It’s not every day you get a reception like this (le sigh).

Tiff and Eric’s whole wedding day felt like being folded into someone’s family—like you’d just popped by for Sunday dinner and somehow ended up holding a champagne coupe at golden hour.

Which was, in fact, the entire vision. More specifically, it was: “intimacy that felt almost homey.” But also “super elegant and classy.”  

For a bride who had 14 bridesmaids because she literally couldn’t pick, getting Tiff and Eric’s giant day to feel like a classic wedding rooted in romance and intimacy was a mission I was fully invested in. 

And Tiff and Eric didn’t just nail it. Their classy wedding reception is my new forever obsession (right up there with candlelit receptions, thrifting, and booking your wedding venue on the third date). 

The atmosphere. The cake-cutting chemistry. The simple elegance that didn’t even have to try? Yeah, there’s no world in which I’m not breaking down how they pulled this off.

You need to see this (and come chat with me after).

Vendors| Planning + Design: Ever Weddings and Events | Bride’s Dress: Che Bella Boutique | Groom’s Tux: Men’s Wearhouse | Catering: D’Amico Hospitality | Floral: Ergo Floral Studio | Rentals: Apres Event Decor and Tent Rental | Venue: The Beach Club | Video: Kaya May Media

How to Go From Hinge to “I’m Marrying This Guy” (in Less Than 3 Dates)

One date in, Eric called his mom and said, “Hey, I just went on a date with my wife.” Two dates in, Tiff told her friends, “I’m definitely marrying this guy.”

Before she even had a ring, she was in my inbox, like, “I’m getting married in June. I want to be on top of things.” Which, for the record, is the kind of proactive energy I respect (for the record, I did the same thing with my husband, Col). 

Tiff’s a girl’s girl through and through. The kind of person who remembers your coffee order, texts you to make sure you got home safe, and has a basketball-team-sized bridal party because she is somehow close with every single one because, apparently, emotional availability is her love language.

So when she said she wanted her classic wedding to feel homey, she meant it. She built that feeling right into her guest list.

Every vendor, every friend, every guest in that ballroom was someone she and Eric hand-picked. People they knew would make them feel safe and celebrated (and perfectly okay making out in front of in the middle of their reception dinner).

That they ended up with a 150-person guest list? Honestly shocking. For two people who love hard—and are loved right back just as much—I’m amazed it wasn’t double that.

Timeless Photography Lives In The Feeling, Not Just The Classy Wedding Details (But Candlelit Helps)

There was a moment halfway through their candlelit reception when I just… stopped. 

The speeches were in full swing. The tables looked like rivers of light. And sitting in the center of it all, Tiff and Eric—hands clasped, shoulders touching—like two loved-up hosts of Minnesota’s most elegant dinner party. 

It was black-tie, sure, but not the stiff kind. The ballroom felt lived-in—elegant but easy, like someone ironed their tux while barefoot. Tiff and Eric really filled every chair with the closest people they have to them— and it showed.

There’s no one dinking around. No one half-present or scrolling. Everyone was intentional. Present. So, so happy to be there.

Tiff and Eric created that. They spentwhere ambience mattered, saved where it didn’t, and somehow ended up with that rare mix—candlelit luxury and total ease.

As much as I’m a sucker for candlelight and a harvest table situation (and believe me, I am), I’m also a fan girl for wedding receptions where no one is performing for the camera, but the entire gallery feels like a movie scene. 

I’d love to claim these timeless, classic wedding photos began and ended with me, but nope, this one was all Tiff.

Tiff, who set every candle just so.

Tiff, who surrounded herself with people that make her feel warm and alive.

Tiff, who built a space that looked stunning but felt like Sunday dinner… if Sunday dinner came with red roses and a dress code.

From behind the camera, I disappeared into it. Flash would have wrecked it, so I didn’t touch it. The light knew what it was doing.

When a space feels like this, you don’t have to chase timeless. You simply catch it—and maybe give it a little grain for good measure.

You Can’t Curate Chemistry For The Cake Cutting Photos

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t campaign for the cake cutting photo op. I believe my exact words were:  “You gotta do a cake. It’s the vibe you’re going for.”

And, well… I was right.

Tucked away in the corner of that candle-lit ballroom, they had this little scene that no one was really watching (but everyone absolutely was, because how can you not).

The flash photography came back out, and Tiff and Eric delivered. Laughing, flirting, and feeding each other frosting like they’d crashed their own classic wedding reception. The room didn’t dare blink.

They didn’t need direction. They didn’t need a cue to “be in the moment”. They were the moment— two people so completely lost in their own orbit that the entire room spun around them.

I can’t fake that feeling for you. But it’s also exactly the kind of moment timeless photography exists for—the instant between laughter and stillness where love looks effortless.

And these two? They gave me those moments all night long.

Did I mention, I freaking love these classic wedding reception photos? Because I do. So much.  

A Classic Wedding Reception I’ll Still Be Obsessed With in 50 Years 

Family-style harvest tables soaked in candlelight. 150 of the best humans they know, fully present. The flirtiest little cake moment you ever did see. Tiff and Eric did everything right. 

Sure, I was there with my camera (read: losing my mind behind the lens), but they made elegance feel effortless, intimacy look cinematic, and connection—real, goosebump-level connection—luminous in every frame.

That’s the thing about classic wedding photography: it doesn’t chase trends, it catches emotion. And Tiff and Eric handed it to me on a silver platter (right next to the buttercream).

Well, them— and the subtle dusting of vintage film grain their gallery practically begged for.

Every time I scroll through their timeless wedding gallery, the feeling hits me the same way it did that night: the laughter, the lighting, the frosting on their fingers. Joy that doesn’t age, but gets better with time.

And honestly, if that isn’t the definition of a classic wedding reception, I don’t know what is.