Real Wedding: Julie & Max

I’m going to start off by saying this couple and their wedding is going to give you a warm, fuzzy feeling inside!  Our bride, Julie, is from Burlington, Wisconsin.  Max, the groom, is in the Army and was stationed in Colorado Springs.  Julie had lived and been teaching in Denver for years.  Max came up to Denver a lot to visit friends and go out. The couple ended up meeting at Goosetown Tavern and shared meatball sliders (I don’t care what you say, I think it’s ROMANTIC)! From there, they chatted for weeks, getting to know each other and made dates to see each other on the weekends (they lived an hour and a half apart).  After 3 dates, Julie knew Max was someone she could see herself with and they ended up developing a relationship and then got engaged.

Now for the BIG DAY…Their ceremony was held in the country at Horticultural Hall  (wait until you see the wedding photos, they are to die for!). The way the building is set up – the courtyard is in the center so it’s very private, even though it’s located in the middle of downtown Lake Geneva.  The tulips were blooming and everything was really starting to get vibrant and green. Simple and elegant, just what Julie wanted.  There were white wooden chairs and a lace curtain altar made by her parents, at the end of the aisle.  They used a combination of large canning jars filled with white stock and medium sized antiqued blue canning jars filled with baby’s breath to decorate the aisle (I love this look).  Julie made a chalkboard sign that acted as a program for the guests (great way to save trees).

The ceremony was fairly simple, as there was no ring bearer or flower girl. The couple chose 3 readings that spoke to who Max and Julie are and what their relationship meant to them.  Julie had her sisters and her sister-in-law, do the readings.  The couple was so happy that they were able to have Max’s best childhood friend, Eric, officiate the ceremony.  They thought he might be deployed at the time and had a back-up plan just in case.  Having Eric there to support them and speak about Julie and Max so personally was such a great touch!

The couple wrote their own vows, but not until MINUTES before the wedding! I would have been stressed to the max with that, but not this couple! They are so happy they did – Julie found it so meaningful to hear what Max had to say from the heart in front of their family and friends! When Julie said her vows, she didn’t realize how emotional she would be until she started.  It made the ceremony so romantic and genuine.

Her CasaBlanca wedding dress, had a beautiful lace pattern with beading on the bodice and a few crystals on the skirt of the dress.  The satin underlay was a champagne color which really made the lace and beading pop.  Julie went with a cathedral length veil that had delicate beading around the edge. What a great pick, Julie!

As something “new”, Julie wore solitaire diamond earrings – a surprise gift from Max. Her “something borrowed” was a diamond and sapphire bracelet borrowed from her Maid of Honor.  She did not wear a necklace, but with her wedding dress there was absolutely NO need to.  Julie kept her make-up natural and simple, so it looked like Julie!! And she made sure her hair wasn’t “over the top”.  She didn’t want to look like a pageant contestant!!

I’m always curious to find out what inspired a couple’s wedding style.  Julie loves to craft, design, scrapbook, sew and create, so for her it was really fun using pictures she had found on the internet, magazines, and her own ideas to create the day!  Julie said it was really easy to create the wedding style – because she just chose things that she absolutely loves!  Many of the decorations they used for the wedding are items they now use in their house! Love it!!!

Julie didn’t want to get bogged down with the idea of their “colors” so she kept it really simple.  Everything was white (chairs, table linens, altar, lots of flowers) and she added light pink and peach flowers, because Julie thinks they are very romantic colors and I have to agree with her on that one!  The brown burlap table runners helped the flowers pop and kept things simple.  They only did the traditional things they wanted to do.  I am a fan of that – do what YOU want to do, NOT what others tell you to do (ok, stepping off the soap box now).  They skipped the garter belt and bouquet toss along with many of the traditional wedding dances.

This wedding was very much a DIY wedding because of Julie’s creative talents!  I wish I could show you ALL of their pictures!  Julie made their Save-the Date cards and invitations.  She also made the guest name cards on brown tags and tied them with light pink ribbon.  Julie’s Mom made a board with grey and white chevron material to pin all the guest name cards to!   Julie also made her own centerpieces out of canning jars and some lace covered burlap ribbon.  She filled the jar with light pink spray roses and a sprig of baby’s breath.  She added small canning jars of gorgeous light pink, peach and white roses for the final touch and made table runners out of burlap purchased from a fabric store.  She made the “just married” and “Eat. Drink. And Be Married” banners on cut out pieces of fabric by stenciling on the letters in white paint.  This girl is TALENTED!

It doesn’t stop there, because for the gift table she purchased an antique bird-cage and tied a ribbon around it saying “love notes” on it for the wedding cards.  She made the “guest book” from supplies she found at a craft store.  She also purchased a new instant camera, brought some decorative cards, a blank book, and some metallic pens to write on the black pages.  Guests took pictures of themselves, wrote Julie and Max a note and glued them into the guest book.  I’m sure it is a BLAST looking back on all the photos and notes!!

In addition, Julie strung up old photos from her grandparents who have passed away on a piece of twine and hung them on the wall by the guestbook table.  She used an old window to write the dinner/dessert menu on.  And she filled canning jars with extra flowers that they had left over and placed them on the guest book table.

Julie filled two baskets with toys, coloring books, and snacks for some of the kids at the wedding and placed it at their tables. I think that’s a great idea! The kids had a blast playing in the courtyard and exploring. As if that wasn’t enough SUPER – Julie, with the help of her Mom and sisters, assembled all the bouquets, table center pieces, boutonnieres and corsages!!! No lie!

Celebration on Wells  in Lake Geneva did an amazing job on the food.  Everything was steaming hot and fresh with a beautiful presentation!  The appetizers were served butler style.  Celebration on Wells was great at making sure that both Max and Julie got a few bites as they were running around taking photos.  They not only took care of the food, they also put all the table linens on, set the tables with the runners and the centerpieces for the couple!  They really took care of them!

The wedding cake was a 3 tiered yellow souffle cake with raspberry and lemon curd filling topped with French cream frosting.  The cake was moist and delicious – also created by Celebration on Wells.  The cake was frosted by hand with beads of frosting added to the bottom of each layer for an elegant touch.  They used a few of the extra light pink spray roses as a finishing touch.  The cake topper was a simple sign that said “Mr. & Mrs.”.

Party time! Bob from BBs Best in Burlington was the wedding DJ and he was really great to work with.  He allowed Julie and Max to choose and organize all of their prelude music, cocktail hour music, and had their favorites for the reception.  He listened to the guests and played all the songs they wanted to hear!

I feel that one of the most important vendors for a wedding or any celebration is the photographer. These pictures are going to be around for a long, long, long time! They need to capture the moment and the feel for the wedding. No one does that better than Leo and Jenny from leo&jenny Photography.  They were amazing – super organized (that is sooo important on this day), easy to work with, friendly, and above all, SO TALENTED! They listend to the bride and groom and captured the moments of their day perfectly.  Because they work as a team, Julie and Max got some amazlingly genuine photos.  They were able to capture EVERYTHING, even things the bride and groom weren’t around to see.  Leo and Jenny are great at capturing photos in a story-like way.  Julie and Max had so many great shots that they were able to put a book together that not only told the story of the beautiful day, it also captured the emotions and warmth of the day.   They took photos of all of the guests and were there from 11am to 9pm!

Julie decided to do a “first look”.  She was against the idea for a long time, but eventually decided to go with it.  It gave Max and her time to see each other and have some private time together before everyone got there!  They were able to get some really great shots that they wouldn’t have had if they had waited until after the ceremony.  Plus, they were then able to steal away for a bit to go to the lake and get some sunset photos before the dancing started.  Julie thought that seeing him for the first time would take away from seeing him at the ceremony but it didn’t!!  Julie had seen Max all afternoon taking photos, then when she was ready to see him for the first time down the aisle she STILL got butterflies in her stomach just as she had hoped!!Julie recommends a first look to ANYONE! You will not regret it!

The best memory about this georgous wedding was the ceremony; it really stood out! The music they played was perfect, the day was absolutely gorgeous, and seeing Julie all misty eyed while she saw Max for the first time down the aisle: PRICELESS.   To top it off:  Max is able to marry the woman of his dreams, his best friend and gets to be with her every day for the rest of his life!

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Photographer~leo&jenny Photography
Ceremony/Reception site~Horticultural Hall in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin`Ceremony in the Courtyard and Reception in the Hall
Dress~CasaBlanca dress from Elegant Bridals in Augusta, Georgia
Dress Alterations~Stitch in Savannah, Georgia
Caterer/cake~Celebration on Wells in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Music~BBs Best in Burlington, Wisconsin
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