Nick and Yvette's Wedding in Minneota, Minnesota

We let our engagement set in before talking about a wedding. We talked about the months we would want to get married. My aunt is an amazing floral designer and was commandeered to handle all the flowers and decorations. We knew the photographer we wanted and contacted her to find out availability. We wanted a small ceremony and did not want to change venues. We took both our styles into account, his country flair mixed with my shabby chic girly flair. He really liked the barn weddings, I liked the twinkle lights and sparkles. We looked and came across Earle Brown Heritage Center. We liked we did not have to go and find a whole bunch of vendors. It was all under one roof. The price was better for us too. We met with Earle Brown and that’s how we picked our wedding date. They had availability in October. And, my aunt from Seattle would be in town. So it was set, October 20. I am not too much of a risk taker, so we choose the ceremony and the reception to be inside.

Now to find a dress. That was kind of a disappointing experience to start with. We tried four different shops, the styles they chose did not fit my body or they were super puffy and I did not like being paraded about in front of lots of people in dresses that did not fit. We went to a fifth shop, Raffine Bridal, and we had our own private dressing area. The ladies did not say what size dresses they were pulling and they listened. They pulled an Essence of Australia that made me cry. This was my dress. A fit-and-flare gown with a sweetheart neckline, off the shoulder cap sleeves, lace overlay, scalloped hem with eyelash edging, diamante beading and a gorgeous beaded belt with a ribbon sash. I choose the ivory lace over pewter dolce satin with a natural colored sash. This gave dimension to the lace and really brought out the detail. I love ii! I felt amazing! When the dress came in, we also got a veil that coincidentally matched like they were made together.

The invitations were kind of challenging too. I met with a designer and quickly realized our paper budget would not be feasible with this vendor. I investigated online stationary sites and was frustrated because I couldn’t get it just right. I was referred to Church Offset Printing by a lady in my networking group. AMP at Church Offset did a fabulous job. We ended up with a customized pocket invitation with a detail card and rsvp card. They were beautiful. We had a little snafu in mailing as the glue circles holding the invitation shut came loose in the hot humid August weather. We got a pile of blank rspvs back. Thankfully I coded the rsvp cards, so I know whose invitation packet came open. It all worked out though.

The decorations were adorned with flowers all handmade by my aunt. We had wood circles for the tables with mason jar candles and twinkle light jars and stumps for the floor decoration and to line the aisle way, each stump had a lantern which had been decorated. The bridesmaids carried lanterns, my mom and I had wrist corsages (made with my grandmother’s wedding dress and buttons), my husband’s corsage was made with his father’s belt buckle (his father celebrated in spirit). My son and my father had handmade corsages. My husband handcrafted our guest book to a wooden sign and we used an old window as a guest book. I handmade the programs. We were able to decorate on Friday. Earle Brown decorated and set all the tables so all we had to do was place the wood circles and the guest book table.

The ladies’ dresses are from David’s Bridal in Roseville and the men’s suits are from Knight’s Chamber out of St. Cloud. I picked the dress color and they picked the dress they liked. My husband wanted a nice suit and cost wise, it was a no brainer comparing buying vs renting.

It’s a cliché to say the day of the wedding went too fast, but it really did. We had hair and makeup come to us. The photographer came. Suddenly our hotel suite was quite full. Our photographer kept us on track for time. Everyone got kicked out, so I could get dressed and do a reveal to my mom, my son, and all the girls. I saw myself in the mirror and things suddenly got very real very fast. I felt so beautiful, my hair and makeup was perfect (I actually didn’t want to wash my face to go to bed), and my dress fit like a glove. Mom helped zip my dress and the look on my sons face when he saw me made me cry, he said I looked beautiful.

We had the first look outside in the fall foliage. Nick was turned around and I walked up behind him. I touched his arm and he turned around. It was such an emotional exchange seeing each other, all I could do was hug him. We embraced and just kind of melted together. We both cried.

The ceremony was perfect. I felt privileged to be able to have a long time friend who is a judge officiate for us. We wrote our own vows. Nick went first. He handed me some tissues and turned around and addressed my son. I cried. He then turned back around and talked to me. His words were so touching and heartfelt. Then it was my turn. I had jotted notes here and there so I had lots to say. We both spoke from the heart. We had a sand ceremony and included my son.

Our reception was also perfect. I had no idea what was going on, and I liked it that way. All the little details and questions that popped up my husband and bridal party just took care of. After all the planning up to the day, I was glad I had reliable people to step in and be there so I could talk with guests.

Now the wedding is over, the decorations are packed away, and we are trying to look at honeymoons which might be waiting until a one year anniversary (we paid for 90 percent of the entire wedding).

Even with everything we have been through in our lives, we would not change one thing. Our paths crossed when they did for a reason. Every day we appreciate each other. Every day we choose each other.