Simon McConico | Valo Photography

Nick and Dana. Hmm… where to start. I love these two.

Our wedding clients are not just clients. They are not just a number, they become friends. I don’t know how many times I have had to drag Jake away from a reception because all he wants to do is hang out and shoot. By the end of the night our “clients” are friends. We met both of these guys at Matt and Krista’s wedding that we shot our first year as Valo. We hit it off and they decided they wanted us to shoot their wedding. From there we rocked their engagement session before Kevin and Sarah’s wedding that was at the Orpheum as well. From there Nick and I have had many Facebook conversations and I feel like we got to know each other before their big day.

The day came and I couldn’t wait to get up to Madison and get our shoot on. The whole day was a blast. Nick is a super caring person and Dana is too sweet. That mixture creates electricity when the vows are said, when the speeches are given, and when the first dance is over. I enjoyed myself, being able to do what I love for people who are in love. Take a look at their photos and show them some love.

They totally stumbled upon this violinist at a farmers market and thought she would  be great for their wedding. Always thinking.

Looooove this shot

LOOOOOVE!!

Matt and Krista! Loves seeing you.

There were lots of random people who came up and asked to have their photo taken with Nick and Dana. I am pretty sure this group was visiting from somewhere in Asia.

So many people walking, this shot was fun to get.

Nick and Dana, it was a pleasure to shoot your wedding. Love you both!

P.s. Nicole and I are showing some stuff at “KNICKknack” at the Stonefly Brewery this weekend. Come on out and check out our stuff:

6 Comments | In: Weddings | tags: madison wisconsin, milwaukee photography, milwaukee wedding photographers, orpheum theatre, simonmcconico, Valo Photography, Weddings. | #

You might remember these two lovely folks from our E-session we did with them in Madison, you might not. If not, check it out here and here. Anyways… I’m workin on a full blown post for this bad boy, but for now, enjoy this.

1 Comment | In: Weddings | tags: beautiful photos, kissing, madison, milwaukee, orpheum, Weddings. | #

Oh man. I really hate Chicago traffic. I have learned that google maps times do not always translate into real world time. I pulled in about 45 minuets late to the shoot and felt so horrible! We got to shooting right away and I totally forgot to pay the meter. Gah! There goes money down the drain.

We rocked some photos down by the lake and as we got back to the cars the light started to go down. It was actually fortunate that I came late because we got some really cool photos in the evening by Lake Drive. Enough rambling, here are the photos.

P.s. Things are CRAZY at Valo right now. Lots of weddings and photo shoots. Balance is key and tough to figure out. Thank you all so much for being such great customers/blog readers/people!

4 Comments | In: Trash The Dress | tags: chicago, milwaukee, simonmcconico, trash the dress, Valo, Valo Photography, Weddings, wisconsin. | #

Oh my my my my… I love shooting weddings. Rob and Christina’s wedding just continued to keep me on my toes.  Tons of home made things, small details, and lots of fantastic vendors to work with.

Rob and Christina contacted me from New York where they live and work.  Both of them have been involved in theater and the arts and it was evident at their wedding.  Christinas dress was handmade and so were all of the flowers.  The flowers were paper and crafted by St. Jude’s Creations and looked fantastic.  The wedding was at the beautiful Villa Terrace, which is an awesome location overlooking like Michigan.

I love to see the different emotions that people go through at a wedding… from the nervous first steps to the first kiss.

They had an adaptation of one of my favorite author/illustrator, Shel Silverstein’s work “The Missing Piece Meets The Big O”

We had some fantastic light for photos after the ceremony.

Of all the great personal touches, this one takes the cake. Rob is a big Back to the Future fan and Christina surprised him with renting a Delorean (from TimeMachineRental.com) to go from the Villa Terrace to the reception site, Cuvee.  Pretty much the most fantastic thing ever.

Heck… I even got in on the action.

The cake was from Eat Cake and was not only gorgeous, but was the best smelling cake ever. I could smell the berries before the cake was even cut.

Later that night we went out to the car and took more photos and had a great time quoting lines from Back to the Future and attempting to go 88mph. Didn’t work…

A big thanks to Dynamic Events for helping pull everything together and make this a great night for Rob and Christina.  There are more photos coming from the Crazy Booth… I’ll post those in just a bit… too crazy for my computer to handle.

7 Comments | In: Weddings | tags: @jakedavidrohde, back to the future, canon 5d mark 2, cuvee, delorean, dynamic events, eat cake, midwest wedding, midwest wedding photography, milwaukee, milwaukee wedding photos, milwaukee wisconsin, paper flowers, simonmcconico, st. jude's creations, villa terrace, wedding, wedding photography, wedding photos, Weddings, wisconsin wedding photography. | #

I met Ian a little over a year ago at Alterra by the lake. We met for a cup of tea and talked about his wedding in the upcoming year. Kyle was going to school in Minneapolis at the time so I didn’t get a chance to meet her until Jake and I shot their E-session earlier this year.

The wedding took place at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center in Milwaukee. The place was fantastic and everything was perfect… other than the weather. Wisconsin throws some doozies out there and even though the wedding was in June, it was cool and rainy. The rain held off just long enough for us to get some photos out of the way and then we moved in to the beautiful facility.

The ceremony went well and the party was a lot of fun. Saz’s catered the food and they had a great Jazz trio who played during dinner. After dinner the music started and people hit the dance floor. They partied into the night and had everyone dancing. Thanks Ian and Kyle for asking Valo to be a part of your wedding!

Check out what Jake shot here on his BLOG

3 Comments | In: Weddings | tags: @jakedavidrohde, canon 5d mark 2, dancing, milwaukee, milwaukee photogrpahy, milwaukee wedding photos, Saz's, Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, simonmcconico, Valo, Valo Photography, valophotography, Weddings, wisconsin wedding photography. | #

I love culture. I love when two cultures mix and create a melting pot of traditions, clothes, and food. I had the honor of photographing a Nigerian/American wedding for Tope and Ebony. There was so much to photograph! From the amazing Nigerian food to the colorful dress and ethnic dances, everything was beautiful.

Jake and I were able to photograph Tope and Ebony a little while back for their engagement session. It was fun to get to know them a bit before the wedding and hear all about their love for each other over a burger and fries. It was very easy to see how much they loved each other before the wedding, so that day it was great to share in their excitement.

Ebony had a beautiful dress for the wedding.  It was stunning by itself and looked perfect on her.

Tope was smiling all day… I can’t blame him.

The traditional Nigerian dress was fantastic.  I loved the bright colors and the intricate details.  The Sculpture Garden provided a great background for the photos.

She was too cute!

The toasts.

I was in love with the cake… both inside and out

After dinner the wedding party got changed into traditional Nigerian dress and were throwing down on the dance floor.

They were posing for the camera all night long.

In some American weddings there is the dollar dance, where people pay money to dance with the bride or groom.  The best man and maid of honor normally collect the cash and it is a fun way to give money to the new couple.  At this wedding though, the dollar dance was awesome.  As Tope and Ebony danced to traditional music, people came up from the crowd and would place money on their heads and it would fall to the ground where the bridal party and others would pick it up for the couple.  This dance went on for quite a while.  It was a lot of fun to be a part of the dance and be able to capture the emotion and energy that was in the room.

At the end of the night we said good bye and left tired from shooting all day and dancing all night.  Thanks again Tope and Ebony for asking Valo to shoot your wedding!

1 Comment | In: Weddings | tags: canon 5d mark 2, midwest wedding, milwaukee wedding photographer, minneapolis, minneapolis wedding photography, minnesota, nigerian wedding, sculpture gardens, simonmcconico, Valo, Valo Photography, wedding photography, Weddings, wisconsin, wisconsin photography. | #