landlocked bride® | midwest + mountain west wedding inspiration

Though the weather can’t seem to make up its mind about what season it is, this wedding definitely puts me in a spring-y mood! The slate blue bridesmaids dresses, the lush pastel florals, and the delicate DIY lace details in the votives and escort cards are making me swoon. Then the party really gets going with a mariachi band, mini cupcakes, and colorful cocktails! Happy almost 1 year anniversary, Nathalie and Saul!

We met at a friend’s gathering for a Manny Pacquiao fight. Our mutual friend mentioned to Saul that they had already talked to me about him and it was up to Saul to make his move. So he sat by me and the only thing that I saw where these “ugly” converse shoes (not chucks, but skater shoes) he was wearing. All he was talking about was his trip to Paris that was coming up in a week. Long story short, I said there was no way you should be taking those shoes to Paris, and the entire crowd at the gathering was laughing. To say the least, it broke the ice and Saul finally introduced himself to me. Food, drinks, dancing followed and Saul asked me on a date via Facebook! I accepted anyway, and the rest was history!!! Hence the Converse Chucks at the wedding reception.
Saul picked a fantastic place to get ready- Simone’s in Pilsen. It was an excellent touch of color to the guy’s afternoon, and a good start to the Mariachi festivities. Our ceremony was at my early childhood church St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Chicago, IL. My sister and I were baptized there. My sister also got married there so we have a lot of wonderful memories. Meson Sabika in Naperville IL for our reception was selected for the well known Spanish Tapas and intimate setting at their Pavilion. For our music, we had a DJ and the traditional music Mariachi group. The lively feel came into play once our guests and groom joined our Mariachi band in singing along.
I love soft pink so I wanted to keep it simple and clean with an accent of light grey. We accented the tables with pink appliquéd lace votives which I made, in addition to coordinating the table numbers with the color scheme. I incorporated the lace theme with lace stamped escort cards.  Saul vigorously worked hard to cut the wine cork escort card holders. I purchased some handmade felt flowers on Esty for our ring bearers to carry. The theme was Happily Ever After Starts Here! We thought it would be a nice touch to give our guests a look at the past by sharing  our parents’ wedding pictures and our baby pictures. Saul and I have both been to Paris and loved it so we found a box that had a Parisian theme which we made into our wedding card box.

This wedding is just full of precious details. From the looks exchanged by the bride and groom to the little ones of the bridal party, from the gorgeous bouquets to all the handmade reception details, this wedding is just infused with sweetness. I have a personal fondness for their cake toppers as a huge baseball fan, and their last photo of the night looks straight up like it was taken from the end of a fairy tale book. It all came together to form a beautiful, memorable day for Bret and Lindsay.

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From the Photographer:

Lindsay & Bret are a very special couple. I know we say that a lot, but what I can I say? We get to work with some AMAZING people! I’d say we really got to know Bret and Lindsay more during their engagement session with the adorable Savanah, which is why we love engagement sessions! After that we talked more and just became friends. Bret even helped Joel fix our t-shirt dryer for our shop! So needless to say we were super excited about their wedding – plus the reception was taking place outside under a tent at one of our favorite venues, The Weingarten.

Their day was truly magical, and the photos look like like something out of a fairy tale (at least I think they do) Lindsay’s dress was incredible, and one thing that I loved was that she wore TOMS shoes! (Although I love high fashion; I love TOMS and what they do.) Plus all the details she and Bret put together for the reception were spectacular. Talk about taking DIY to the next level! The day was filled with such beautiful emotion and heartfelt moments. One of the most memorable was during the toast by Bret’s brother, the best man. I would wager to say there was not a dry eye in the room. If you want to hear a beautiful story, check out the YouTube video. We’ve had such a fun time getting to know Bret, Lindsay and Savanah and we are so glad Bret was ok with hiring us even if we weren’t totally Mac!

When I first saw this wedding, I couldn’t believe that it took place right here in the Midwest. The beautiful outdoor setting, the pops of green both in the decor and within the surrounding natural backdrop, the classic elements of black and white to the polka dots – everything looks as if it was taken straight from a magazine. Most people only hope to have a reception as beautiful as this, and lucky for this bride and groom, this was their second celebration as they had gotten married a month earlier in Honolulu, Hawaii (swoon). However, what I love most is that the couple incorporated photos form their wedding in Hawaii into the decor for their at-home reception.

 Jennifer Jackson Photography

Vendors:

Caterer: Moveable Feast | Floral Designer: Kennicott Brothers | Linens & Coverings: BBJ Linens & Elegant Presentations | Equipment Rentals: Blue Peaks Tents

From the Bride-to-be:
We were set up by Scott’s coworker, I was helping design her kitchen when she kept mentioning how I just had to meet this wonderful guy she worked with. After a lot of resistance on my part and a great amount of persistence on hers, I let her give him my cell phone. I never thought I would hear from or let alone meet this guy. After dodging his calls and ignoring him for a few weeks we finally decided to meet for a drink after work. That one drink lasted four hours and afterwards we both knew we had found something so special and rare. 10 months later we were engaged and planning our spring wedding. We chose the Morton Arboretum for our engagement session because of its beauty and the connection it has to Scott’s family. His late grandparents have trees dedicated in their honor there. I was so glad we were able to catch the last few minutes of light on our way home from the Arboretum. We shot right outside our door in Logan Square, Chicago and were even able to get a few great ones of Simon our Chihuahua.

What I really love about this wedding is how cohesive it is. The colors are carried through throughout the whole thing. The tandem bicycle is used in photos, the cake topper, the guest book, and other paper products. The pinwheels/rosettes are showcased on the cake backdrop, the cake itself, and the card box. Not to mention how much fun the Zach and Sarah and their wedding party look like they’re having (check out those BMX moves)!

From the Photographer:

Sarah & Zach were married during the Midwest’ heatwave in June. Sarah worked very hard on all of the DIY details; painted wine bottles, flowered centerpieces, paper flowers behind the cake wall, programs, etc. The main inspiration behind their wedding was a tandem bicycle they used for their engagement session. Zach used to race BMX bikes & fixed up this old tandem bicycle for their e-session. Their favorite photo was of them kissing underneath a huge oak tree with the tandem bike next to them. They used that image as their canvas “guest book” where each guest left their thumb print as a leaf on the tree of the canvas guestbook. The cake topper was a wire tandem bike with a bride and groom riding it! The tandem bicycle was brought along to use with the bride & groom and the wedding party photos after the ceremony!

I will never ever tire of city weddings. My love of the city comes in a close second behind my love of the mountains. It’s hard to beat city lines, skyscrapers and the urban and modern feel. Add a wedding to it, and bam, you have a modern soiree.

If you look beyond the joys of a city wedding, you’ll also find a lot of love in Lauren and Stu’s big day. Personal elements. A traditional Jewish ceremony (of which included them signing the Ketubah during). An emotional (and love-filled) first look. A stunning Chicago skyline view from the 67th floor of the Metropolitan Club. I hope you enjoy the city details in their wedding as much as I did!

Most of us experienced our first snow of the season yesterday. Here in Denver? We hit snow number three for the season. The weird thing is I love winter – the snow, the chill in the air, an excuse to wear every sweater and pair of boots I own. But, I won’t lie, I do long for one 70-degree day here and their. So, where am I going with this?

Emily and Tim. First off, their wedding was outside – it was June after all. Secondly, look how green that grass is. Thirdly, how about the relaxed, classic style of their wedding? It has these beautiful details like the escort cards and chiavari chairs, but then you have the simple and natural backdrop for their wedding ceremony. Sounds like a good mix to me.

From the Photographer:
For this engagement session, we returned to the scene of the crime: Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. Melissa and Scott first met and fell in love here, so it seemed only appropriate to capture their history together. However, the couple wanted to make their session “extra special” with the addition of some holi powder. Melissa emailed me a week or so before the session asking how I felt about a paint fight engagement session. I immediately was excited and couldn’t wait to see the outcome! Before the session, Melissa and Scott walked into every Indian grocery store in the suburbs and bought all of the holi powder they could find. We didn’t end the paint war until every last bit of the holi powder was used. They had a blast, and as a result, Melissa and Scott ended up with some very unique photos! I loved this session and am ready for paint fight number two!

From the Bride-to-be:
Shortly after Doug moved back to Chicago from San Diego his friend Eric Gural came to visit him for the weekend. Eric and I became friends while attending Wright State University together several years prior. Eric insisted to both of us that we should meet one another. I didn’t think much of this at first, but Eric actually told Doug before we met that he better be invited to our wedding. The first time I met Doug was after a long weekend of male bonding (ie: lots of adult beverages), but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. The following Friday we met up for drinks after work and continued to talk until the sun came up the following morning. We both knew how lucky we were at that point to have met one another and couldn’t be more thankful for Eric’s introduction.

Although there are plenty of details to love about this wedding, I must start by pointing out the amazing bouquets. The pop of color these pink and purple arrangements create against the blue bridesmaid dresses with all of the wood detail of the decor is by far my favorite. It is such a simple detail that has so much effect on the overall look of this wedding day – Kudos Katie and Dill’s Floral Haven, Inc! In addition to the detail of this wedding day, what is even more special is the love you see between the bride and groom and also the bride and her father. The fact that he walked his daughter down the aisle and then proceeded to marry her is such a special moment.

…and that fur cover-up is drool-worthy.

Conner Photography

 From the Photographer

What a wonderful wedding day! It’s true…it may have been a wee bit chilly outside (i.e. it was freeeeezing), but it was so wonderful. It was the last bit of snowy winter that the first part of 2012 had to offer, and thankfully, it did not cause a bit of complications for the day (other than the mild threat of hypothermia). When I (Joel) get in my uber creative mode, I tend to forget about things like heat or cold or rain or snow or anything like that. I am, as you might say, in the zone at that point. This is again a perfect example why Shannon is so amazing. She helps me remember that brides in their dresses tend to get chilly in such circumstances and that, ideally, we do not want her to show back up for the reception with frostbite. Mission accomplished. Josh and Katie are such a sweet couple, and it was so heart warming to see their excitement throughout the entire day. We started out the day at the church, First Baptist Church of O’Fallon, and it was decorated very nicely. They were both a bit jittery and nervous before the ceremony, but once they saw each other, they lit up. Katie smiled as big as anyone could, and after a few seconds, Josh was struggling to hold it all in. It was very precious. One very special thing was that Katie’s father performed the ceremony himself. After walking Katie down the aisle, he switched roles and married these two amazing people. Once the ceremony was over, we headed to downtown Lebanon to do their photos! Everyone did amazing…especially the girls. I know guys are tough and all, but honestly, we always just have amazing bride’s maids who will stick it out and maybe suffer a bit in order to help make the bride’s day amazing. All the girls definitely pulled through for Katie. Having the blankets and coats on standby as soon as the photo was taken did help some, though. And the guys were their cool and somewhat gooofy selves, as per usual. Truly, though, the entire wedding party were amazing. 

 Photographer: Conner Photography | DJ: Cornerstone | Floral Designer: Dill’s Floral Haven, Inc. | Hair Stylist: Garden Salon | Reception Venue: Scott’s Club, Scott AFB | Men’s Attire: Men’s Warehouse |