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Mary and Kolin at Pabst Best Place

Charming, Classic Wedding at the Historic Pabst Best Place

December 4, 2024

A winter wedding fill with joy and one very special family heirloom.

How They Met

Mary and Kolin met in January 2013 at Luther College through a mutual friend, who was Kolin’s roommate. Kolin and his roommate hosted “tea time” in their dorm room for studying and merriment. It ended up being more socializing than studying, and Mary started coming around a lot more frequently…falling in love with each other over a cup of tea!

How They Got Engaged

“We held an engagement trip at Mount Rainier National Park with our parents and siblings. We exchanged rings and some kind words with our parents and siblings present at Reflection Lake with an incredible view of Mount Rainier behind us.”

The Planning Process

Wedding Date: December 29, 2023
Guest Count: 120
Style/Theme: Classic, Nostalgic
Wedding Colors: Ivory, Hunter Green, Heather, Lavender

What was your favorite design?
“Amy Kinsman, our planner (from Perfect Day Event Planning in Brookfield, WI), included some old books in our centerpieces. During the pandemic, we had maintained a two-person book club, so it was nice to have a subtle homage to that time.

Overall, we had a lot of input on design through our conversations with Amy, which was an absolute blessing since we planned our wedding in Milwaukee from Seattle. We couldn’t have had such a beautiful, perfect day without her help!”

Weddings Looks

Dress: The dress was Mary’s grandmother’s. Mary’s mother and great aunt also wore the dress.

Menswear: Kolin’s suit was purchased from a local shop in Seattle; the Best Man’s suit was rented from DuBois Formalwear. “It was a very easy process.”

Hair & Makeup: Beauty Unveiled by Tia

Rings: Custom rings from Green Lake Jewelry, Seattle, WA. “The eleven diamonds are for the eleven years we were together before the wedding, the mountain range on Kolin’s ring is based on a custom line drawing of a photo of the Cascade Mountains.”

How many dresses did you try on?
“None. I knew since childhood that I wanted to wear the dress that my mother and grandmother wore.”

Ceremony Details

Location: The Great Hall at Pabst Best Place
Flowers: Reflections of You

Photo stops: “We went around the city! The team at Ari Rosenthal Photography had some great input on photos near the river with some beautiful shots of downtown buildings, cool views of the Milwaukee Art Museum, and some INCREDIBLE sunset shots.”

Ceremony Music: Gabriel’s Horns

“Gabriel’s Horns provided us with a fabulous string quartet! We had both our parents walk both of us down the aisle: we wanted to celebrate all of them! We had our siblings stand with us at the alter as our wedding party. Those two were the only wedding party we needed! We wrote our own vows in the “standard” format and were able to make them very personal and meaningful.

The best part about the ceremony is that we included everything that we wanted and cut out everything we didn’t. We chose readings that we wanted to live by, we had people involved that we wanted to be in the ceremony, and tried to keep it as short and sweet as possible.”

Reception Details

Location: The Great Hall and Speakeasy at Pabst Best Place

“We loved the idea of having our wedding at a historic venue! It was both a brewery and a princess castle, what’s not to like?”

Food and Drink: “We are pescatarian, so we had food that matched our dietary preferences. Jennine and the team at Davian’s Catering were wonderful in helping us customize the menu, and even made us a spotted cow beer cheese sauce upon request!

We included two specific cocktails in our bar package: Korbel Old Fashions in honor of Kolin’s Wisconsin family, and Bombay Sapphire gin martinis in honor of Mary’s paternal grandfather, who loved that particular cocktail. Our wedding was at Pabst, so of course we had to have some PBR tallboys in there too.

We had ice cream instead of cake! Ice cream is our favorite food, even in the middle of winter in Wisconsin! The ice cream was made by Allison at Nice Bite Ice Cream, who did a wonderful job working with flavors and making some incredible, handmade ice cream in individual cups for everyone.”

Music & Entertainment: Midwest Sound
First Dance Song: All the Things You Are (Jerome Kern, performed by Ella Fitzgerald)

Looking Back

Biggest Wedding Splurge: “Having a full-service planner, which was also the best decision ever! We both recommend getting a planner!”

Three Words That Best Describe Your Wedding Day: “Family-focused, Emotional, Dream-come-true”

Vendor Who Impressed You the Most: “Amy at Perfect Day Event Planning. She was amazing and helped us every step of the way, even through some difficult requests! We were planning our wedding from out of state and Amy was very knowledgeable in what we needed/what we didn’t, who we should talk to, and instrumental in helping us set up quick, easy trips to see the venues and vendors we needed to see. We can’t speak highly enough of her services, she made our wedding day absolutely perfect.”

What tips or advice would you share with future couples?
“It’s a lot. I know how much you think, but trust me, it’s going to be more and it won’t always be fun. Just know that you can’t plan for everything, and THAT’S OK. Everyone that is coming to your wedding is there to support you. At the end of the day, focus on making your wedding YOUR favorite day because that’s what matters.”

Wisconsin Wedding Vendors:

Wedding Vendor Service Website Instagram
Wedding Consultant and/or Day of Coordinator Amy Kinsman, Perfect Day Event Planning @perfectdayeventplanningllc
Ceremony The Great Hall at Pabst Best Place @bestplacepabst
Reception & Bartending The Great Hall and Speakeasy at Pabst Best Place @bestplacepabst
Caterer Davians @the.davians.experience
Photographer Ari Rosenthal Photography
Cake Designer/Dessert Nice Bite Ice Cream @nicebite.icecream
Flowers Reflections of You @reflectingyou
Invitations & Signage Shelby Lynn Designs @shelbylynndesigns
Music/Entertainment Ceremony: Gabriel’s Horns
Reception: Midwest Sound		 @midwestsounddj
Transportation Happy Trails Transit @happy_trails_transit
Makeup & Hair Beauty Unveiled by Tia @beautyunveiledbytia
Bridesmaid Dresses Azazie @azazieofficial
Formalwear Groom: local shop in Seattle
Best Man: DuBois Formalwear		 @duboisformalwear
Rings Green Lake Jewelry @greenlakejewelry
Rehearsal Dinner Moe’s Steakhouse, Milwaukee @mos.steakhouse

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