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From the time I was a little girl, my mom, like many moms around the country, laid out how things were supposed to go. You go to college, get a degree, have a boy propose to you, get married, have babies. That is the prescription for life, right? The getting married part seems like a great idea, but here is where we have a little bit of a problem. Why can’t the girl propose to the boy? Who says the boy has to propose to the girl? Well, in our next real wedding story that’s just what happened! That prescription for life didn’t stop Casey from proposing to Clint! Casey and Clint dated for 3 years and then it happened…Clint…err I mean Casey popped the question 🙂
Here’s how the proposal went. The groom’s sister used to live with Casey & Clint. Casey wrote a letter and mailed it to the house looking like the groom’s sister wrote the letter thanking them for letting her stay at their house. Basically, a thank you letter and treating them to dinner. Then it happened…Casey & Clint got all dressed up for dinner and a carriage ride from Milwaukee Coach and Carriage in the park (little did Clint know that relatives were waiting for them to arrive at the restaurant). Before dinner they went on a carriage ride in downtown Milwaukee. On the carriage ride, Casey told Clint to look at the lights…it’s at that time that Clint noticed a sign in the park that said “Will You Marry Me” (with the help of the groom’s sister, the girls got that sign all ready and waiting for Clint to arrive). Casey, yes I said Casey, pulled out a ring and the rest is history!!
The couple worked with Cathy Wolfa, a personal wedding coordinator. Cathy was a huge help bringing this wedding day together and gave the couple some unique DIY wedding ideas. The ceremony was held at The Miller Room. What a beautiful venue to have your ceremony. Casey and Clint sure did make this room look like a winter wonderland. There was a stage in the middle of the room which meant there was seating on all four sides. The ceremony took place on the stage, so no guest had a ‘bad seat’ in the house. Casey and Clint did a lot of DIY ideas for their special day. The stage was covered with a white satin sheet. They had sixteen 9-foot-tall white birch trees covered with white Christmas lights – they put them in concrete buckets and then put twigs over the concrete. Clint set them all up, so it looked like it was an outdoor wedding ceremony – but it was indoors where it was nice and cozy warm. Casey and Clint made candle holders (short ones, tall ones, all different heights) out of birch trees (they drilled a hole on the top of the ‘stick’, then put small candles in the hole). Poinsettias were everywhere plus a beautiful garland on each side of the stage. This truly was a fairytale wedding and was so romantic and charming. The bride and groom received so many compliments from their guests.
Casey didn’t want the typical diamond and had her heart set on a black diamond. They found what they were looking for at Kessler’s Diamonds. Instead of a candle lighting during the ceremony the couple decided to pour sand into a glass jar…3 different color sands poured into a vase to symbolize the bride, the groom and God. It’s hard to separate once all the sand is poured together. The vase is now in the couple’s bedroom reminding them each day of their fabulous wedding and their vows they made to one another. Something kind of unique about the ceremony was the Matron of Honor was the bride’s Mother and the Best Man was the groom’s Dad!! The bride wore her mother’s bridal gown and to add a special touch to the look there was a long red bow trailing down the back of the wedding dress. Colors for this wedding: red, black, silver and white. Smashing and classy!!
Since the ceremony was at 5pm, they did not have a full sit-down dinner. They had…are you ready for this? …STATIONS!! I love this idea. I wish more weddings would do this! There was 85% seating…and random stations…one station was a potato bar with all the toppings to choose from and the potatoes were served in martini glasses. They had a prime rib station with little sandwiches you could make. A pasta bar station where you got to pick out which noodles and sauce you wanted and if you wanted a topping, they had that too (example: chicken). My favorite is the sweet station which consisted of different kinds of Christmas themed candy and a fabulous assortment of Christmas cookies – you certainly wouldn’t be able to get me away from THAT table! This was a Friday night wedding so what happens in Wisconsin on Friday nights? You got it…A FISH FRY! They even had a fish station to keep in tradition with Milwaukee’s Friday Night Fish Fry (squealing with excitement over this idea!). Zilli Hospitality did an AMAZING job. The food was plentiful and phenomenal!
While Casey and Clint had professional vendors, they also did an amazing job on all the DIY wedding ideas. Instead of having a wedding ceremony program they did a big picture frame when you walked into the ceremony that said who was in the wedding. They also had something similar to that in the reception area (which was held at The Coast) it gave a list of times when things were happening, such as when stations were opening, when the bouquet throwing would be, etc. The Coast has a great atmosphere and location. Casey & Clint made the fireplace area feel like you were at their home. They decorated it with framed pictures of themselves along with their Grandparents that are no longer here. The brides brother made their guest book – now this is a creative idea if I say so myself. He had a marshal tree and traced around it with a silver marker on a black board. Guests wrote with silver marker on snowflakes which were then placed onto the black board (guest book). Loving these DIY wedding projects/ideas!
Reminisce Studio by Miranda & Adam was the couple’s photographers for the evening, and they took lots of stunning pictures. They are by far one of the easiest photographers to work with and keep everything on a professional, but fun level. I had a very difficult time deciding which wedding pictures to use for this blog (I’m not going to lie – I love them all!). There is talent in every picture taken.
Mayflowers was the florist for Casey and Clint’s wedding day. All the flowers were absolutely gorgeous, and they smelled wonderful too. Casey’s REALLY stood out to me (as it should, she IS the bride).
Into the evening, Sound by Design really had the crowd up and on their feet, dancing the night away. They really made Casey and Clint’s wedding day reflect them. But WAIT before all the crowd got to the dance floor there was a little surprise that took place! The whole wedding party choreographed a wedding dance! They learned all their moves from Gustavo and Krystal owners of Everything About Dance. The wedding party showed off their moonwalk moves…we are talking 6 different songs here! I was told they all practiced even the night before the wedding and were practicing so they all got it right! What a great treat for the wedding guests. It was sure something to see. But it didn’t stop there…no way…the parents of the bride and groom went along with it. When the song ‘I got it from my Mama’ played the bride, groom and mothers joined in and danced together. Then when ‘Stuntin like my Daddy’ played the bride and groom danced with their fathers. Talk about a FUN wedding night. I hope someone got THAT on video! 🙂
I wasn’t going to put this in my blog but opted to do it anyway. I want all you brides out there to realize wedding planning and working with wedding vendors doesn’t always go as planned, however, when you are working with the best wedding vendors, they always make things right and fix everything! Casey knew she was going to wear her mother’s wedding gown on the day of her wedding. So, she interviewed 4 seamstresses for the job before choosing one. Two months before the wedding the hired seamstress finally spilled the beans and confessed to Casey that she didn’t finish the dress and was not capable of finishing it at all. The entire time the seamstress was making alterations to the dress but had no idea what she was doing. And she didn’t tell the bride she didn’t know what she was doing until 2 months prior to the wedding day. NOT TO FEAR! Savvy Bride, where Clint ordered the tuxedos, saved the day! They recommended someone they trusted. This seamstress, Janie, is not doing wedding dresses or seamstress any longer, but how could she say no to Casey? She took her on and re-did the entire dress and created it so Casey could actually wear the dress in a month! Casey was so happy with the outcome and cannot say enough kind words about Janie and what she did for Casey. So brides…this just goes to show you, even if there are ‘whoopsies’ in your wedding planning it always works out in the end.
Casey’s parents had a carriage ride ready and waiting for Casey and Clint after the wedding. The carriage ride (bringing back memories) took them to The Pfister Hotel. Casey and Clint were walking up the staircase to their hotel room (Casey in her stunning wedding gown and Clint in his tux from Savvy Bride), people were passing them saying Congratulations. The clock was dinging midnight, and everything was perfect. This wedding was a true Cinderella story. A winter wonderland with a mix of Christmas added to it. If you ask me it’s exactly what the prescription of life is all about and what little girls dream of.
Photography~Reminisce Studio by Miranda & Adam
Flowers~Mayflowers
Carriage Ride~Milwaukee Coach and Carriage
DJ~Sound by Design
Reception Venue~The Coast
Ceremony Venue~The Miller Room
Food & Drinks~Zilli Hospitality
Dress Alterations~Janie in Big Bend
Tuxedos~Savvy Bride
Wedding Rings~Kessler’s Diamonds
Dance Choreographers~Everything About Dance, Gustavo and Krystal
Wedding Planner~Cathy Wolfla
Categorized in: Real Weddings