Winter Wedding: Mary + Jonah, Full Planning
Date: December 21, 2019
Venue: Cider Gallery
Caterer: 2 Chefs
Florist: Stems Event Flowers
Photo/Video: With You Beloved
Musicians: Forte String Quartet
Makeup: Kelsey Shannon, Radiate Beauty
Cake: Baked by Bride’s aunt
Rentals: Ultrapom
Linens: Linens by Marlen
How we met
I first met Jonah at the Beers of the Kaw event where I had a gift card for a free decor plan. He debated on whether or not his fiancé would appreciate something like this–and I am so glad he decided to pull the trigger! A couple months later we met to discuss what they had won from me, a decor plan for their big day. This conversation quickly turned into working together for Full Service Planning!
Mary knew exactly what she wanted–a winter wedding that flirts with Christmas (her favorite time of year). Their wedding was on December 21, 2019 at Cider Gallery. They planned on having a more intimate night with 80 guests, a full service dinner, string quartet, all inside a beautiful art gallery. But that is not all Mary knew she wanted. She was dead set on filling the Cider Gallery with live evergreen trees, twinkling in white lights to fill the room with the winter wonderland spirit. She asked me if I thought she was crazy for this request, “uh, no… I am sure we can figure that out!”
We quickly got to work on her style plan with pinecones, pops of red berries, deep shades of green, the wedding party dressed in navy and candles absolutely everywhere! As I started working on this decor plan I quickly remembered how much I love this step in the process. I love hearing about the dreams that have swirled in your head and combing through all the pins you have excitedly collected! But more importantly, I love the challenge of streamlining the ideas into a cohesive and beautiful vision that fully captures what my couple is after. Jonah respectfully nodded along for most of this decision making. He poked a few questions in here and there but Mary was mostly running the show at this point. In the end, this is the vision board we ended with.
Vendor Selection
With the style set we were ready to get started with our vendor search! We needed a caterer, florist, photographer, hair and makeup and musicians. We were able to quickly nail down the caterer and florist. Mary had experienced 2 Chefs at several work events, and I absolutely love working with Stems Event so I pointed Mary in that direction. The couple’s friends had used With You Beloved for video so we met up with them and it was a great match! We eventually found Forte String Quartet and they were fabulous! I had so much fun going with Jonah and Mary to preview their music selection–the tears were flowing! Hair and makeup was a last minute addition for this wedding. I had just watched Kelsey Hurd kill it at a wedding I had earlier in December so I had no hesitation in passing along her info. We found Kelsey Shannon at Radiate Beauty online and she did a fantastic job! Combine all these powerhouse vendors with Jennifer Burkhead at Cider Gallery and we had the dream team!
The biggest challenges
Every wedding has its own unique set of challenges, and that is what makes my job so fun! I love to dig in and help figure out the sticky stuff. For this wedding I would say that the floor plan was the biggest challenge. We wanted to have a nice sit down dinner with a nice intimate feeling, without feeling cramped. We also wanted to have open space for the guests to experience all of the amazing art that was on display. We visited the venue a couple of times and twisted and turned our layout even more times. We finally found a winning layout to optimize space while still leaving enough breathing room.
The other challenge was definitely the trees! For starters, Christmas tree farms are NOT open in May when I was trying to do my research so we had to hold our breath and wait until the appropriate season to be sure we could pull off the dream of getting 10 trees, wrapped in lights to fill the room. Once early December hit, it was time to buy our trees. We ended up getting them at Menards. The price was right and they had a couple varieties to choose from. Next thing you know, I have 10 trees in buckets of water leaning against the side of my house! All I had to do now, was keep them alive!! Luckily my amazing husband, Adam, is a master gardener so things felt promising. However, the tree challenge was not over. I had to unwrap the trees just in time for them to “fluff” enough and also get them all wrapped in lights. Plus, Adam had to build custom tree stands for all of them. For about a week, this what my front deck looked like.
The final hurdle with the trees was stringing all 10 trees with lights. I vastly under estimated how long that would take and left it to be done after the dress rehearsal. If anyone asks for 10 trees again, I will definitely start stringing lights sooner!! While this was one of the biggest challenges, the payoff was huge! The Cider Gallery looked amazing filled with these trees!
The day of
We finally made it to the day of. I had several copies of the itinerary printed and had handwritten my own timeline several times to be sure it was dialed in. I also hired my cousin Natalie to help with this wedding. We had A LOT of decor to setup so I knew I needed an extra set of hands. I would have been dead without her! We got busy at 8 am, starting with staging the tables, unpacking dozens of candle holders and candles and spreading them evenly across the tables. We unpacked the cute little glass reindeer and sorted out all the pinecones. By this time, Adam arrived with the trees and got them set up in a breeze! Then he helped me hang the pipe and drapes before I cut him loose. Natalie and I took a break for lunch while Jen at Stems started to setup. By the time we got back I was astonished at how amazing the tables were coming together! Jen nails the vision every time! Natalie and I quickly got back to work folding napkins, unpacking silverware and getting the adorable cedar wreath place cards in each spot. We also had to fill the hurricane vases with water and floating cranberries, decorate the welcome table, prep the cocktail tables and hand the pinecone aisle markers.
With the decor mostly in order I hurried over to check on the wedding party. They were getting ready at a beautiful Airbnb at the corner of 19th and Barker. Of course this group was right on time! I would not have expected anything less after spending a year with Mary and Jonah. These two have it together! Mary looked stunning in her classic white gown, velvet blue heels, hair curled and pulled half up and a natural look to her makeup. Jonah and the guys were just getting started with their photos, buttoning up shirts, putting on ties and shoes. We got Mary out the door to head to Cider Gallery for their first look. Meanwhile I tidied up the honeymoon suite and got the rest of the wedding party ready to go. Jonah and Mary did a first look before they were joined by the rest of the wedding party for photos and then eventually family came to capture a handful of shots before the ceremony. Then we got everyone upstairs to wait, while Natalie and I got the guests seated and ready.
As the chairs filled up, Natalie and I lined the aisle with candles. I could hear Mary’s voice saying “there is no such thing as too many candles!” So I made sure that aisle was dripping in candlelight. When I finally took a breath and stepped back to see our finished product I quickly teared up. This place looked amazing!!!
We were finally ready to get this party started! The wedding party all came downstairs, Forte strings started to play. Mary was of course the last to go down the aisle. I looked at her, holding back my tears (not very well) and told her that we did it! It looked amazing, the chairs were full of her loved ones and her wedding day dreams were right in front of her. I fixed her train, reminded her to walk slow and sent her on her way. There ceremony was so sweet, with a close family friend as the officiant and another friend with a beautiful toast. The best part had to of been Jonah’s vows. At one point he had Mary practically doubled over in laughter as he poked fun at all the politicians in the room. They sealed the deal with the kiss and we were ready to move onto the reception.
Natalie and I and the Cider Gallery staff flipped the room in no time! We had all the tables moved over, candles repurposed from the aisle to the tables, place cards straightened, water and wine set, aisle garland draped on the bar and cake table and the slideshow started! The “flip” always feels like mission impossible, but with a meticulous plan in place, it goes smoothly!
The guests enjoyed the night, looking at art and making great conversation. Mary gave a toast, the newlyweds danced and then everyone sat for dinner. The 2 Chefs staff was incredible! They served the room quickly, kept water full and of course serving delicious food! I kept the room happy by keeping wine glasses full and attending to anyone’s needs. When we were ready, we signaled everyone to join us for cake and more art viewing. The cake was adorable! 2 little gingerbread people and candied cranberries dressed the cake, made so thoughtfully by Mary’s aunt.
Once the final guest left, I quickly cleaned up, however I wouldn’t doubt that you may still find pine needles in between the wood flooring at Cider Gallery (sorry!). This wedding was a true labor of love. Mary especially poured her heart and soul into this wedding. And Jonah supported her every move, keeping his calm the whole way through. I absolutely adore this couple and wish them a lifetime of happiness. It was a perfect wedding during the most wonderful time of the year!
