Rooted in Love

Here's the background to not only the theme of this blog, but to the theme of our September wedding that's coming up. Warning: this is long...really long  :)
Now I know you might hear a lot about the wedding...but the reason for that is how incredibly special our theme is. I've always known I wanted an offbeat type of wedding. I never pictured getting married in a church, or even indoors for that matter. I think there's something natural and beautiful about having a ceremony outdoors in God's landscape. I also have always been prone to 1. do what everyone else ISN'T doing 2. go above and beyond and 3. be extremely crafty and creative. So, when I met a man who loved the outdoors and expanded my love for nature I was truly blessed. When Joe and I started dating he was still in school for landscape design and horticulture. We'd go on walks and I'd constantly be quizzing him on the names of plants, trees and flowers. To this day it amazes me how he remembers them all...however, what amazes me more is that God created each and every plant, tree and flower. What a creative God he is! 


But every major moment in Joe and my relationship has involved being out in nature....of course we would get married outdoors!

Rebecca Park is where we had our first date, our first kiss and where he asked me to be his wife

So naturally (haha, naturally...get it?) we decided to go with the nature/tree/roots/heritage theme. And from the moment we realized we would spend our lives together we knew we wanted to get married in September. That time of year holds a special place in our heart because that's when we started dating...the smell and look of fall is really the most amazing time ever. If only it could be September in Minnesota all year :)

The Woods Chapel, where we're getting married!

A mighty oak tree is the symbol of our wedding that represents huge, strong roots...being our friends, family, and loved ones who have made us who we are today and the strength that is our relationship with each other and our Heavenly Father. 

Ephesians 3:13-21 is the basis to the theme and the prayer to always, no matter what, help keep us grounded in our faith as we embark in marriage.

Instead of a traditional guest book, Joe and I will have a personalized tree/root print so guests can literally sign the roots...symbolizing their role in our lives. Instead of a book that gets stored away, we'll have a beautiful wall decoration to constantly remind us of those we cherish dearly :)  (no, it won't say Eric & Amy...and it'll be a beautiful brown)

It's amazing how much a wedding makes you think back to how you got to where you are, how you want to celebrate, and who you want to celebrate with. We want our wedding to be a tribute in a way to those roots that built us. It also helps that I love all things vintage :) When building my wedding base I started with my parents wedding. I remember thinking at a young age that I wanted my wedding to look like theirs (minus the in a church part). My parents were married in November 1978. Now remember, it was the 70's...but I just love the brown, ivory, champagne colors. (And no, I don't consider the 70's vintage...we'll get to what I consider vintage later). But, my Mother's laced, ivory dress was gorgeous and what a lucky girl I am that she's letting me use part of it for my veil. It might have been impossible, even if I tried, to go away from the style that my Mom had and has. I am in fact, her "mini-me". And here's where it gets pretty emotional for me :) Every little girl dreams of her wedding day, in all it's magical splendor. Well, thanks to my parents I will in fact get everything I've ever dreamed of for that day. Don't get me wrong, I am not the spoiled diva that many brides can be. Every step of the wedding process I have been overjoyed and overwhelmed as people have come together to support Joe and I. And luckily my Mother raised me to be a thrifty little garage saler. Every thrifty, crafty bone in my body actually comes down through my Grandma, to my Mother and straight into me! So I couldn't help but plan a wedding that was crafty and different than any wedding I've ever been to. 

So back to the "mini-me" part...after Joe and I got engaged in December I spent hours and hours looking at blogs trying to find the pictures of what I've always envisioned. I put it all together in a book, brought it to my parents and pitched my vision. It took about a minute for them to "get it" and be on-board. Well, I take that back...Dad got the western hoedown impression, and he might still picture that, but it'll make sense to him later. But it was almost as if I didn't even need to show my Mom the pictures. We have this creepy way of speaking without finishing sentences. We've never teamed up in charades, but I'm guessing we would whoop up on anybody who tried to go against us! I've heard horror stories of Mothers and Daughters butting heads in planning a wedding. But I don't have the faintest idea what that would be like because since December we have been attached at the hip and loving every minute of it. It helps that we were bff's before all this...but I barely have a thought without including her in it. I love that she gets the quirky things I want to do, helps me make these visions come true, yet still keeps me grounded. We both have a vision of creating a wedding and reception that's not just focused on a color scheme and pretty flowers, but really transforming the venue into a rustic/vintage experience. We're not half-assers and it's impossible for us do anything simple...but together, Mom and I can do anything...and you can bet it won't be lame-o! Love that Mama! And Joe and I want nothing more than to honor our loved ones whom we treasure so dearly. 

Mom, Me, Dad and brother, Dusty

A wedding is ultimately an expression of love between two people before the whole world and we want that love to permeate in everything that happens on our wedding day. One of the biggest things Joe and I wanted to focus on too was making it more of a party than a stuffy wedding. We want it to feel like one of our bbq's at home. So it was a no brainer when we decided to go with Chuckwagon Catering who will be cooking on-site and out of a real chuck wagon. Guests will walk through buffet style, grabbing pulled pork, corn on the cob, coleslaw, etc. I smile ear to ear thinking about it! Especially because we didn't want people sitting down to eat food they couldn't pronounce the name of. Who doesn't love some good ol' bbq?!

To keep things feeling rustic/vintage/down home I've chosen to do fun things like wildflowers/sunflowers, mason jars, handmade wood signage, fruit pies instead of cake, big chunks of wood, lace crochet, burlap, handmade boutonnieres, vintage postcards, antique suitcase, doileys, and even a photo booth (so you get the idea). My Mom and I LOVE thrift store shopping, garage saling and antiquing. We've spent the summer on so many fun adventures. Our favorite is chatting with the cute antique store owners as they try to help us find treasures for such a unique style of wedding. Collecting vintage treasures to decorate with is another way for us to honor the past, reuse beautiful things and contribute to that rustic/vintage experience I'm going for. And it's amazing how all the right pieces have just fallen in our laps. I can't even begin to describe the bargains, random finds and tiny miracles that keep happening to us to keep contributing toward the big day! But the contribution I am most looking forward to are the pictures of Joe and my relatives on their wedding day. We've asked all our relatives to send us a couples picture of their special day to go on "the wedding wall". A wall of pictures in mismatched antique-y ivory frames...fun!


Our Wedding Website


But that's all I got for now...can't spoil all the surprises :) 


I can't wait for the day and to see it all come together. Joe and I are truly blessed!!!