Lynn and Tom's Wedding on the Klas Farm in Wisconsin

A crazy busy travel season for roller derby has prevented me from shooting many weddings in the last year. So when it worked out I would be able to shoot Lynn and Tom’s wedding in Fredonia, Wisconsin, I was ecstatic. Knowing both of them well as creatives, I was certain they'd be game for fun shots.

I first met Lynn, or Juke Boxx, as the derby world knows her, in 2009 when she was playing for Madison’s Mad Rollin’ Dolls. My team, the Windy City Rollers All-Stars and her team were at the same playoff tournament in Minneapolis, where I recall her fancy mohawks when passing opponents. Our teams would meet in several, epic, nailbiter games after that, when she transferred to the Minnesota Rollergirls. And we became teammates representing Team USA at the Roller Derby World Cup in 2011, which took us to Toronto, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Helsinki together.

Tom and I met in the spring of 2011 in Birmingham, England, at a training camp for UK skaters, where we both coached. Tom, or Ballistic Whistle, as the derby world knows him, was hilarious, a great conversationalist and was the person who first told me about the insane world of football hooliganism.

I’ve come to know both of them as exceptional skaters and vivacious people. They skated into each other's lives in the winter of 2011, in Toronto, at the Roller Derby World Cup, where he coached Team England and she played. In the years that followed, international adventures bridged the gap of her living in Minneapolis and Tom residing in London. Eventually, Lynn hopped the pond to join Tom in London and wedding plans began.

Accompanied by dear friend and derby photographer Gil Leora, I headed up from Chicago to shoot what I found out was actually the second of three ceremonies for Lynn and Tom. The two got the legal side of things done in Chicago over the summer. The wedding we shot was for Lynn’s family and friends stateside, and they will trek to Australia in December, to celebrate one last time, with Tom’s family.

I’m going to contend that second is the best. :) The Frendonia wedding was a photographer’s dream:

beautiful folks up for whatever whims I had, a September blue sky full of Simpsons’ clouds, the 100-year-old Klas family barn, and fireworks with friends willing to blowtorch-write things in the dark, in order for me to get the perfect shot. The day could not have gone better - except for me thinking I locked my keys in my car, calling AAA to retrieve them, only to find out I’d left them on my windshield, outside the car. Doh! The shots were lovely, the family was lovely, and Gil was the chillest partner-in-crime helping me not sweat the small stuff and making sure we never missed a shot!

Thanks to the Lynn and Tom for this ridiculously fun day and to the Klas family for their warm, hospitality and the opportunity to share in this day! Many years of love, laughter and happiness to you guys!

Complete wedding can be seen under the Lynn & Tom tab on this site...we shot a ton, so there's a bunch of good ones to go through!