Mary Ellyn and Zach met at UW-Milwaukee, moved out to Portland together, and came home to Wisconsin to get married at Orchard Valley Acres in West Bend, chickens, wigs, and a firetruck included. It was our first time shooting this venue, and we’d go back in a heartbeat.

Take a look through the full day below, from getting ready to the sparkler send-off.

Mary Ellyn and Zach live in Portland now, and we couldn’t help swapping stories about it with them, first on the phone and then again on the wedding day. We lived there ourselves years ago, and we still miss the Gorge and the string of waterfall hikes out that way. They met at UW-Milwaukee and came back to Wisconsin to get married close to family.

The ceremony happened just outside the barn, under a macrame arch, and partway through, Mary Ellyn and Zach planted a small plant together instead of the usual unity candle. Zach also gave her a sextant that day, the kind of tool sailors once used to navigate by the stars, heavy and detailed enough that it looked like something pulled from a ship captain’s desk.

The reception moved inside the barn, but the rest of the property did a lot of the work setting the tone. Farm vehicles sat parked around the grounds, untouched for the day, and the caterer cooked and served dinner right out of the back of an old firetruck, grill mounted on top. A garden full of oversized sunflowers gave us one more place to wander with the camera (fitting, since Mary Ellyn works in pollinator conservation), along with the long grass that seemed to grow everywhere else on the property.

Getting ready happened at two nearby Airbnbs, one for the women and one for the guys. The guys’ place came with a yard full of chickens, which fit the day better than almost anything we could have planned for.

Instead of a cake, Mary Ellyn and Zach served pies, laid out across flat tables instead of stacked into anything formal. They tasted as good as they looked. Later, sparklers came out for the send-off, and a prop area stocked with hats and wigs sent guests wandering through the reception in them most of the night, which is exactly the kind of thing that gives a wedding day more character than a formal photo list ever could.

Golden hour did us a lot of favors that evening, and with all that open grass and garden to work with, we never ran out of places to use it. We also flew the drone to get the whole property from above: farm vehicles, firetruck, and all.

By the time we finished editing, we’d shot close to 3,500 photos, the most we’ve ever taken at a single wedding, and turned the day into a stop motion video of Mary Ellyn and Zach’s wedding to match all that energy.

Looking at other barn venues in the area? See our full guide to Southern Wisconsin barn wedding venues, including this one.