Wedding Inspiration from Ashton

My girl Ashton planned a sweet soiree in only 6 months! She is uber resourceful and had amazing details at her wedding at The Lageret.  I'm super happy to share her wedding inspiration with planning brides, she has a lot of really great points here especially how she felt about her ceremony, Pinterest, making it about you and not others and hiring a wedding coordinator like the sweet girls at Elevate Events! 

1. What was your favorite memory from the wedding? 
I think my favorite part of the day was our ceremony, which actually surprised me a lot. During all of our planning I wasn't very focused on the ceremony because I kind of figured it was just something we had to do to get to the party :) I also wasn't sure I was going to be comfortable being emotional in front of a big group of people, and I knew I was going to cry because I always cry. But I was really surprised how much the entire ceremony meant to me. From my dad walking me down the aisle to Josh's vows, there was so much emotion throughout the ceremony, it was far more special than I could have imagined. It made us realize how lucky we are not only to have each other, but to have the love and support from our family and friends. We also wrote our own ceremony and my cousin officiated it, so it was very personal to us, and I felt like it really represented us as a couple. I really just loved how relaxed but special it was to us. 
 

2. What could you have done without? 
I can't really think of anything. Throughout the entire wedding planning process we really tried to be thoughtful about our decisions and choose things that were important to us. We tried to make the wedding as personal to us as possible, and chose things to reflect this. I think it also really helped that we were working with a tighter timeline, 6 months, so there really wasn't a lot of time to over plan things. 
 

3. What is your best advice for planning brides? 
Don't let Pinterest get into your head! Don't get me wrong Pinterest is awesome to get inspiration and ideas from, I definitely used it during my planning process, but there is just so much out there. You can always find bigger and better ideas, or one more cute detail to add to your wedding. But I think spending too much time Pinteresting can give unrealistic expectations and make you feel overwhelmed. I think it is an awesome resource to use for inspiration, but knowing when to stop is an important thing. 

I also think it's important to decide first what is important to you and your future husband and then plan your wedding around those things. Your wedding day should really be one of the happiest days of your life, and if you makes decisions and plans based on other peoples interests it's not going to be. Start your wedding planning by identifying what parts of they area the most important to you and start planning from there. 

Last, I would say get a wedding planner, even if it is just for the day of. I initially had not planned on working with a wedding planner, I figured I could manage it all, but our venue required one. We worked with Elevate Events and they were absolutely awesome! I am a huge worrier, and they took all of the stress out of the wedding day. I did not worry about a single thing, and truly enjoyed the entire wedding day because of them. I even had a friend who had recently been married say she wished she would have had a wedding planner because she saw how beautiful and smoothly they made the day run. Definitely worth the investment in my opinion!
 

4. Looking back, what was the MOST important? 
Keeping the day personal to us made it a truly special day. From my dad building our ceremony podium and all of the crates we used for decorations to our favors which were my dad's homemade maple syrup and my mom's jam we really tried to personalize as much as we could. We chose to do a dessert table with treats from our favorite local bakery. We chose my cousin to officiate our ceremony. We even had people take Polaroids with cutouts of our cat for our guest book! In the end the we felt like we had a wedding that was representative of who we are as a couple, and unique and special to use. We felt so much love and support from everyone, it was more than we could have ever asked for!
 

5.  What did you plan/Book first? Dress, venue, Photographer ? 
Our first choice was actually the venue. We had been engaged for about 6 months, but hadn't done any serious wedding planning (when you date for 12 years, there really isn't a big hurry to tie the knot :). I came across a picture of The Lageret on instagram, and fell in love immediately. I felt like it was the prefect mix of relaxed, rustic, and classy. I knew it would be the perfect place for our wedding. After we looked at it we were in love and because it wasn't open yet we were able to choose a date in 2015, which was already booked for every other venue. A close second to choosing the venue was choosing the photographer, and I actually started emailing before we even had a date set. I think I sent Dani an email that just said are you available anytime in September? Because we were one of the first weddings at The Lageret we got to be a little flexible with the date and chose it based on Dani's availability. Quickly after those two things I ordered a dress because 6 months is about as close as you can get and still have a dress arrive in time. 
 

6. Anything you want to add!
Don't be afraid to ask for help! Your wedding vendors are professionals, and have so much experience. Don't be afraid to pick their brain even if it's not their area of expertise! And don't be afraid to delegate, I really felt like I wanted to be in control of every detail, even though my friends and family kept offering their help. The week before the wedding I ended up taking a lot of people up on their offers and my stress levels immediately dropped when I did!

Wedding Inspiration from Kara

Kara and Tyler are this amazing couple who moved to Wisconsin from Kansas City in the middle of their engagement, they planned a wedding in Wisconsin and invited their closest friends and family to enjoy their new home. Kara has amazing taste and put together a perfect wedding even with a last minute venue change to The lageret!  What a resourceful bride! it worked like a charm.   Major props to Kara and Tyler, I would take their wedding advice any day!  Enjoy! 

 

1. What was your favorite memory from the wedding?

Ah! This question is so hard because there were so many favorite memories shared, and so many captured throughout the day. But, one that stands out from the rest was the "first look" moment that Tyler and I had with one another. Leading up to the first look, the day was so hectic, with getting ready and getting everything in order before our guests arrived. But, the moment that I tapped Tyler's shoulder, and he turned around to see me for the first time that day, it was like time stood still, and everything stopped around us. It was finally just Tyler and me- and all that mattered was each other. We realized in that moment that it didn't matter if everything wasn't "perfect" like we had been planning for the past year, all that mattered was that we were going to get married. It was really special, and a moment I won't ever forget.

2. What could you have done without?

I agonized over all of the small details- like painstaking, agonizing - where I spent hours trying to make sure I found the right decor, like my lanterns. I searched high and low for the best-priced lanterns and other table decor, and even though I love my pictures with my lanterns, and table settings, it wouldn't have been the end of the world if we didn't have them, or if they would have been a little different.

3. What is your best advice for planning brides?

Sometimes paying a little bit more for the non-DIY is well worth the price tag. Some DIY is great! But, if you're going to DIY all of your wedding, make sure you plan well ahead and get all of your craft projects done at least a month before the wedding, otherwise, you'll be crafting the day before the rehearsal dinner and that's never fun :/

Also, do make sure you eat a SUBSTANTIAL lunch AND dinner!!! so you can still enjoy a drink or two without getting intoxicated too quickly after dinner

One more thing ;)

If you plan to have your wedding outside, definitely plan a "Plan B" well in advance of the wedding.

4. Looking back, what was the MOST important?

Enjoying your day. Take it all in. Trying to relax, and breath, without letting it fly by. It really goes by so quickly and it's easy to let the stress of the planning take away from the real meaning of the day, which is celebrating your love story and promise to each other with your friends and family!

5.  What did you plan/Book first? Dress, venue, Photographer ?

1) Bought dress

2) Booked venue

3) Booked Photographer

6. Anything you want to add!

Dani Stephenson is amazing ;)

It's like rain on your wedding day.....

I'm talking with future couples, we are going over contracts, we are having open discussions about all details of the day and then they ask the dreaded questions..."What if it rains"?  "Can we do photos indoors"?  

Believe me when I say, it DOES rain on wedding days. It could even rain on yours. There I said it.  No one can predict the weather BUT that doesn't mean we are going to let mother nature win does it?  Are we going to stay indoors and pout and get not good photos?  or are we gonna punch Mother Nature in the face? 

Email:

I have one other question for you after reviewing the contract .. In the second to last paragraph it discusses that 90% of the photos will be taken outside regardless of weather. Does this include if it would rain on our wedding day? I just know I wouldn't feel comfortable taking pictures outside in that situation.

This is my answer about rain and shooting only indoors:

Hi Guys!

Great question! It's super important to me that we are on the same page so I hope we can have open discussions about anything!

What I mean by 90% of my photos taken outdoors is that I usually shoot in locations like outdoors, barns, or venues with a lot of outdoor space for photos. I rarely shoot in hotels or indoor spaces because I use natural / available light. I even like family photos outdoors (like Paige and Cory's!)  Indoors doesn't provide the light or the background that outdoor photos do. If you look through my website I think it will support the statement of 90% of my photos are taken outdoors. 

Unfortunately, no one can predict the weather, so in the event of bad weather I try to stay positive, it's my job to make your wedding look good but I have to have willing participants. Indoor photos are necessary in this case, however then your photos would not be consistent with my work.  So on rainy days we always try to run outdoors when the rain lightens up or if the sky opens so we can get those consistent dreamy outdoor photos.  I have had a lot of rainy day weddings, it's not ideal. We do sometimes have to take indoor photos so we have *something* of course. But in the end we have to embrace the day and what we are given and just roll with it. If the sky opened up I would suggest we run out and get some great photos for you to have. I want you to be happy with them!  Indoor photos do not compare to outdoor ones, so I always do my very best to work with what we have as long as the couple is willing. 

In the end I want to deliver a gallery of fun and genuine photos that the bride and groom will cherish but I am under the direction of the bride and groom. If you truly didn't want any outdoor photos in case of rain, I would have to grant that wish but I would worry you would be disappointed with the turn out. (All indoors)

I have shot a lot of rainy day weddings, I have been lucky enough to have willing couples, here is a recent wedding I shot in pouring rain (all day long) the bride and groom were not happy about the weather, but luckily they embraced it and participated and their photos ended up featured on WI Bride Magazine!! Here's a link:

Sean and Kristy

Hopefully that answered your question and gave you the best idea of what to expect. Please let me know what else I can answer for you!