I love winter weddings, I love photographing them and I love attending them. Winter to me means hibernation, book reading and all day in pajamas - but a wedding forces you to get all dolled up, put on the red lips and dust off your dancing shoes and Chris and Jen did just that with all of their friends and family a few weeks back on January 24th. Chris and Jen had a beautiful ceremony at the Capitol followed by a wonderful meal and epic dance party at The Madison Club. I had a wonderful time documenting this perfect day with help from my dear friend Jentri Colello.
A few weeks ago we had our first warm & sunny winter day -- warmth, oh how I love that in Wisconsin warm in the winter is when it's over 35 degrees, but after a week of below zero, it really does feel like a heat wave. I spent this Wisconsin heat wave getting to know Maddie & Bret in their beautiful home and walking around Tenney Park and catching the sunset on the lake; a perfect afternoon. These lovely two will be getting married in August here in Madison and I am excited I get to be apart of that celebration.
A few weeks ago Luke and I took to the road and drove to the warmth of New Orleans for a few days for a little vacation. Often times when I am on vacation I find myself working still, photography is my job and also my hobby & passion so I find it difficult to put my camera down, so for this trip I decided to leave my digital cameras and computer behind and just take what I learned on - my little canon that I shot my first 5 weddings on with a 50mm and 3 rolls of film - I took only the good shots, I framed up, focused and decided in that moment if what I saw in the  view finder was worth the space of the roll of film. I took under 100 images, here are some of my favorites  - I still have one roll to develop but I couldn't wait to share.
I met Erica and Simon about 6 years ago, around the time they started dating, so when these two came to me with the news of their engagement and their plans for winter wedding, I was pretty excited. Erica & Simon had a beautiful, intimate wedding at Olbrich Gardens, a 5pm ceremony in the conservatory with just their immediate family, music by Erica's little sister and their best friend Grace, who became ordained to marry them, after the ceremony there was a room full of friends ready to celebrate with them. A perfect way to celebrate these two, and I am so happy they asked me to document this wonderful day.
A few weeks back the oh so talented Anna Vogelzang released an E.P entitled Driftless at a wonderful brunch gathering at Old Sugar Distillery catered by Underground Food Collective and coffee by Crescendo. A unique and lovely way to celebrate music, Whitney Mann & Dietrich Gosser   opened up the show and Anna played with a full band and it was a magical way to spend a Sunday morning. I love Madison for community we have in music, and this coming Saturday (12/13/14) these three amazing musicians along with Corey Hart, Crane Your Swan Neck, Count This Penny & Faux Fawn will be performing at Wintersong at the Barrymore Theatre  ---  grab your ticket, and a few friends and we will see you at Wintersong 2014!
As many of you know, back in 2013 I travelled to Ethiopia to work at a school and document for Seeds Of Africa. After returning a decided I wanted to share my images and not just through my instagram, Facebook and blog but instead with prints in a pretty gallery filled with people who can discuss the images rather than giving it a thumbs up or a heart. I wanted these images to do something for Seeds of Africa and the families they support, so I put together a show, had a grand opening and all proceeds from sales will go to Seeds of Africa this coming Monday when I go out to New York for a fundraising event where two of my prints will be auctioned off. This has all been exciting for me, I do enjoy documenting weddings, families and even fashion but this is what makes me the happiest. Below you will find the prints that are currently for sale, these prints are mounted and ready to be put on your wall sizes range from 12x18 ($150) to 16x24 ($250) -- if you are interested in purchasing a print, please email me: audreraephotography@gmail.com --- All proceeds will go to Seeds of Africa.
Documenting the Alyssa & Justin Taylor has become an annual thing, and I love it. For the last 2 years we have done the photoshoot at their home, last year it was a warm day so we took the shoot to the backyard, this year winter came early so we stayed in, made tacos and had some coffee and did a cozy shoot in their beautiful apartment.
Chris, Jen and I met up at Wingra beach on a nice fall day to hang out and take some photographs. They told me that they don't have many photographs of the two of them together and they both were a little camera shy in the beginning but by the end of our session they became naturals in front of my camera! I am so looking forward to documenting their wedding next month!
Alicia and Josh got married a few months back with a small ceremony and in October there had an epic party to celebrate their marriage and love with their friends and family. The lovely Hometown Sweethearts made the dancing happen until the late hours of the night.
Annie & Jake both work on campus and wanted to start our fall session there, a beautiful fall day to wander the campus and get to know these two a little better. After campus we went out to the Arboretum, one of my favorite places to shoot when there is fall color, we had a wonderful time and these two are totally amazing and fun to work with. Anna & Jake will be getting married next September, and I cannot wait to document their day.
A while back I had the privilege of meeting Solomon at only a few weeks old and I documented this cute family in their home with their new addition.
A few weeks ago my dear friends Maia & Travis came for a visit from San Francisco and I got the chance to meet their lovely daughter, Ingrid. I met up with them at their cute AirBnB on Spaight St. to catch up and do a little photo shoot of their adorable child. Maia runs a successful blog and has been something of a guru in that department, she is also the art director for Rue Magazine  and every time I head over to San Francisco I try to work with Maia, she is one talented lady and a joy to work with.
I met up with Melissa and Andrew a few weeks back to get to know one another and talk more about their upcoming wedding in July -- a perfect afternoon and a lovely fall day.
On a beautiful October Saturday, Lyndsy & Stefen got married in Dodgeville at the beautiful Folklore Village.  I had such a wonderful time with these two and their friends and family - a beautiful, short ceremony in an old chapel followed by lawn games and cocktails to tacos and a night of dancing.
A few weeks back Luke and I went over to Kacie and Justin's house to meet their son, Callum Finley Conroy and I documented a Sunday in the home of this family. Callum is wonderful kid and I am so happy for these two and their little family!
I get the chance to hang out with Caitlyn at the studio I work at from time to time, and I just love her, she is hilarious, sweet and just one of my favorites. A few weeks back Caitlyn and Bryan celebrated their 2 year wedding anniversary and I got to celebrate with them by documenting their adorableness. I asked Caitlyn about their wedding and how he proposed to her and here it is in her words:
"We got married on Sept 29, 2012 and this coming Janurary we will have been together for 9 years. He was in my brothers band growing up and we started dating when I was 17. I went to California with my parents and my friend Brittney and I always get Bryan souveniers when I go on trips without him, -stupid things nothing fancy. So this time, we went to Bubba Gumps and I got him a fuzzy shrimp magnet. When I got home I gave him said magnet and he said, "I know you always get me gifts so I wanted to get you something." Of course he pulls out the rings and proposes in our living room. I have no idea what he really said but Kitty was next to him while he was on one knee and I started shouting, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" over and over. He finally said, "Yes, I have a ring!!!" All in all, I got a ring and Bryan got a fuzzy shrimp. We got married at Seno in Burlington which is a beautiful woodland center. The day was perfect so its hard to pick out a favorite moment. The weather was perfect, thank goodness because we didn't have a plan b, we were getting married outside no matter what. Seeing him at the ceremony was special because we didn't see each other before so he was all teary and cute. When we were anounced to the crowd our officiant accidently said "I present you, Mr. and Mrs. Williamson" so that was pretty funny since Bryan's last name is Mach. Overall, our wedding was wonderful. It was filled with friends and family from all over the country and looking back I wouldn't have changed anything. It was perfectly us. Not too much fuss, just fun. "
On a chilly October Saturday Melanie & Dan were married and this lovely event was outdoors -- fleece lined leggings, blankets, fires and hand warmers for all and a wonderful wedding it was. I had the wonderful Jentri Colello second shoot and even though we were a bit chilly we had such a wonderful time documenting these two exchange their vows, meeting their furry children and eating pizza with all their guests.
A few weeks back I had planned a photoshoot with Anna Marie & Andrew in the Milwaukee area, there was a 50% chance of rain and we couldn't decide if we should just go for it or reschedule - we ended up going for it and it ended up raining 20 minutes into the shoot but it was perfect, beautiful and so much fun. Anna Marie & Andrew will be getting married the summer on 2015, and they are quite lovely.
On September 27th, Amy and Mike were married at the beautiful Tumbledown Barn surrounded by their friends and family who traveled from all over to be there to celebrate with them. Amy, Mike and I got together a few months back to talk wedding and to get to know each other a bit better, I heard stories of their recent travels to El Salvador, we discussed our common love for Count This Penny and other lovely Madison bands, I heard about Mike's days working as a forest fire fighter and I got to meet their dog who loved me. On their wedding day I felt like a friend, even with one evening together, they are both sweet, loving and wonderful to talk with -- so, I felt less embarrassed that I happened to shed a few tears during their vows that they wrote, talking about the simple everyday things they do for each other (Mike making Amy tea at night) and their promises for the future, it was beyond perfect. Congrats to Amy & Mike, I had a wonderful time documenting your day.
A few weeks back I travelled to Missoula, Montana to spend a week with my dear friends Abi & Christopher and celebrate with them at their wedding. The day after I got in we took a trip up the mountain to the spot where these two were going to say their vows, a beautiful little hike into a quiet little spot. I am so thankful for these two and feel so honored to have been able to be there on their wedding day -- I love you guys and I am missing you dearly.
