I love the story Katie + Ben shared about choosing a wedding location – so similar to the story of my hubby and I! Ben + Katie originally wanted a destination wedding in Italy, although when the realized that would keep too many of their loved ones from attending, they began to look at Sonoma, CA – very similar landscape but much closer. However there were still too many that wouldn’t be able to make the trip – especially their grandparents who they couldn’t imagine getting married without. So they decided to get married in their home state of Wisconsin, in the very town that they first met during their freshman year of college at Madison. Once the stumbled across the picturesque Door Creek Orchard with stunning panoramic view of the Wisconsin countryside, they knew they found their perfect location! A beautiful weeping willow to have the ceremony under and dinner later in the orchard surrounded by apple trees, just perfect!
I am also loving Katie’s beautiful pink wedding dress! And speaking of pink – the next 2 days are all about wedding dresses with a hint of color! So pretty + totally unique – love it! Congrats to Katie + Ben and thanks so much to Anda Marie for the lovely photos!
From Katie, “With the venue booked, the rest started to slowly fall into place. Luckily, we were engaged for nearly 2 years, which allowed plenty of time to research dresses, shoes, decorations, and all of the other fun stuff. Our photographer, the amazing Anda Marie was the first to be booked and then came the caterer, the Underground Food Collective, whose creative and local approach to food was the perfect fit for our wedding. As things moved along, the wedding design started becoming the perfect fusion of vintage chic meets Italian countryside, with a pinch of Wisconsin culture thrown in.”
Love that their dog Miller was the ring bearer! :)
My mom and I spent the year leading up to the wedding searching antique markets and websites for vintage finds like the vintage apple crates. Other vintage items, such as a few of the tablecloths and glass jars were my Great Grandma’s, salvaged years ago from her attic by my mother. Several other personalized items were purchased from my all-time favorite site, Etsy. Whenever possible we also tried to incorporate items from the orchard, like the raspberries in the lemonade or the various fruits in the jam favors.
Overall, a lot of hard work and time went into all of the DIY items, but I felt it turned out better than I ever could have imagined. Of course, there were some hiccups along the way, as I knew there might be, but most went unnoticed. Usually you as the bride are the only one who notices when something goes wrong, so it’s best to not sweat the small stuff. Just try your best to savor every moment, because in a blink of an eye it will be done – it really goes by so fast.
Such a beautiful day with family + friends! Congrats to Katie + Ben!!
vendors
photography: Anda Marie // venue name: Door Creek Orchard // wedding dress: BCBG Max Azria // bride's shoes: Vera Wang Lavender // hair stylist: Alan Koa Salon // groom attire: J.Crew // groom's shoes: Cole Haan // catering: Underground Food Collective // music: Baba Ghanooj // officiant: Reverend Marcia Boyer // veil: Be Something New // tie: J.Crew // dog bow tie: Silly Buddy // leash: Silly Buddy // ring book: AllieRuth // flowers: Daffodil*Parker // vintage table linens: great grandmother's and Midwest Textiles // day-of coordinator: Sunshine Daydream Events // invitations: Save the Date - sketched by the bride and designed by Orange 81 to design + print, booklet invitation: minted, wood print invites: Letterpunch Design on Zazzle
She made a lovely bride!
what a beautiful day! (and that food looks delish…)
Yayy!! LOVEEE this wedding, as much as I love Anda. Nothing short of amazing!!
Jen, thank you so much for the wonderful feature! Katie and Ben did a beautiful job with their very personal wedding. I could not have been more honored to capture it and to now see it featured here!
I love the invitations, the design, and the name-tags with the apples. Very nice and thanks for sharing it with us. Love it!
What a sweet wedding! I love the vintage apple crates and charming orchard-themed details! Beautiful!
Love the minimalist decor, and the shoes are killer!
Beautiful location and stunning photographs. So creative. I especially like the first one :)
beautiful pink wedding gown!
I love everything about this, the orchard shots and the pink wedding dress. Anda captured all of this amazingness so well!! Love it!!
Thank you so much for featuring our wedding – it was featured so beautifully! GWS is my favorite wedding blog and I got so much inspiration from your site while planning this wedding, so it’s such a special treat to see it on your blog, I feel very honored. And this wouldn’t have happened without Anda’s amazing photography – so a big thank you to her as well!
wow, under that willow tree is gorgeous. love the location :)
Love this wedding, everything about it is so cute! Can anyone post where the invites and Save the Dates are from? They are beautifully done.
The Save the Date in the upper right corner was a design I initially sketched based on a vintage fruit crate label – I then hired Orange 81 on Etsy to do the graphic design and printing. The booklet invitation is actually a holiday minibook design from Minted, but I redesigned it as a wedding minibook invitation (at the time they didn’t offer many wedding minibook invites – they now offer several cute designs). The wood print invites are by Letterpunch Design on Zazzle.