I love sharing weddings here at Middle of the Map (obviously), but when I get a chance to share a beautiful wedding that also happens to be some of my good friends it’s even more exciting! Ellen and Brian are a Kansas City couple that got married this past year in Sedalia, MO (Ellen’s home town). They wanted their wedding day to be an event that was relaxed and fun for all in attendance, but was also a unique expression of themselves as a couple.
Who, What, Where~~~Sedalia, MO. Ceremony:Broadway Presbyterian. Reception: Sedalia Country Club.
Kansas City vendors~~ Photography: Lemon Lime Photography. Videography: Wirken Films. Flowers: emmy-ray. Music: Atlantic Express Band. Hair: Rachel Wilson. Day of Itinerary: Coordinately Yours.
Sedalia vendors~~ Cake: The Cake Lady. Decor Set-up: Moore’s Greenhouse. Transport: Ditzfelds.
The girls spent the day getting ready at Ellen’s parents house. It was the perfect location and also allowed Brian and Ellen’s pup Stanley to be part of the festivities.
Brian and Ellen love to play Scrabble together, so for one of Ellen’s wedding gifts Brian took a Scrabble board and glued letters to it reading “Love you are my one and only”. So sweet and creative!
Before getting ready the guys hung out at the famous Sedalia Wheel Inn Drive-In, a must visit if your passing through. Their Guberburgers (a hamburger with peanut butter) are delicious.
Ellen describes her and Brian’s style as preppy, so it only made sense to use plaid as a theme for the wedding. She found fabric that incorporated colors that would work with their country club reception venue, compliment the colors of fall, and then used navy blue as the main color to pull everything together. She used the plaid fabric to have some of her creative friends make belts with flowers for the bridesmaids, and table runners for the reception.
It took Ellen some time to decide to get married in Sedalia: “We looked at Kansas City versus Sedalia but I finally realized that I always had dreamt of my small town wedding. I wanted to get married in the church and have my reception at the Country Club I grew up in.”
For the ceremony they lit the same unity candle that Ellen’s parents used when they were married. For her bridal bouquet Ellen wanted all white. She wanted to include flowers that her mother carried on her wedding day (stephanotis), and ones that Brian’s mother carried (white roses), along with a mix of others including white dahlias and hydrangea. It was wrapped in an heirloom handkerchief that belonged to her great grandmother, and had a pink ribbon pin to represent her mom who is a breast cancer survivor.
Ellen made this “Just Married” sign for the back of the bus using the plaid fabric used throughout the wedding and leftover paper from the ceremony programs.
For the entire wedding Ellen and Brian wanted a glowing and romantic feel. They used over 1000 candles between the ceremony and reception. Ellen said she got her inspiration for all the candles from the wedding of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. Over many months she also collected glass containers of all shapes and sizes borrowing some from family and friends, and buying others at antique stores, garage sales, etc.
Their delicious cake was layer of vanilla with raspberry filling, layer of dutch chocolate with a peanut butter filling, red velvet with a cream cheese filling and the top layer is dutch chocolate for their first anniversary. The grooms cake was Brian’s favorite, carrot cake, with chocolate ganache and lemon cupcakes.
A big thank you to Ellen and Brian for sharing their big day with us. It was superbly planned, beautiful, and of course a great party!
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Have a real wedding you’d like to share? We take submissions from vendors as well as couples, so e-mail us at middleofthemapweddings@gmail.com for more details about how to be featured on Middle of the Map Weddings. Who knows, the next real wedding we share could be yours!
