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Our wedding day was the most wonderful day of our lives! We had wonderful weather for the majority of the day. However, between the salad and dinner courses, we had a tornado warning and had to evacuate everyone to the basement of the Yacht Club. We just took it in stride, and had a second cocktail hour. All in all, it was a perfect day.
the professional photos
All professional photos by Amber Procaccini
the non pro pictures
Ready to meet my husband-to-be in the sancuary
Codi helping me so my train doesn't drag
My brother and his fiance
My mom and my grandma
Mom, Grandma and my sister
My mom and dad
Matt and I relaxing in the Fireside Room before the ceremony begins
Matt seating my grandma
Our beautiful moms
my HAWT bridesmaids
My groom awaits
We did it!! WOW!!
My cousin, Emma, and my future niece, Codi
the getaway car
My (now our) family
While waiting out the tornado in the club basement. Yes!! We ARE high voltage!!!
Our First Dance
Looking for the garter...
...and the toss!
All non professional photos by Lisa Aronson (my sister) and David Huggins
the vendors
Ceremony Location - Calvary Baptist Church, Roseville - A
Calvary is the church I've attended for 15 years. They did a great job of helping us coordinate the ceremony. Sara Nelson, our assigned wedding coordinator, made sure everything was set up and ran smoothly the day of. I didn't have to worry about a thing.
Officiant - Pastor Sid Veenstra - A+
I've known Pastor Sid for many years through church. He made our premarital counseling sessions fun, and even though, Matt and I have known each other for almost 15 years, we learned a lot more about each other, and he brough up some very good questions and thought provoking conversations that we hadn't discussed prior. Pastor Sid does an extensive amount of premarital counseling including a marriage seminar that is held semi-annually. Even though it's a time commitment, it's well worth it. We even had a session with both sets of parents. Sid is not only a pastor, but a friend of ours as well.
Reception Location - White Bear Yacht Club, Dellwood - A+
The Yacht Club and White Bear Lake have been a part of Matt's family for over 30 years. This is why we chose the location. Linda did a fantastic job in making sure everything was set perfectly, and the evening ran smoothly. Even when we had a tornado warning between salad and dinner, and had to evacuate everyone to the basement, she made sure our guests were well taken care of, and the staff kept serving wine and sparkling juice. How else can you get a second cocktail hour at a wedding????
Caterers - White Bear Yacht Club, Dellwood - A+
Cake Creator - Roseville Bakery - A+
Amy was great to work with. When I brought her the picture of the cake I wanted to replicate, she immediately said, yes, we've done this one before. The cake is wonderful, not too sweet, and their prices couldn't be met or beat by any other bakery we contacted. As part of the price of the cake, we will also receive a replica of the top tier of our wedding cake on or around our first anniversary, so we had no need to preserve and freeze any cake. Now we have a tasty cake to look forward to next May.
Florist - Colleen's Flower Cellar - A+
Colleen did a wonderful job in taking my vision, and creating beautiful florals for our wedding. She was very good about giving me some ideas on how to cut costs, but not sacrifice the elegance I was trying to capture. The bouquets consisted of tulips, peonies, roses, hydrangea and hypernicum berries. When meeting with florists, Colleen's quote came in about 1/3 the price of others. She did a great job!
Photographer - Amber Procaccini Photography - A++++
Amber was my favorite vendor of all. She is so much fun to work with, has great ideas, and truely captured the entire wedding day through photography. She does beautiful work. She brought not only one, but two assistants with her the day of, so we had our own paparazzi. She's great at giving everyone direction when doing formals, and really captures great candid photos during the day.
Videographer - Sunil Shestha (Calvary Baptist Church, Roseville) - A
Sunil does the video technology at Calvary for Sunday services, and was willing to video our wedding using the church's video equipment for a modest fee. So far, I've received the rough cut (so I had something to show during our open house reception in my hometown). Sunil still needs to work on the sound, but so far it looks great.
Reception Band - Bruce A. Henry Dance Band - A+
Bruce Henry and his band did a wonderful job of making our reception so special and keeping the dance floor packed the entire evening. They perform a wide variety of music, and everyone, including our older guests, were out on the floor having a great time.
Reception Linen Rentals - Sweet Memories Rental - A
I worked with Choua on our table linens. They offered the most inexpensive prices I found for plain white linens that were floor length. The linens arrived at the club on time and in great condition. Choua returned my phone calls within a day, and was always friendly to work with.
Invitations, Programs and other print pieces:
DIY Paper materials from Anchor Paper - A
I went to the Anchor Paper Express on University Avenue. Service was great, and the paper quality was exactly what I was looking for. I would recommend anyone buying their paper in the parent sheets, and having Anchor cut it down--count out your cut pieces!! I got home, and am glad I thought to count out my cut pieces to make sure it was all there. I was short 73 invitation backs. I have to say, Anchor was quick to remedy the problem, and I had my invitation backs the next day, but it required an extra trip there. At least it wasn't out of the way on my way home from work.
Ribbon from JKM Ribbon - A+
i found ribbon I liked at Michael's, but when I figured how much it was going to cost me for the invitations, programs and favors, I decided to start searching for a better price. JKM was by far, the best price I found for Offray double faced satin ribbon in 100 yd. spool quantities. What whould have cost me $240 at Michael's, ended up costing me $64.67 including shipping at JKM!
Envelopes from DIY Papers - A-
Tony was easy to work with. My shipment arrived quickly, and they were a great price for inner and outer envelopes with an ivory foil lining. The envelopes I received weren't quite the color ivory I had expected based on the samples I was sent a month before, and Tony worked with with mill to locate the correct ones. He was able to locate the correct color, but by the time he did, I had already had to start addressing my envelopes. I was a little disappointed, but he did try to remedy the problem. I would, however, still recommend them as a good resource for affordable, and elegant invitation envelopes.
Invitation Printing DIY
I've heard from many people that you can't print on stardream paper, but I found a laser printer works just fine (no smudging like an ink jet printer). I carried around my sample invitation for months in my wedding portfolio, and it looks as good as the day I printed it. Invitations turned out great, and I had no problems.
Square Monogram Stickers (for programs and out-of-town bags) printed by Links - A+
This is a printer we use at my workplace a lot. I had planned to DIY these stickers, but my bridesmaid who works in our marketing department, was able to get a quote from them, and after weighing the cost of materials, ink and time I would spend cutting each sticker down, it seemed more time-efficiant to have them printed. They turned out great.
Round Monogram Stickers (for invitations and favors) DIY
Transportation - Premier Transportation - A
Even though Matt and I had a Rolls Royce arranged for our "getaway car" through a family friend, we rented a 16 passenger limo coach for the rest of our wedding party and ushers to travel in from the church to the reception. The coach arrived to the church on time, and was waiting by the time the ceremony was finished. The only small snafu we had was, one of our ushers dropped off the alchoholic beverages for us the night before the wedding, and for some reason they went MIA, and never made it to the limo coach. We still have no idea where they ended up. Oh well.
My Dress - 249 Sample Sale - A+
By far, my dress was my biggest wedding bargain. I really didn't want to spend a lot of money on a dress that I will wear one day (granted it's an important day...but it's just one day). Thanks to my fellow knotties, I found out that Mestad's sponsors a sample sale each fall at the Minneapolis Convention Center. All dresses, regardless of original price, were sold at $249. I found a couture silk gown that retailed for $1,650 for $250! The dress is exactly what I was looking for - simple, elegant and timeless.
Veil - Ebay: from seller delicate-spirits Ebay store - A+
I couldn't justify spending a great deal of money on a piece of fabric attached to a comb that in reality, cost under $5 to make, and that I'll probably only wear during the ceremony. I asked advice when purchasing my dress what color and length veil would look best with my dress. I hopped on E-bay, and found exactly what I was looking for - $17.40 including shipping. When I got it, it looked just like the others at the bridal shops for about a tenth of the price!
Alterations - Louise Kegley - A+
Louise was a sweetheart to work with. She has such an eye for detail, and won't let a dress go out of her door until everything about it is perfect. My alterations made my dress look even more beautiful, and my 13 point bustle was spectacular!
Bridesmaid Dresses - David's Bridal - A
I had a hard time finding bridesmaid dresses that were flattering to a wide range of body types, that weren't strapless, that weren't low cut, and that were around $100. One of my bridesmaids e-mailed me the picture of this dress, and I had discounted it because it looked really short (I swear the model must be 6'2"). Well, when each of the girls tried it on, it looked great. And the best part was they were only $105! A word of advice, don't spend the extra money on the sashes David's sells ($15 each). My bridesmaid volunteered to make the sashes, and the materials at JoAnn's cost a total of $12 for all three. If you (or someone you know) knows how to sew even a little bit, these are easy to make.
Flower Girl Dresses - Chapel of Love - A+
I wanted to make picking out the flower girl dresses a fun and memorable experience for my new nieces. My new sister-in-laws, mother-in-law, the girls and I went to the Mall of America after work to see what we could find, then went to dinner together. After looking at Nordstroms, Macy's and a few other places, we came across these adorable dresses at the Chapel of Love. Even though they're a little more expensive than I was hoping, we were able to get all the dresses in all the girl's sizes (sizes 6-14). The dresses came in about four weeks (less time than the store had quoted us). They looked completely adorable!
Mother of the Bride Dress - Coldwater Creek - A+
Since my parents live 3 hours away, and rarely get to Minneapolis, I was worried my mom would end up feeling pressured to purchase something she didn't really like or would end up spending a lot of money on one. I found my Mom's dress online at Coldwater Creek's website on clearance for $39. We bought it, thinking if it didn't work, we could always return it and keep looking. When she got it and tried it on, it looked perfect. I'm so happy my Mom didn't have to spend a lot of money on a dress she'll probably wear once, and looked beautiful at the wedding.
Tuxedos - Savvi Formalwear - A+
We reserved out tuxes through Savvi Formalwear at Rosedale Mall. Everything went very smoothly. We received the grooms tux free, and each of the guys received $25 off their tux, plus the ringbearer's tux (including shoes and accessories) was only $59.99. To sweeten the deal, we also received a $100 Target gift card for reserving by a certain date. All the tuxes came in with no major problems--just some slight alterations needed in the store---Matt had each of the guys try on their tux before leaving the shop, so we were sure they would all fit, and they had all their pieces. I have such an organized groom :) We went with Savvi mainly because their distribution center is local, so if we did have any problems, it could be easily taken care of before the wedding. All our guys looked great in their ensembles!
Jewelers:
mine: Shane Company - A and Gloria's Jewelry in St. Paul - A+
My engagement and wedding bands are from Shane Company. Matt had no problems with them. Matt received wonderful service from Gloria's Jewelry. They located my center stone diamond based on what he was looking for, and replaced the crown that comes standard with the Shane rings, with a much sturdier one (we don't want that diamond to fall out). Even though the bands are not from Gloria's, they will cover any warranty work that may need to be done (as they also distribute from the same company that made the bands for Shane Co.)
his: Ebay: from seller diamondexchange_jc Ebay store - A+
When Matt and I went ring shopping, he had a pretty good idea of what he wanted. We went to a few stores to look at styles, get sized and compare prices. I found pretty much the same exact ring we had seen in the stores on Ebay, only instead of $300 it was $45, and included the same lifetime guarantee the stores offered. Matt was okay with saving some money, and when it arrived, it was exactly what he wanted.
Hair and Makeup Artist - Amber from Smart and Chic Bride - A
Amber did a great job on my hair and make up. At my trial, my hair turned out exactly like I wanted. On the day of, she added quite a few more curls, and the bun wasn't as loose as I would have liked, but it still looked great. I didn't have airbursh makeup, as Amber isn't yet trained in how to do that, but hopes to be soon. She used regular foundation, but it still looked flawless, and my makeup lasted through the entire evening. I was very pleased with the outcome, and how it turned out in our pictures. Another big plus was having someone come to the church rather than going to a salon. We didn't have to allow extra time for travel, and it really wasn't that much more expensive than a salon would have been.
Wedding Coordinator - Me!!
Honeymoon Destination - Alaska!! - A+
Registries - Macy's, Target and Fleet Farm