A stunning Green Bay wedding

We first met Tatum and Luke at a coffee shop in Madison, more than a year-and-a-half ago! We instantly connected with them. It was obvious they were meticulously planning the wedding of their dreams (if you know Tatum, meticulous is probably an understatement). We finally got to see that dream turn into reality last weekend at their stunning Green Bay wedding!

Tatum and Luke managed to hit several beautiful Green Bay wedding venues throughout their day. Tatum and her girls got ready at the historic Hotel Northland in downtown Green Bay. They held a lovely Catholic ceremony at Old St. Joseph Church (St. Norbert College Parish), and then celebrated at Blacksheep Wedding and Events, a newer Green Bay wedding venue! 

Side note: Adorable children!

I cannot talk about Tatum and Luke’s wedding without mentioning the kids.

They had the cutest kids in attendance (Luke has a lot of siblings – they have several nieces and nephews already). I love kids at weddings, especially when they’re dressed in mini grown-up clothes 🙂 Their flower girl was basically my best friend. She loved smiling for the camera and looking at them on the back of the camera. I used her love for photos a few times (you’ll see). 

A Green Bay Wedding Planned to a T

Tatum’s maids of honor made the point in their speech that much of what Tatum and Luke planned for their Green Bay wedding was for their guests. And that couldn’t have been more true. They made sure their guests had plenty to do, were well fed, and were appreciated.

Black Sheep Wedding & Events has the perfect space for a beautiful day. You can spend time outside, but get to the events (and bar) inside in just a few steps. They had a garage door open, so one space flowed seamlessly to the other. 

The outdoor area was filled all night with guests having a great time. They even had a ton of yard games to choose from! At first I thought all of the yard games belonged to the venue. I later learned that, aside from a few sets of cornhole, Tatum and Luke’s families made and brought all of their yard games, including tons of activities for the kids. The guests enjoyed those games literally all night. They also had the cutest photo booth for their guests from Candid Camper.

After dinner, they had KwikTrip donuts, late night pizza, cookies and even a full-service ice cream station! 

From our perspective, what really said the most about Tatum, Luke and the people they surround themselves with, is how we were treated. We felt like family, as we often do on our wedding days. BUT we were treated so kindly by every wedding guest. So many people came up to us at the end of the night with kind words and gratefulness. Any request for photos came with so much appreciation. As we were finishing up, Tatum came up to us several times and said, “Hey! You’re supposed to be done working. Go have fun!” “Hey! Did you get cookies?” “Hey! Did you eat ice cream yet?!” And so on. We of course enjoyed ourselves all day, but we did eventually listen to her 😉 

High School Sweethearts

Tatum and Luke first said “I love you” to each other when they were 15. 

They met in 6th grade, when they were both in the musical, The Wizard of Oz. The two became good friends, and they only grew closer over the next few years. They first started dating when they were just freshmen in high school! According to them, “Luke knew Tatum was the one when she was up for checking his raccoon trap…on their second date.”

You can tell these two are best friends. They are so happy-go-lucky together, love to goof around, and simply make each other laugh. We captured a lot of images that show their relationship in the best way. Specifically, any time we or the videographers asked them to run (There are a lot of those in the gallery!). When we were finishing up wedding photos at Wequiock Falls, Ryan and I were having them do a few walking photos. Then, unplanned, I said “run!” They both turned towards me, made the same exact overly excited facial expression, and ran. No hesitation. It’s one of my favorites from the wedding day! 

Tatum and Luke, thank you so much for putting your trust in us to capture this day for you. We loved being your wedding photographers! 

(Be sure to check out Tatum and Luke’s engagement photos too! Tatum really wanted snow for her photos, but we were doing them in March. We literally waited for the perfect snow storm. If you know Wisconsin, you know snow in March usually melts pretty quickly. Tatum drove all the way from Green Bay to Madison at the last minute for the snow. It was well worth it!)