Real Wedding: Hannah & Austin

Hannah & Austin met and live in Hungary (how cool is THAT?). But they decided to get married in good old Wisconsin on September 1, 2013 at Grace Church in Walworth, WI. Hannah told me that the thing that made this day extra special was that both families came together, one side from Wisconsin and the other from TN. Most were meeting each other for the very first time. It was overwhelming to have so many people (many they rarely get to see) gathered in one place. Crazy thing is they only had FOUR months to pull this wedding together! Talk about stress! Their goal was to create a cozy and family-like atmosphere. Hannah loves the rustic/country style and the simplicity it creates. Talk about DYI–Family & Hannah made the invitations, their friend grew the centerpiece flowers in her backyard, another friend used to be a florist and arranged the flowers for the wedding party. Her Grandma and a couple friends made a variety of desserts. Hannah made the favors (bags of coffee in a sac). Her brother who is with Ideal Impressions was their photographer. He contacted some friends of theirs who live on a farm and asked if they could get ready in their barn and take the bridal party pictures there. They even brought out one of their horses for some shots. The time at the farm was a highlight to the wedding party and they spent most of it laughing–who wouldn’t with a pen full of sheep and a llama that kept circling around them! The photographers were Jake Schnake, Ryan Bensheimer and Wayne Rhode of Ideal Impressions Photography. I looked thru all 2,655 wedding photos and I can tell you they put a smile on my face and make me happy. Some of these photos weren’t your typical wedding day photo and I LOVE that so much! They got very creative and captured the theme on film so well.

Let’s not forget the dress (Christy’s Bridal in Burlington, WI)! You’re not going to believe this, that dress had to be altered down about 6 sizes! Because the wedding was happening so fast, Hannah didn’t have time to order a dress. Christy’s Bridal was very accommodating and seriously performed a wedding miracle.

The reception was at Royal Oaks Apple Farm. Because the bride isn’t a ‘cake fan’ the bride & groom ordered apple pies from apple farm to serve to their guests (along with the desserts their Grandma & friends made). This is my favorite part since I have such a sweet tooth–they made the dessert time an hour long, had a local coffee shop (Coffee Mill) cater in a very cute rustic style coffee bar and then offered all sorts of cookies, biscotti, and candied nuts to go with the coffee and pie. As the people slowly enjoyed their dessert, they had an ‘interview’ panel going on where people told the bride & groom’s story for those who didn’t know it yet. It rained during the dessert time (a quick storm blew over). Dancing was held outside and by the time they were ready for that the rain had stopped, but lightening continued to flash across the sky. The bride’s dad and the bride had the father/daughter dance with the lightening flashing in the background – a very memorable moment.

The couple ended the evening by walking thru a path of love lite up with sparklers by family & friends.

Even though you are only given a short amount of time with limited resources you can still produce a beautiful, relaxing wedding that will be enjoyed by everyone. Don’t get discouraged about the little things when planning a wedding because in the end it all works out and great memories will be made.