We didn’t just make the magazine—we made the cover. Seriously. There may have been a few hours of excited screaming when we found out.
We’ve been absolutely thrilled about this feature, which was photographed back in November when the same team also filmed our video house tour. It was a full-on production day: Burger met a crew of ten people including hair and makeup, a wardrobe stylist and assistant, the photographer and his two assistants, the creative director, a prop stylist and assistant, and a videographer. It felt part photo shoot, part backstage theater.
They styled us (the clothes weren’t ours), powdered our faces (not Burger’s), and asked us to hold poses and smiles while cameras and lenses circled. We were both pretty self-conscious with so many professionals focused on every detail, but we did our best to play it cool and pretend it was just another ordinary day at Casa Petersik. It’s always a little strange to have someone else craft your image, but it was also fun to watch the process unfold and see how all the pieces came together.
A handful of readers have already seen the spread after it arrived in their mailboxes and discovered our faces among the glossy pages. The funny part is that we hadn’t received our own copy yet—though the magazine was supposed to arrive around March 30th, it hadn’t shown up at our house. So when a friend called to say she had a copy in her hands, we met up with her over the weekend just to finally see it. The Nest is a subscription-only publication sent to over 200,000 newlyweds and isn’t available on newsstands, so having a friend who had an issue made the moment feel especially celebratory.
Once we flipped through the pages, we were delighted. Seeing the finished product was a mix of relief and admiration: relief because our nervousness about looking awkward in the photos didn’t hold true, and admiration because the photography and layout were beautiful. David A. Land’s photography captured our home in a way that felt both polished and true to how we live, and the team at The Nest put everything together with thoughtful design. It’s one thing to see photos online, but seeing the printed spread and the cover reproduced at that scale added a whole new level of excitement.
And of course, our little fur baby stole the show. Burger’s expression on the cover—those attentive eyes—was impossible to resist. We always knew he had personality, but seeing him framed on the cover of a national magazine made the moment feel surreal. It’s funny how pets can immediately transform a portrait and make it feel warm and alive.
Psst: we also shared a behind-the-scenes post that walks through how the magazine team staged and captured the shoot, if you’re curious about the day-to-day details of a glossy editorial session.
All in all, being featured and making the cover was a thrilling experience. We enjoyed meeting the talented professionals who helped bring the shoot to life, felt honored that our home and family were showcased, and were delighted to see how the finished images translated onto the printed page. It was a joyful reminder of how collaboration—between photographers, stylists, editors, and homeowners—can turn a familiar space into a striking image that resonates with readers. Thanks to everyone who reached out with congratulations; your excitement made the moment even better.