Arielle & Adam’s Pilot House Wedding in Downtown Milwaukee

With passed champagne and fireworks over Lake Michigan Adam and Arielle’s wedding at Discovery World was thoroughly glamorous-
“like something you’d see in a movie!

A Puppy Proposal

When Adam proposed to Arielle, he had it all planned out. He came back from a golf outing a day early and had coordinated  with Arielle’s best friend, Alex, to take her out for manicures that day. When Arielle got back from having her nails done, Adam told her how he’d taught their puppy, Ernie, a new trick that Arielle had to come outside and see.

He sat Arielle down on the front step and handed her a stack of notecards “from Ernie.” On one of the notecards, the couple’s fur baby said that something needed to be done about his hyphenated last-name. That was Adam’s cue to get down on one knee and pop the question!

The last card in the stack touched on a bit of an inside joke: “For months, every morning we woke up, I would ask Adam what day it was,” Arielle says. “He would respond ‘Tuesday’ or ‘June 5th’ and so on. My response was always, ‘Sounds like a great day to get engaged!’ The last of Adam’s notecards said ‘September 20th, a great day to get engaged.’”

Wedding Planning

Adam and Arielle planned a May wedding with both the ceremony and reception at Discovery World’s Pilot House in downtown Milwaukee. For her gown, Arielle designed it, and Ava of Ava’s Alterations brought it to life. Both Adam and Arielle’s rings came from Powers, which is also downtown. “I worked closely with Tim to design my wedding band,” Arielle says. “I highly recommend Powers, especially Tim. He was extremely knowledgeable, easy to get a hold of, and really spent time getting to know us.” In addition to their wedding bands, Arielle also found her wedding earrings and jewelry for Alex, her maid of honor, at Powers.

Leading up to the big day, Adam and Arielle took a dance lesson at Fred Astaire, did some DIY projects, and dealt with some Covid curveballs. “When it came to the guest list, we were never sure how many guests we would have—or how many we could have! It kept us on edge until the last few weeks, but ended up being perfect.” Arielle’s tip for planning is: “Plan until you can’t plan anymore, then let it go. I planned pretty much the entire day down to the minute, knowing if various parts went wrong, everything would still be amazing!” Arielle’s favorite thing to plan: “The fireworks!”

The night before the wedding, there was a rehearsal dinner at Mason Street Grill. On the big day itself, the bride and groom trusted Kristin of Timeless Events as their day-of coordinator to keep things running smoothly. Before the ceremony, Arielle and Adam got to spend a few minutes alone—one of their favorite parts of the day. “Take time for yourself and your new marriage and life together. Find a quiet spot to hang out throughout the night, just you two.”

The Ceremony

To honor Adam’s Irish ancestry, he and Arielle had a traditional handfasting ceremony. “We used ribbons of lace from Adam’s mother’s wedding dress, Arielle’s mother’s wedding dress, and a piece of our puppy’s blanket to signify both of our families and the start of our new family.”

The ceremony also featured the coolest DIY project of the night: a flower arch that Arielle made from scratch. “I made it by buying flowers on Amazon and foam board from the dollar store that I cut and glued together. It was all held together with paint sticks and hot glue!” After the ceremony, the flower arch served a backdrop to the bride and groom during dinner.

Dinner by Bartolotta’s

Before the ceremony, guests enjoyed passed champagne—“to start the night off right.” During the reception, there were passed appetizers followed by dinner with three options: braised beef short ribs with potato purée, baby carrots, and red wine reduction; Italian chicken prepared Tuscan style with sautéed spinach and gratin potatoes; vegan lasagna with eggplant, zucchini, squash, cauliflower, and mushrooms layered with homemade tomato sauce. “Joann at Bartlotta was over-the-top amazing,” Arielle says. “I don’t know how she did it, but it seemed like magic to me.”