Somehow Cody and I unconsiously adopted the same philosophy about wedding planning: "Don't hem and haw." We wanted to make decisions and get on with things. We'd quickly go over our options and weigh pros and cons. Then we would go ahead and tell each other our gut decisions. If one of us felt more strongly than the other, we would go with that. I am not always extremely decisive but this approach made wedding planning much less stressful!
Photographer: Kokal Photography
I could never say enough good things about Tiffany of Kokal Photography. I seriously think that aside from marrying each other, she was the best decision we made for our wedding. I love, love, love our photos. I stare at them all the time. Not only that, she's an incredible person. Aside from Cody, I probably spent the most time with her that day and she was great to be around!
Videographer: Catch the Sparrow
I didn't know whether I wanted a videographer and I'm so glad we got one. Probably eight weeks before the wedding I remembered that a guy that I'd worked with at Starbucks during grad school had once mentioned that he did wedding videography. I called him up, the price was right, and we booked him! He and his wife came and shot together. They gave us a ton of footage and also produced a cute 'trailer' that was a few minutes long for us to see soon after the wedding.
Caterer: Brie Catering
We looked at a couple of other caterers before this one. We went to a tasting with one that wouldn't give prices beforehand so I was going off of their $$ (out of 4) rating on TheKnot.com. The tasting was great but then they showed us the estimate and our jaws dropped. Sorry for wasting your time with the tasting! Then, I went to a tasting for a caterer whose prices I knew were reasonable. The food was so average. So I decided to try one more and Brie was it! They just recently changed their name from Lettuce Cater. Everyone at the wedding loved the food. I feel like if wedding food is bad it doesn't really matter and no one really comments on it. But when people comment on how good it is, you know it was really good. They were extremely flexible about accommodating our requests and let us substitute appetizers into our package and change sides. On the day of the wedding, the service was awesome! I'm sure they were paying Cody and I special attention but I felt like I never had to ask for a thing!
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| Cheese selection |
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| Butler passed hors d'oeuvres - bacon wrapped shrimp, bruschetta, and crab cakes |
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| Stuffed chicken entree |
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Steak entree
We also had a roasted vegetable entree that people loved but I guess we didn't get a picure! |
Bar Service: Mintahoe
They were the only option for bar service for our venue. That makes it simple! They were great about having anything we wanted available. Cody wanted Leinenkugel's beer available for his family from Chippewa Falls. Done. I wanted champagne for the bridal party. Done. They also had flexible packages. We had completely open bar during cocktail hour, then closed it during dinner and had wine and champagne poured. Then we re-opened the bar after dinner for open beer and wine. They tied all of that up into a neat little per person rate.
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| Post ceremony champagne! |
Cake: Buttercream Bakery
We were offered a discount by our caterer if we went with this bakery so we checked it out. Their cake was great and they made really simple, elegant cakes. We had a 4 tier cake that alternated amaretto and neopolitan by tier with, of course, buttercream frosting. Instead of freezing our top tier they will make us a cake for our first anniversary. I just remembered that and am now really excited to get that in a couple months!
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| Flowers were added by our florist |
Floral: Forever in Bloom
Cody's friend had recently been married and worked with Shelli of Forever in Bloom. We checked her out and she came up with the most gorgeous arrangements. She works out of her home and therefore avoids overhead costs and passes those savings on to you. I am completely astonished by what we got from her for what we paid. She worked with us on adjusting our order when we wanted to cut back. She and her husband personally delivered everything and then came back at midnight to pick up vases.
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| My beautiful bouquet |
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| Bridesmaids' bouquets |
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| Groomsmens' boutonnieres |
Linens: Apres Party and Tent Rental
We rented our linens since the caterer only included black or white. My former roommate works for Apres and knows all things weddings inside and out. We got navy tablecloths and gold runners four our tables. We got a special decorative runner for the cake table. Additionally, we got the amazing sparkling gold cloths for our cocktail tables which we wouldn't have been able to afford if my sweet friend hadn't given us a discount! You can see all of those above.
DJ: Sota Sound Entertainment
Our DJs were two guys Cody went to college with. He had heard them at another wedding and thought they were great. They procured every random song I requested for the ceremony and cocktail hour. My parents friends commented on how they chose great dinner music and the dance was an absolute blast! Lars gets involved wth the crowd and gets everyone dancing and having fun. We were so excited to go to another wedding this summer where they DJed and danced all night.
Officiant: My dad!
My dad was an administrative law judge for over thirty years and now does independent arbitration. Therefore, he is licensed to marry people in the state of Minnesota! He had never done it before but was very touched when we asked him. We didn't have a pastor that knew both of us well so it seemed like a great option and I'm so glad we did. Our ceremony was very personal and meaningful.
My biggest piece of advice with all the endless decisions while wedding planning is not to look at too many different options. If you see the millions of options that are out there you will continue to second guess yourself forever!
Linking up!
