Intimate Lannon, Wisconsin Wedding

Smoke Photography beautifully captured this Metro-Milwaukee Wedding

From Long Distance to Surprise Proposal

Scott from Milwaukee and Jess from Chicago met at a work event in Sheboygan in 2017. They exchanged numbers and Jess texted Scott right after the event. The two ended up doing long distance for about two years, driving back and forth almost every weekend. Jess then decided to move to Wisconsin to be with Scott and his two kids.

For Jess’ birthday in October of 2019, Scott got her plane tickets to Denver for a trip in January 2020. “He made it seem like it was going to be just us two,” Jess says. “But in reality, he had reserved an Airbnb and invited my sisters, brother, and our closest friends.” During a hike at Red Rocks, Jess realized there were roses leading to the spot Scott picked to propose. “He hired a photographer and all! After he proposed, everyone came out of hiding.”

Wedding Planning

The two planned an August wedding at Twelve29. Jess’ advice to anyone planning a wedding: “Create a binder and have a section for each vendor. It helped to create a separate timeline for each vendor the day of the wedding, too. If anyone had any questions I directed them to the binder. Excel was our best friend during the planning process as well. We kept everyone’s address and contact information in one sheet to later look back at for thank-you notes.”

Wedding Ceremony

Jess and Scott had an unplugged, bilingual ceremony with their closest friends and family members. They wrote our own vows, and Jess surprised everyone with vows to her step kids, Nora and Matt. The ceremony sticks with Scott and Jess the most. “Everyone we got a chance to talk to after the wedding said the ceremony and our vows to each other—and Jess’ to the kids—were their favorite part, too. We hear that we had everyone in the room in tears, even the men.”

Photos by Smoke Photography 

To capture the day, the bride and groom worked with Jordyn at Smoke Photography. “I was super impressed with Jordyn, our photographer,” Jess says. “We had not met in person before, just exchanged some emails and had one quick phone call, but it felt like we’d known her for a long time on our wedding day. She photographed our wedding day by herself and managed to capture every single important moment we requested. We cannot rave about her enough. She was simply amazing. Very personable with our guests, too!”

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