Til and Nathan’s Wedding at Saz’s South Second

Til and Nathan met on match.com. Their engagement story requires a little background — mainly that the two have an inside joke about a goose. Early in their relationship, the Nathan and Til were joking about something, and Til got the last laugh. Nathan mocked outrage, to which Til replied “Hey, what’s good for the goose is good for the… other goose.” Ever since that moment, “other goose” has been the refrain whenever one of them gets the last laugh. On the night of the proposal, Til came home to grey plush stuffed goose on a side table in the dining room. She asked “What’s with the goose?” Nathan picked it up, said some very lovely things, and topped it off with a proposal: “I bought you this goose because I know you’ll want to help pick out your ring, but I didn’t want to do this empty-handed. Will you marry me?”

Til and Nathan decided they wanted their wedding to be two things: fun and personal. “We didn’t want anything about our wedding to be stuffy, fussy, or forgettable.” Some of the highlights: a friend performed the ceremony, they hired a band form Chicago (complete with a horn section!), and included details to reflect their modern-yet-natural style. The color scheme was built around a silk necktie Nathan bought when he had vacationed in Croatia: blue with accents of charcoal grey, silver, and red. Til found her dress at Miss Ruby’s: ivory Dupioni silk with an origami neckline. Both the ceremony and reception were held at the new Saz’s South Second. TIl and Nathan were actually the first wedding in this brand new space!

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“We loved having ours be the first wedding at South Second. It was so much fun to see the venue being built-out and finished over our 6 months of planning. The space is absolutely gorgeous. It has minimalist industrial décor warmed up by wood elements and amazing light. With a huge mezzanine and lighted outdoor patio area, it gave us the chance to create distinct rooms for our wedding were guests could socialize in larger or smaller groups. We loved being able to have our ceremony and reception in the same place so there wasn’t a big gap in the day. We had cocktail hour between the ceremony and reception, so we could take formal photos in and around South Second while guests enjoyed hors d’oeuvres and drinks.”

For the ceremony itself, Til and Nathan asked their good friend Charlene to officiate. “We were so honored when she said yes! She is an engaging performer and storyteller, and she had our guests and the two of us teetering between laughter and tears from start to finish.” Looking back, Nathan and Til both say that the moments that stick with them the most happened at the ceremony. For Til, it was seeing Nathan’s eyes light up when she joined him at the bottom of the aisle. For Nathan, it was laughing with TIl as they tried to get the wedding ring on her finger. “For some reason the ring wasn’t fitting over my knuckle!”

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Cocktail hour immediately followed the ceremony and included a Wisconsin wine and beer package, plus passed hors d’oeuvres: bacon-wrapped chicken lollipops, andouille sausage and cheddar-stuffed mushroom caps, and ahi tuna nachos. There were also two self-serve displays: deconstructed bruschetta and honey smoked salmon. “Saz’s is the exclusive caterer for South Second, and we were so excited about sharing their amazing food with our friends and family. One of the hardest decisions in all of our planning was narrowing down a menu — there were so many delicious-sounding options!”

For dinner there were four food stations: East Asian Takeaway (cashew chicken stir fry, three pepper steak, and veggie lo mein in mini take-out boxes with jasmine rice and a fortune cookie), The Carvery (roasted NY strip steak, smoked turkey breast, a balsamic caramelized onion/red pepper/mushroom ragout, and various sauces and rolls), Greens Greens Greens (salads served in martini glasses), and Street Tacos (tortilla-crusted tilapia with island slaw, carnitas al pastor with grilled pineapple, black beans, rice, and various salsas and garnishes). One of Nathan’s friends is a chef, and her comment regarding the food was, “If the guests aren’t satisfied with this food, they will never be satisfied.” High praise from a professional!

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From the dance floor to the wedding favors, Til and Nathan made sure the rest of the reception was just as unforgettable as the food. To start, they hired Bluewater Kings Band from Chicago. “We love to dance and we wanted the dance floor to be packed all night.” For wedding favors, the couple had a flock of dark chocolate, gold-dusted geese made by a local chocolatier. Getting into DIY, TIl designed and printed the save-the-dates, wedding invites, programs, and reception signage. For the guest book, Nathan and Til’s friend Jenica (who’s a photographer, graphic designer, and crafter) snapped instant photos of guests as they arrived. Each guest then signed and pasted their photo into the guest book using bold-patterned washi tape.

Do Nathan and Til have any wise words for the newly-engaged? “It might not seem particularly romantic to make a bunch of spreadsheets for your wedding, but checking things off the list was incredibly satisfying! And knowing we had accounted for as many details as possible well in advance made for a remarkably low-stress wedding weekend. Everything ran so smoothly, even we were somewhat surprised!”

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Dance lessons~Group lessons at Danceworks, plus a few private lessons from Jacqui LeFebvre at Danceworks
Invitations~Designed by the Bride
Rehearsal Dinner~Zak’s Cafe
Ceremony & Reception~South Second
Caterer~Saz’s
Cake~Metro Market in Milwaukee
Flowers~Urban Sense in Milwaukee
Music/Entertainment~Bluewater Kings Band (7-piece band) from Chicago
Photographer~Je T’Aime Images in Cedarburg
Dress~Siri Gown from Miss Ruby- A Bridal Boutique in Milwaukee
Bridesmaid Dresses~B. Michael from Macy’s in Chicago
Formalwear~Nathan’s Michael Kors suit from Macy’s at Mayfair; shirt custom made by J. Hilburn (ordered through the fabulous Carrie at Lela Boutique in Milwaukee); tie from Croata boutique in Split, Croatia. Groomsmen wore their own suits.
Rings~Hers: Custom made by Korus Design in Finland`His: Tungsten ring from Amazon.com
Rentals~South Second provided all chairs, tables, linens, dishes, flatware, and drinkware
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