November 9th, 2012

Real Wedding: Mariko and Dan, Minneapolis, Minnesota

William Shakespeare has long been credited as the greatest writer of all time. His work includes some of the most well known love stories ever told. So it was no surprise that Mariko and Dan’s wedding day was inspired by the late, great storyteller. Their love story, after all, began with the type of poetic justice most fairytales and dreams are made of. Every detail of their Shakespearean inspired day was beautifully captured by Cadence Cornelious Photographs and the result is nothing short of breathtaking. To look or no to look – there is no question! Sit back, relax and be part of this beautiful narrative.

Who, What, Where ~ Chapel- Our Lady of Victory, Photographer- Cadence Cornelios, Day of Coordinator-Urbane Montage Events, Bride’s Gown- Monique L’huillier, Bridesmaids Dress- Amsale, Tuxedos- Diamond Bridal and Formal.

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From the Bride, Mariko…

There is no way Dan and I would have ever met if it wasn’t for fate. We grew up in different states, went to school across the country from each other and I am an actor and he is a doctor. But in one of those wonderful moments in life we magically collided. I was working at The Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland and Dan was in his second year of Medical Residency at a Hospital in Minneapolis. As fate would have it we both joined Catholic Match, but neither of us paid for an account. So, when Dan sent me a smile I couldn’t reply to him. His profile picture was of his whole family and his Mother was holding a plaque. She had won an award for her volunteer work back home in Fargo. For some reason I got the idea that I should download and zoom in on the plaque to see Dan’s last name. I did, and armed with his last name and Med School, I was able to find Dan on facebook.We were pen pals while I was on the coast and when I finally returned home to Minneapolis we spoke on the phone for the first time. Both of us called our mom’s the next day and told them we had found ‘the one’.Dan asked me to marry him on Christmas morning in front of my family and we spent the next year and a half planning from afar. I started my masters at Yale in New Haven and Dan went to Fargo, North Dakota for work. We spent our spring break together at Yale using the C & P letter press. We designed and letter pressed all of our own wedding paper. Including 2,000 coasters, 250 programs, menus, thank you cards and over 1750 pieces for our invitations. Dan was a real trooper, he didn’t complain once. Our theme was Shakespeare, so we used a Shakespeare quote on our invites, menus and our ring bearer brought our rings up the aisle on top of three of our favorite plays, tied together with a ribbon. The plays included the first one Dan saw me in and the first play we saw together.We wanted to honor our parents so we were married in the same chapel my folks tied the knot in 37 years ago, on his parent’s 39 wedding anniversary. We also wanted to honor all the friends and family members who had been role models for what a strong marriage looks like, so for our first dance we invited all the married couples to join us on the dance floor.My favorite memory of the wedding was designing all the flowers with my maid-of-honor (my little sister) and my God Mother (also my aunt). We invited my 8 bridesmaids and 8 of my closest girlfriends to help us make everything. We sat on the floor of our living room and made all the bouquets and flower arrangements together. My aunt made my bouquet and I carried it with my grandmother’s rosary. I also had three close girlfriends play the violin, piano and sing for the wedding. But my favorite personal touch was walking down the aisle to Ave Maria, which my Great Grandmother, Grandmother, Mother and Dan’s Grandma all used. Dan would say his favorite memory was going to buy a driver at the golf store with his best friend the morning of the wedding.

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Tags: classic midwest Minneapolis Minnesota Real Wedding romantic

October 31st, 2012

Real Wedding: Heather and Mike, Rochester, Minnesota

When I saw Heather and Mike’s event, especially the beautiful hand made flowers, I knew it was a perfect fit for the blog. Both of them did so much work, and DIY projects and ended up pulling off a beautiful wedding that was all their own. They also were eco-friendly using recycled supplies were they could, and upcycling ordinary objects into beautiful wedding decor. Heather says they wanted their day to be relaxed with “bit and pieces of our family and friends”. Mission accomplished! Thanks to Heather for sharing the details of your day, and to Dani Stephenson Photography for the lovely images.

Who, What, Where ~ Ceremony/Reception: May0wood Stone Barn. Photographer: Dani Stephenson Photography. Caterer: Johnny Monguras. Photo booth: Shindig Photo Booths. Flowers and all other projects were DIY by Heather, Mike, and their family and friends.

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From the Bride, Heather…

MIke and I dated for 4 years before getting married. We met on Match.com, he was the nice, caring, shy guy. We got engaged in September 2011, he hid my ring in a bag of chocolates and waited patiently for almost a month before I actually opened them. He said I am the most difficult girl to surprise.

We new we wanted to have an outdoor wedding as soon as we were engaged. We are not your traditional couple, we like a more relaxed style. As soon as we saw the Mayowood stone barn we knew it was the place. Mike and I didn’t want the colors to be too feminine, so the grey was a natural. Mike didn’t like yellow, and I liked the way peach and coral looked with the grey. It was a good contrast. We wanted to have every bit of our special day have bits and pieces of us and our family/friends. The day was perfect, Hot, but perfect.

I made all the flowers from fabrics by hand. The bottles, tin cans, mason jars, grey gravel were all recycled goods. The trees were selected from the woods near my family home. We painted the cans with chalk board paint to we could write on them with chalk markers. My sister hand made my card box, and wedding sign. One of my bridesmaids hand-made all the jewelry and did our hair. We selected all the music. We also wrote our entire ceremony, and were married by a friend.

The handkerchief I carried around my flowers was my grandmas and was used at my cousins weddings. My sister made a wedding sign that was recycled from barn boards which was built by my great, great grandfather We played in that barn all the time when we were little.

My favorite part of the day was being flash mobbed by our guests. Mike’s favorite part of the day was the ceremony under the tree.

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Tags: barn DIY projects fabric flowers Minnesota outdoors Real Wedding rustic

August 13th, 2012

Engagement Session: Shameka and Shawn, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bernadette of Dette Snaps called Shameka and Shawn “one of the cutest and nicest couples that I’ve ever photographed” in her blog post about their e-session. They shot all over downtown Minneapolis on the cobblestone streets, under the bridge, and by the river. They noticed a man was watching/following them, and didn’t know what to think. He finally approached them and said he was the maintenance man for some of the historic buildings in the neighborhood, and would they like to go to the rooftop and do some shooting? Bernadette jumped at the opportunity, and their surprise location made for some beautiful panoramic shots of Minneapolis. Serendipity at it’s best! A big than you to Dette Snaps for the lovely images.

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Tags: engagement session engagment midwest Minnesota surprise

July 18th, 2012

Real Wedding: Annie and Andrew, Minnesota

As soon as I saw Andrew and Annie’s wedding I knew I wanted to share it on the blog. Their event was small, like thirty people small, and I think it made it shine as a super personal occasion. When Annie told me about their day she said that they were both in agreement that they wanted to use a carefully curated collection of vintage and antique pieces to make the event feel intimate. With lots of help from friends and family they were able to gather all the elements that they envisioned to help make their day beautiful, and special. A big thank you to Annie for sharing all the details of the day, and to Becca Dilley for sharing the lovely images.

Who, What, Where ~ Photographer: Becca Dilley. Flower’s: Nature’s Touch. Pies: Chrisa Kraus. Wedding Gown: BGBG Max Azaria. Shoes: Filippa Scott (London). Paper goods and ribbons: Kate’s Paperie (New York City). Cake Topper: Ready Go Paper Studio

Purple, yellow, white, and green garden bouquet.

Strawberry rhubarb wedding pie, and custom toppers.

Even more loveliness…

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From the bride…

Andrew and I met at the Philadelphia airport in early 2009. Coincidentally, we were both flying back to New York (where we both live) from Minnesota (where we are from) on the same day. There was a big snowstorm on the East Coast that day and the layover was over 12 hours. While I was waiting at the gate, he asked if I wanted to have a beer with him and for some odd reason, I said “Sure, why not?”. Fast forward to December 2010: while we are flying to Minnesota to visit our families for Christmas, he placed a ring box on my lap and proposed on the plane! We settled on a September 2011 wedding date, thus giving us nine months to plan a Minnesota wedding in New York.

Given our Minnesotan roots, we wanted to incorporate as many personal details as possible and a farm wedding seemed ideal. It just so happens that Andrew’s maternal grandparents still has the family farm in their possession just outside of Princeton, Minnesota so it was the perfect place to have the wedding. I purchased a lot of smaller items from various antique dealers in New York and vendors on Etsy.

We both really love earth tones but I picked one color to tie everything together: olive. Olive ribbons were used on our invitations which I personalized myself on antique handkerchiefs. Olive ribbons were also used to tie the hand-stamped name cards to the lunch napkins. For the centerpieces, I loved the look of haphazardly arranged flowers in jars and vases because it looks very natural and complimented the feel of a farmhouse wedding. I ordered tons of un-arranged flowers from the florist, and my best friend Stephanie decorated and arranged them for the tables.

One of the most important personal touches for us was the food: my husband is a chef and he was very determined to prepare everything himself. And he did! He made lunch for our guests and used ingredients from the local markets and butchers. Our luncheon was definitely our favorite part of the wedding. Keeping with the farm theme, we really wanted a variety of pies as our wedding “cake”. The pies were made by a woman from my husband’s hometown and the strawberry rhubarb pie was especially delicious!

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Tags: china DIY projects intimate Minnesota outdoors Real Wedding vintage

April 10th, 2012

Inspiration: Ashley and Tom’s 10 Year Vow Renewal

I’m sure I’ve said it before, but one of my favorite things about writing Middle of the Map Weddings is getting a chance to be inspired by, and connect with so many talented vendors across the midwest. Ashley submitted her 10 year vow renewal ceremony to me, and I was blown away by her sweet event. I think that it’s wonderful, not only because the flowers and styling are right on point, but also because it’s a real ceremony, with real people, and real emotion. I’ve really enjoyed connecting with Ashley, and her love for all things beautiful, and local, and shared her work in a Featured Vendor post as well. So without further ado here’s her and her husband Tom’s lovely 10 Year Vowel Renewal:

Who, What, Where ~ Location: Tom and Ashley’s backyard. Photos: Red Bird Hills. Flowers: Ashley Fox Designs. Dress: Alexia Admor, NY. Shoes and coat: Thrift store/vintage. Tom’s suit: Joseph Abboud.

Gorgeous coral, orange, and burgundy bouquet.

From Ashley…

We were married at the Arboretum in 2001 in front of 150 friends and family, but we chose to have a vow renewal at our home in the gardens that was small and very personal. Our best man, Brian Harvey, created and officiated a heartwarming, nostalgic, and emotional ceremony. Leah Vestmark, my creative, beautiful, and funny college buddy designed a “commemorate the day” program. It capture the spirit of our family and the home, gardens, and backyard chicken coop Tom and I have built together.

My husband Tom, and excellent baker, made the “Perfect 10″ apple pie and everyone said it was the best pie ever. Our children Evelyn, and Lucas had a great time running around and enjoying the autumn day, and couldn’t wait to eat the pie of course. Tom surprised me earlier in August with a diamond anniversary band to celebrate our 10 years of marriage, “I couldn’t wait” he said.

We used our cake cutter, server, and the crystal champagne glasses from our wedding day, and a much more toned down drink of cider instead of champagne. Our wedding was beautiful and special 10 years ago, but the vows we spoke on our renewal meant so much more, and we had more fun with them too. ”Ashley, I promise to love you even though you drive too fast,” and “Tom, I promise to love you even though you cannot point direction North if your life depended on it.”

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