Over the weekend my wife and I traveled around the big lake over to Wisconsin to celebrate her sister’s wedding. It was a small, family affair. For sister Becky, and her new husband, Charlie, it was their second marriage each. They wanted nothing big – their only request was it be small, intimate, and involve the family as much as possible. With a guest list of 20, three of which were under the age of four, this would not be a problem (though the children would soon realize they were the stars of the show). I had the honor of photographing the event. Becky, thank you for choosing me to document the only second wedding you’ll ever have. It was an honor.
Becky has lived between Chicago and Milwaukee for ten-plus years now. It’s about time we go and spend a little time in her state and see what it has to offer. About 45 minutes west of Pleasant Prairie resides a small but upscale resort community of Lake Geneva. The area was settled and developed by Chicago’s elite as a summer getaway in the late 1800s. When the city burned, many retreated to Lake Geneva as a temporary residence and proceeded to build “summer homes” in the neighborhood of 30,000-40,000 square feet. The entire lake shore is a masterpiece of architecture of a grandiose scale.
Well, about three miles away lies the smaller, not as developed or ‘pristine,’ Lake Como. Here, Becky and her son Luke rented the entire modern bed & breakfast, At the Lake House, where we stayed for the weekend. The ceremony took place on the second floor balcony, which made for interesting room for documenting but I feel I managed okay. A few other fun notes about the ceremony; the other sister’s husband, self described nerd, was asked by Becky to get licensed and officiate the ceremony. Not only did he do that, he set up a web-cam and broadcast the ceremony internationally via Skype. Charlie’s sister currently resides in Spain and could not make the event, so we broadcast it to her!
After the ceremony we headed over to Lake Geneva and had lunch at a restored 1880s Victorian mansion, The Baker House, for a beautiful meal of hors ‘devours and finger foods (and, without a doubt, the BEST homemade potato chips I have ever had in my life. I should know, I am a potato chip connoisseur). The Baker House, built by one of the founders of Case agriculture equipment, is a throw-back to another era – the home is fully furnished to match is architecture down to the tiniest trinket and the staff is dressed to match. I do not know the story of how or why, but for some reason the walls are also covered in classic hats of all shapes and varieties of all eras to which it was insisted that we wear one! When we first walked in it was a mad dash to find your perfect cap! This place was fantastic.
After lunch, an “ice cream social” boat tour took place on a vintage steamboat, which gave us a lakeside view of some mansions all around, many of which are part of the Wrigley family, to name a few. (In researching this post, I just learned the Guns N’ Roses song Paradise City was written about the Playboy Club that once resided in Lake Geneva and Axl Rose had a home there until 1998. Also, George Lucas has a home there and the lake was also the home of the Dungeons and Dragons creator until his death in 2008). Unfortunately I was so distracted by the architecture (and caramel covered ice cream) I was unable to document any of the homes. You’ll have to go see for yourself.
After the ice cream social we headed back to the lake house for drinks and dinner, and then rounded out the night with an inadvertent children’s dance party. Overall the day turned out great. It was full of activities, but all went off flawlessly and beautifully. It was simple, as Becky wanted, but it was also one of the better weddings I’ve been too. It turns out Wisconsin is pretty nice and Lake Geneva is beautiful and inspiring. Less than a five hour drive from Grand Rapids, it may have to get visited again someday.
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