USA | You May French Kiss The Bride

Sep 2013

Heidi + Kyle

Probably the Most Unique Venue for a Barn Wedding

I don’t usually put a lot of pictures of the decoration, but this is one big exception. I was preparing this post and just couldn’t stop adding pictures of details; and this is a DIY wedding! I have to say I’ve never quite seen something like that: the unique venue looks like the inside of gigantic barrel, and every little detail they put there is just perfect! There’s glitter, there are old wooden tables, chairs and wall sections, there are cute notes for the guests to leave a message to the newly weds, and well, I won’t even try to describe everything there is, because, I just don’t think I can! I let you enjoy the pictures instead, of this perfect wedding and super stylish + cute couple. I warn you, this is huge. Thank you so much Lydia Jane for letting me share this here!

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The wedding took place at Rubies & Rust Barn in Belle Plaine, Minnesota on July 6, 2013.

Kyle and I are high school sweethearts. I am 19 and he is 20 years old. This really played into how we wanted our wedding to go: very relaxed, like a earthy, beautiful, glorified picnic for our closest family and friends.

Name one thing you regret…

One thing I regret is not having A/C in the barn! (IT WAS SO HOT!) Honestly, Kyle and I have been struggling to answer this question! I guess throughout the wedding planning I didn’t take enough time for myself, and time spent with Kyle very often centered around wedding planning. That’s a huge bummer when your engagement is 6 months! Taking time to enjoy your engagement and enjoying your spouse-to-be is SO important. But as for our wedding, our day was better than we had hoped!

… And one thing you’re really happy about/ proud of.

One thing I’m really pleased with is how simple and relaxed our wedding was for us and for our guests. To Brides: More things does not necessarily equal a better wedding. Simplicity is key, even if just for you and your own sanity. I loved how we were just able to enjoy our day and go up and talk with all of our guests throughout the night. We were able to do this because we didn’t have a formal program at the reception. We just let people get up and eat when they wanted, get dessert when they wanted, and socialize and dance whenever they wanted the whole night, and it worked out really well! I loved the personal touches that my friends and I contributed.

Also, I looked through a lot of wedding planning books and my favorite one was “The Anti-Bride Wedding Planner.”

Lydia Jane was my photographer and she is seriously the greatest person. She made picture taking and just our day in general so enjoyable. I cannot say enough good things about her and her work!

The word of the photographer.

Heidi is a close friend of mine so I was looking forward to her wedding all year. But upon arriving at the wedding site I was still blown away. Not only was the Minnesota landscape breathtaking, but the sheer amount of detail and decoration put into the reception was unlike anything I’ve ever seen in 5 years as a professional photographer. The terrific venue Rubies & Rust matched with Heidi’s good taste produced an elaborate and eclectic rustic dining room. But nothing matched Heidi’s grace as the bride, dressed in a beautiful lace gown and floral wreath. The entire wedding day was relaxed, joyful, and beautiful from start to finish. I wish every wedding could be like Heidi and Kyle’s.

Sep 2013

Jill + Andrew

A Relaxed Thursday Wedding, an Industrial Venue and Lots of Pretty Personal Details

I’m not always sure whether I like veils, but the one Jill has, and the way she’s wearing it is just perfect. I think it totally fits her wonderful dress for a very gypsy looking result; and the best part is, she did it herself! Actually, it looks like every little detail they put into that wedding had a personal meaning for them, how great is that? Last, I need to tell you I love this industrial venues! Photography by Carina Skrobecki.

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Jill and Andrew were married on a Thursday in May 2013 in a small private ceremony at the Seattle, Washington LDS Temple. The reception that night was at the Golden Gardens Bathhouse on the beach in Seattle, WA. From the bride:

One of my early successes was that I fell in love with and bought the first dress I tried on–bridal shops aren’t really my thing :)

I’m better with details than with ‘big picture’ planning, so I was so excited to see how both the planned (and un-planned) details came together into the best day! Some of my favorites– my wedding ring is my gramma’s (with 46 years of marriage already to its name), I carried the same heirloom handkerchief my mom carried during my parents’ wedding, and I made my own veil, my buckskin boots, and the feather boutinierres. Our lovely designer and baker friends designed the invitations, helped style the reception, and did the dessert catering (best cake I’ve had in my life!) and my sister made photo timelines of me and my husband growing up to display… I hand-stitched our guestbook pages out of vintage postcards from places we’ve lived and old family pictures. We had our Seattle reception at the same beach where we had our first date, and for the reception we showed a stop motion video we made and my husband performed a song… AND the lighting on the beach was crazy perfect that evening.

Name one thing you regret…

Well, first–I always wanted a cream colored VW bus for a getaway car… perhaps for our ten year! and second–I wish I could have had a few extra quiet moments with each of our guests and with each other…those little moments are some of what I remember the BEST…

… And one thing you’re really happy about/ proud of.

I loved how absolutely carefree the day felt once it came– the day goes quickly and I’m glad we opted for a more laid back schedule and atmostphere. Carina and Rob captured the energy of the day in pictures and video perfectly.

Jun 2013

Justine + Brendon

Epic Ace Hotel Wedding with a Late Swimming Pool Party

I know I have blogged quite a few weddings and couples ending up in water lately, and no suspense here, this is one more… but isn’t a swimming pool wedding party kind of the perfect way to end the night? And wait, that’s not all – I am actually so in love with Justine and Brendon’s wedding: not only did they have so much fun partying in the swimming pool, but this couple also had a perfect venue for their wedding and an amazing setting, everything so well photographed by Nick Radford, out of the USA.

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Justine and Brendon’s wedding took place in November 2012 at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs. Both have a design background—he is an interior designer and she’s in the event industry—so they mostly organized their wedding themselves.

We wanted it to be different, yet fun that reflected our personalities. We had a handful of DIY projects that we incorporated into the wedding such as our ceremony backdrop and geometric card holders. I ended up designing all of our paper goods such as our save the dates, invitations and all of the signage throughout the wedding. It was a huge undertaking, but it was something I was determined to do! There were many times I wanted to give up and just hire a designer, but I knew it would be so worth it in the end. And it was!

Name one thing you regret…

Overall it was an amazing wedding – however, if I had to rewind back to the day, I wish I had more moments to just sit and talk with all of our friends and family, especially our family who traveled from afar. The day goes by so fast and you are definitely running on adrenaline the entire evening, so I just wish we had taken a step back and really braced the moment and graciously thanked everyone who made it out that day.

And one thing you’re really happy about/ proud of.

I am extremely happy that I was a stress-free bride the entire day! I did not worry about one thing. I felt so prepared, and so ready to marry my husband that everything else was just a big ol’ bonus to me. Oh, and I’m stoked that Nick & Jeff (photographer & videographer) suggested we jump in the pool to close out the festivities. It was never my intention to do this – but it just happened and it was SO perfect. The best way to end the night by far! Trashed dress and all!