Wedding Wednesday-The Reception

Location, location, location.  That was key to me when I began planning this wedding.  LC and I were engaged on July 3, 2008 & our venue was booked July 26, 2008 :-) As soon as I saw Pier Wisconsin, I knew that I had to have our wedding here.  It was EVERYTHING that I had wanted.  Right on the water, not a hotel ballroom, and windows! Tons and tons of windows!  One problem with place? A Saturday wedding was well out of our budget.  So my mom and I went home and looked at the calendar and played around with the dates.  Sundays, of course were the cheapest.  I didn't want a Sunday wedding but when I saw that July 4, 2011 was a Monday, I was definitely sold on our July 3, 2011 wedding.  And that's how that came to be.  It worked out perfectly because it's the same date that LC had proposed to me.  When we went to visit with our coordinator at Pier Wisconsin for our food tasting, she said she had over 12 couples ask to see if that date was available. At the end of this post, you'll see why.   

We had a food and beverage minimum we had to meet, so we threw in a few extra things :-)

Instead of traditional cake we served cupcakes from Miss Cupcake out of Milwaukee.  The selections we chose were red velvet, pink lemonade, key lime, and chocolate with peanut butter frosting.  They were to die for.

The flavor of the cake we cut into was peach bellini. It was heaven on a platter.

After dinner was served & eaten, we danced our first dance to John Legend's "Stay with You". One of my favorite songs.

Next, I danced with my mom, to Carrie Underwood's "Mama's Song". I get teary eyed whenever I hear it and I think of this moment.  This will forever be "our song".

LC & I decided that we wanted to do a parents dance as a way of honoring my stepfather.  He didn't want to dance with his mom alone.

After all the designated dances, it was time to hit the dance floor! LC and I went around and thanked our guests for coming, but I told myself from the beginning that I would dance the night away at this wedding & that I did. And I brought our guests with me :-)

At about 9:30 p.m. our DJ played Katy Perry's "Firework" & "Blow" by Ke$ha just as our spectacular fireworks show was about to begin.  Every year on July 3rd, Milwaukee's lakefront has an awesome, hour long fireworks display.  We had the best seat in the house.

And they lived happily ever after!

Wedding Wednesday-Villa Terrace

In between the ceremony and the reception, we took tons of pictures with our wedding party.  We chose The Villa Terrace in Milwaukee as our "playground".  We had so much fun here and the pictures turned out more beautifully that I could have ever imagined.  The Villa Terrace is an old mansion turned museum that faces Lake Michigan.  It has beautiful gardens, fountains, statues.  I think it fit our day & the look I was going for perfectly.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the Terrace.

 

I'm in love with our wedding pictures...and Olga Thomas :-) She did such an amazing job!! We will definitely be using her for photos in the future. 

Wedding Wednesday-Our Ceremony

Happy "Wedding" Wedneday!  Our ceremony took place at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran church in Pewaukee WI.  I really wanted it at the Villa Terrace (where we took pictures after the ceremony) but my vote was overturned.  I am happy with how it turned out & I am grateful that we got to spend the time with just our wedding party on the trolley after the ceremony.  Olga took some great pics and we have lots of memories from that trolley ride :-) 

My only complaint about Lutheran churches vs. Catholic churches is that Lutheran churches aren't as ornate and decorated as Catholic churches are.  I do like that I was able to pick out my own music for our ceremony though.  That made it more personable.

My mom walked me down the aisle.

And at the end of it there was a nervous groom.

 We stood before God, our family and friends and said our vows.

 Two families combined into one.

And shared a kiss to seal the deal ;-)  

We posed for pictures with our family.

And my lovely & beautiful maid of honor signed our marriage certificate.

One of my biggest regrets about our ceremony is not having someone video tape it.  When you're walking down that aisle and everyone is staring at you, the whole thing becomes a blur.  Even when we were up there and the pastor was giving his sermon, you hear certain things but it's impossible to remember everything.  Everyone kept telling me that our pastor had such a wonderful message, I just wish I could've remembered the whole thing.  I can't believe it's been 2 months since we've been married, time is sure going by quickly!