“You made it feel so special and magical amidst the pouring rain. THANK YOU for capturing our romance in a way that is natural, effortless, and totally us! I can’t wait to share more. We will treasure these photos forever!” -Haley, Bride

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There’s no world in which I’m burying the lede and waiting to tell you what the secret to having the single most fairytale, vintage wedding EVER is. You need to know it right this very minute, so that you can experience the same magic that Haley and Ty did on their rainy, romantic-beyond-belief, Nancy Meyers-esque wedding day. 

Ready?

Embrace your very best ‘EFF IT’ energy.

That’s it. That’s the secret.

Vendors | Bride’s Dress: Brides of France | Groom’s Suit: Milbern Clothing Co. | Flowers: FizzFloral | Rings: Continental Diamond | Hair and Makeup: Orly Tenenbaum at Meraki Hair Lounge | Venue: Riverside Park in Menominee, WI

As a Minnesota wedding photographer, every vintage wedding that I have ever photographed, that has been its own brand of eclectic and magic, has had this exact energy. 

Because here’s the thing of it: No matter how much time you spend on Pinterest, no matter how much your wedding planning binder is overflowing with samples and screenshots, no matter how detailed down to the minute your day of timeline is– Your wedding day will not be conventionally “perfect.“

The flower girl might miss her cue and throw off the timing of the entire wedding procession. The young ring bearer will potentially wail his head off the whole way down the aisle. With the number of high heels and long dresses in the equation, someone is bound to trip. Heck, the cake could very well topple mid-cut, and there will be nothing you can do about it! 

And honestly, who cares?! What makes your vintage wedding day actually perfect– at least the kind of perfect that I personally believe amounts to a gallery like this one, overflowing with timeless and classic images– is when you invite the imperfection to do its thing, embracing whatever comes your way.

And if anyone can give us a masterclass on how that’s done with grace and style: it’s Haley and Ty.

The Vintage Wedding Ceremony

The weather forecast had been looking a little iffy leading up to the day of Haley and Ty’s intimate wedding, so the couple planned ahead and got the most beautiful, classic umbrellas, just in case.

And thank goodness they did, because just as Haley and her dad began their walk down the aisle– floating flowers framing their every step– the heavens opened and the rain unleashed. I’m not exaggerating when I say that this rain did. not. hold. back. It was possibly the heaviest downpour I’ve ever witnessed. 

And while it would be so easy to stop the ceremony in its tracks and panic, or give the downpour a run for its money with your own tears, Haley and Ty just savored every single second. 

With my own cutie husband, Col, standing over me with an umbrella, doing his very best to keep my camera dry, I kept snapping away, capturing some of the most romantic images I think I’ve ever captured.

Ty’s reaction when he first saw Haley come down the aisle. The single, solitary tear that cascaded down Haley’s face as she gazed up at her almost-husband. Ty passing Haley’s umbrella off to the officiant (also his sister, how cute is that!) so that he could bring Haley under his own umbrella and kiss her like he’s never kissed her before. Not a dry eye– or dry anything, really– in the whole place as Haley and Ty exchanged their vows. The absolute delight on the bride’s face as she triumphantly lifted her sopping wet bouquet in the air.

Every little bit of it was straight out of a movie scene, and I honestly don’t think Nancy Meyers herself could have recreated this particular brand of whimsy and romance (which is saying a lot considering she is easily the best filmmaker of all time).

Haley and Ty’s vintage wedding ceremony emulated everything that makes any film Nancy Meyers touches an instant classic: it was comfort, it was cozy, and it was caution-to-the-literal-wind.

By embracing the messiness (and muddiness) of it all, Haley and Ty were able to be completely in the moment and of the moment.

Who cares if her vintage-inspired dress got totally destroyed and her curls fell? She looked stunning, anyway, especially with nothing been total bliss written all over her face. Who cares if the sun couldn’t be bothered to make an appearance? We clearly didn’t need it, anyway! 

At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is how hopelessly in love you are with your person. And boy oh boy, the way Haley and Ty love each other is so evident in each and every one of the photos of their vintage wedding day.

The Getaway Car

The umbrellas weren’t the only thing giving main character energy.

The green 1969 Mustang (and we know how I feel about all things green and vintage) was doing the most as it swept the newlyweds off into the sunset downpour. From the way the raindrops cascaded down the car to how Haley tossed her head out the window into the rain, it was a sixties dream lived out in real time. 

Want to know what made the moment of Haley and Ty driving off together– each other’s ride-or-dies until the end of time– even more epic? 

The Mustang also happened to be a family heirloom. By having it so intentionally included in their fairytale, vintage wedding day, they not only emphasized their old soul-ness as both individuals and a couple, but they gave a symbolic nod to how important family is to their love story. 

And again, let’s have a moment for the whimsy of it all– Haley not caring about freshening up after getting pelted by rain at her ceremony, instead being 100% sold on capturing the day exactly as it happened. Ty holding Haley’s dress up while she crawled into the car, even there was no saving it at this point, anyway. Her barefeet crunching along the gravel. His elated grin and thumbs up because he just married the woman of his dreams. 

Those moments only exist in pictures for the rest of time because they existed in real life first, because Haley and Ty had no interest in being anything but themselves on the best day of their dang lives. 

If you haven’t gotten the memo yet: no matter what you’ve been led to believe up to this point, your vintage wedding day is not about perfection. It’s not about making the guests happy or being totally put together or staging a photoshoot or hiding the unhinged emotions that should be included in the day you say ‘I do’ to your forever human. Far from it, in fact. 

Your wedding day is about your love story. It’s about embracing everything that comes your way, whether it low-key be the Midwest version of a hurricane or the groom losing his cool when he first sees his bride making her way towards him. 

It’s about not only being in the moment but being the literal moment yourselves, and trusting that your photographer (hi hi!) won’t miss a single bit of it. 

So, say it with me now: “EFF IT.” Your wedding day will be whatever it will be, simply because your love story already has all of the romance and quirk we could possibly need to make vintage wedding magic, together.