The Bahrs

Chloe & Stormy at The Bog

Ten hours. Start to finish. That's how long we were with Chloe and Stormy on their wedding day at The Bog in Saukville, and by the end of it our feet hurt and our camera batteries were dead and we still didn't want to leave.

The Bog is about 25 minutes north of Milwaukee. Golf course, Arnold Palmer designed it, Golf Digest ranks it as one of the better courses in the state — none of which matters much for a wedding except that the property itself is gorgeous. Rolling hills, a big barn with exposed beams and whiskey barrel details, willow trees scattered around the grounds. Chloe and Stormy picked the barn side of the property for everything, and it fit them. Rustic without trying too hard to be rustic.

Bride and groom share a romantic kiss on a wooden bridge surrounded by lush green trees on their wedding day.

Bride in lace wedding dress and veil holding white rose bouquet standing by window in soft natural light.

Bride holding a wedding bouquet of white roses, blue thistles, and baby's breath, wearing a diamond engagement ring.

They read their vows to each other first, right outside the barn, just the two of them. No guests, no us hovering ten feet away pretending to be invisible — we shot it from a distance and left them alone for most of it. Stormy cried before Chloe even started reading. After that, Chloe did a first look with her dad, also by the barn. He held it together better than most dads do, honestly, until about halfway through, and then he didn't.

Groom in suit reads wedding vows from paper, wearing boutonniere, black and white photo.

A man in a blue plaid jacket converses with a bride in a white dress outdoors near red flowers.

The Ceremony was beautiful, just the way they wanted.

And then Soda happened.

Soda is their dog. During the ceremony he walked straight down the aisle to David — our friend from Redford Media, who was shooting video — and just stood there, staring into the lens like he had something to say. Then he did it again a few minutes later. David was cracking up behind his camera and so were we behind ours. Neither of us planned for it, neither of us wanted to miss it, and it's probably our favorite thing that happened all day.

Golden Retriever dog walking on leash with tongue out on sunny day.

Black and white photo of a Golden Retriever on a leash held by a person in dark clothing outdoors.

Black and white photo of a Golden Retriever on a leash held by a person in dark clothing.

Reception ran hard the rest of the night. Complete Weddings + Events of Milwaukee had the dance floor full basically the whole time, which as a photographer is exactly what you want — nobody standing around, everybody actually in it.