the wedding party; so much emotion packed into such a short time. Afterwards, we gathered in beautiful filtered sunlight for family photos, which, with this crew, turned out to be super fun.

The best part of this day for me was after dinner. Shawna and Jo shared a sweet and sexy first dance (I love the way they look at each other—it’s so good), and then we were off to the races. Their DJ and music selection was AMAZING, and I was literally cracking up in sheer delight as I captured photos of the dance floor. People were not messing around. They looked awesome and were having a blast. It was one hell of a party.

The thing that stands out most to me about Shawna and Jo, aside from their deep commitment to community and social justice, is the stand they are for each other. You can tell that these two are each other’s biggest allies. They support each other and care for each other, and there is a deep wellspring of love that helps harness the energy they need for the big fights they take on. It has been such an inspiration knowing these two and being in their orbit. I can’t wait to see what their future holds.