Serene Lakeside Engagement Session

Today we are sharing Haley & Mike’s serene lakeside engagement session. The rolling dunes & open water provided a most beautiful backdrop, you’ll find images that invoke peaceful & warm feelings as you scroll through their engagement session journey!

Nothing can beat the beautiful rolling dunes and lakeside location that Kohler-Andrae State Park provides. Haley and Mike explored the rustic boardwalks and and sweeping views while holding one another close and taking in moments of quiet. -Emily Barbara Photography

How did you two meet? What were your first impressions of one another? Mike & I met each other while working at McDonalds. We both started working there when we turned 14. Mike is two years older so he started two years before I did. We instantly had a connection, any chance that we worked together we always flirted with each other. I thought he was so cute, but never had the courage to ask him to hangout. Mike said he always wanted to hang out with me, but we didn’t actually start talking for a few years.

Tell us a funny story relating to your wedding day or relationship! I would say the funniest story would be leading up to the week that Mike was going to propose. It was the week of Christmas; Mike went to the jewelry store to see if the ring was ready since he never got a call that it was in. It ended up being ready, and he was going to propose that same night. Mike tried calling and texting my dad to get his blessing several times but never answered. Well, he still took me out to dinner to our favorite restaurant, and right in the middle of our food being served Mike’s phone rings and he gets up and leaves to answer. It ended up being my dad returning the call, but never says who it was when he came back to the table. Turns out my dad was ignoring his calls and messages all day because he thought it was a coworker named Mike that he was trying to avoid! He ended up proposing the next night.

Describe a hurdle you had to overcome in your relationship or during your wedding planning. I would say the biggest thing that we had to learn to overcome was learning how to prioritize our wants and needs, not buying whatever we wanted. We ended up buying a house together a few months before we got engaged, so learning how to save money together for the wedding and keeping everything within our budget wasn’t easy.

What was your favorite part about planning your wedding? Wedding planning is straight up stressful, especially how much things cost these days. But honestly being able to work together to pick the location of where we say our vows to each other and say, “I DO”. Also picking out my wedding dress and trying to imagine what his reaction will be on out wedding day when he sees me during the first look.

Any special ways you incorporated your family or family history into your wedding day? I plan to wear my grandmothers diamond necklace. My grandpa had brought my grandmas diamond wedding ring to the jewelers to have it created into a necklace since she didn’t normally wear jewelry very often. Both my mom and aunt wore the necklace on their wedding day.

What is the best thing you’ve learned from one another? One of the biggest things that I learned from Mike was how to be treated properly as a women in a relationship. There were a few past relationships that were the opposite of that. Also to not let every single little thing get to me, as I’ve always had a hard time not letting things bother me that shouldn’t.

Mike: She taught me what it was like to be happy, and how to cook an amazing meal.

What is your favorite thing about each other? Mike: After getting to know Haley she is the most hardworking and selfless person that I know. She always caught my eye and was just so beautiful. My favorite thing about her is willingness to take care of me and how supportive that she is.
Haley: Ever since I met Mike, he has always been so caring and considerate of others. He has the biggest heart, and deep down I knew him he was going to be the person that I was going to spend my life with. My favorite thing about him is how much he loves me, and how fun he is to be around.

What part of your wedding day was/is most important to you? We cannot wait to have all our friends and family travel to Southern Wisconsin where we are currently living to be able to witness and celebrate our big day. We also couldn’t be more excited to get married at one of our favorite places in town.

If you had one piece of advice for other couples, what would it be? Always make time to do things with each other, whether its cooking a meal together or having a movie night. Always have respect for one another, and never go to bed angry.

What is the most honest thing you can say about love? The most honest thing we can say about love, is that there is no better feeling than having the love of your life to come home to every day. Having that one person to share all your secrets with, and cry to when you’ve had a bad day.