Emily and Tyler got married at Folklore Village outside Dodgeville on September 27, 2014. Colored leaves already down on the grass, and the kind of low light that starts doing you favors by five.

They drove out from Milwaukee. Emily grew up in Madison and had spent nine years moving around the Midwest before getting back to Wisconsin, and she was not quiet about how glad she was to be home. They told us early that their three priorities were music, food, and photography. Everything else was detail.

 

Here’s a tiny preview of their delightful wedding day:

They filled the church

Folklore Village’s church isn’t the biggest ceremony space you’ll find. Emily and Tyler filled it anyway. Every pew, and then people standing along both side walls and packed into the back. That’s the picture we still have of them, an easygoing, smiley couple who apparently knew a lot of people who wanted to be in the room.

Tyler grew up spending time at his grandparents’ farmhouse, running the grounds through spring planting and fall harvest. They had a bright red barn. The first time he saw Folklore Village, the barn there is what got him, and he told us before the wedding that the day would be a tribute to their memory. You can see some of that in how the whole thing was put together, handmade and unfussy and in no hurry.

Dinner as a wheel of tables

The reception is the part we bring up whenever somebody asks about this place. Tables radiating out from a center point like spokes on a bike wheel, market lights strung overhead, and no tent. Just the sky.

We’re always going to push couples to consider eating outside as the sun goes down if the venue allows it. This is the version of that we’d show you. Speeches ran right through the color, the light dropped while people were still at the tables, and the bulbs took over as it got dark. Then everyone went and danced in the barn.

What late September gives you here

A fall date changes the shape of the evening. Sunset comes early enough that dinner and the toasts land inside the best light of the day instead of after it, which is not true of a July wedding at the same venue, where you’re eating in flat afternoon sun and the good light shows up somewhere around the cake. If you’re weighing dates, our season-by-season take on getting married in Wisconsin covers the rest of the trade.

The other thing worth knowing is that an untented dinner is a commitment. It was the right call on their day. It’s a call you make with a backup in mind.

A year later, Kristen and Alex found us because of this wedding and got married at Folklore Village too. Two very different days at the same address.

A note on these: 2014, older cameras, older software. The gear has changed several times since. The way we work the day hasn’t.

Venue: Folklore Village
Catering: Lombardinos
Dessert Bar: Humble Pie
Floral: our pal, Ariyl from Daffodil Parker
Day-of Planner: Canvas Weddings
Chalkboards + Vintage Rentals: A La Crate
Hair + Make-up: J. Rose Salon

Thinking about Folklore Village for your own wedding? Our Folklore Village venue guide has the details.