Eva and Travis met in Seattle, but the wedding was always coming back to Wisconsin. Both are Wisconsin natives, and with the help of Nancy and Summer at Orange Door Weddings, they built a full Midwestern wedding weekend at Justin Trails Resort near Sparta, the kind of place that already felt like home.
Eva spent years cooking professionally at L’Etoile in Madison before her work turned toward food justice. These days she’s with FoodCorps, doing exactly what you’d guess from that: making the world a little better, one plate at a time. Travis is the kind of person who mentors without anyone quite noticing they’re being mentored, talking a grad student through a PhD, nudging his sister toward the next step in her career, helping a close friend through a hard stretch at work. Eva put it best: he has a way of framing things so people actually listen, even the ones who brush off everyone else’s advice.
When we asked why they picked us, Eva mentioned our GIFs (guilty) and the way we get to know the people we’re photographing. But what stuck with us was that she’d noticed our work with Southwestern Wisconsin artists, down to a visit she’d made to Avalanche Looms. That kind of attention told us everything we needed to know about the day ahead.
By the time we got to Justin Trails, we understood why they picked it too. The resort sits in a quiet valley outside Sparta: Norwegian-style log cabins, a yellow farmhouse, and a barn with newly redone floors that turned out to be perfect for dancing. Eva and Travis strung ribbons from the rafters themselves, and the barn had never looked better. Right next to the ceremony space, a small herd of llamas watched the whole thing unfold, occasionally pulling guests away between toasts to come feed them.
It was a spring wedding, and the valley was just waking up. Apple blossoms were out, the grass was barely starting to come in, and the trees were still budding, everything green but only in its beginning stages. The ceremony was led by a close friend of the couple, who told stories instead of reciting a script, the kind of officiant who has everyone laughing and tearing up in the same five minutes. Food-inspired florals from Alesa De Jager brought in peonies and Billy Buttons, and somewhere on the dessert table, a Scandinavian kransekake made an appearance, a nod to the Norwegian character of the place.
Dinner came from our friends at Enos Farms, farm-to-table in the truest sense, most of it grown a few miles from where it was served. After the meal, a real square dance broke out, caller and all, and The String Ties kept the energy going with a full bluegrass set, banjo included. As the light started to turn gold, we chased the sun up the hill behind the barn to catch it before it dropped, the kind of moment that only works if the couple is willing to run for it, and Eva and Travis didn’t hesitate.
Guests played croquet on the lawn as the evening wound down, with the windmill turning above them, and the night ended the way every good Wisconsin wedding should: gathered around a big campfire, nobody in a hurry to leave.
Eva and Travis, thank you for trusting us with a day that meant coming home. We hope the llamas have behaved themselves in your absence.
We’re Ray + Kelly, a husband-and-wife team based in Wisconsin’s Driftless Region. Justin Trails Resort sits right in our backyard, close enough that we’re out there often and always glad to be. If you’re planning a wedding at Justin Trails, or anywhere around Sparta and La Crosse, we’d love to hear about it. Get in touch here.
