A Warm + Dreamy Minneapolis Wedding for a Book-Loving Bride

“Steph + Cooper are an incredible, dynamic couple who just exude joy. Their wedding day was chock full of not only special, stylish details but also just the most fun you’ve ever seen,” photographer Alyssa of a. lentz photography says of this sweet, unique, and dreamy Minneapolis, MN celebration. “I’m still smitten with this wedding five months later.”

Steph + Cooper first heard of each other in 2013 through mutual college friends but didn’t really connect 6 years later when they crossed paths at an alumni meet for Steph’s college track team. “A month later on my birthday, Cooper DM’d me to say happy birthday,” Steph remembers, “and that was the start of us.”

With the help of planners from Revel + Flourish the couple brought their radiant vibe to airy, white-walled venue The Whim and filled the day with warm color + and so many unique personal touches.

“It was really important to us that we showcased our personalities through our details,” the couple says. The bride rocked specially embroidered accessories. There was a brilliant DIY bookcase seating chart filled with books that each had a guest’s name + table number along the spine. And a meaningful beer bottle collection became part of the reception decor.

We have a feeling this one is gonna say with us for a long time — just like it did for photographer Alyssa — thanks to all of her beautiful photos of the occasion.

Let’s take a look!

The First Look

There are lots of reasons we love a first look moment. Those few private minutes together before everything begins are priceless.

Our Favorite Memory
Steph: My favorite moment of the wedding day was waking up next to Cooper the day of our wedding and feeling no stress, no nerves, nothing negative. I was so clear headed and ready to just have fun. I went into the day thinking “if it’s not done, it doesn’t matter”.
Cooper: My favorite moment of the wedding actually came the next day. I pushed Steph for a much larger guest count than she was comfortable with at the beginning but being the amazing woman she is she agreed to have more people. We were very fortunate to have everything go incredibly smoothly on wedding day so we never once worried about anything. When we were driving home the next day she turned to me at one point and said, “that was definitely worth the stress” and it was at that moment that I knew after a year of stress and planning that we were finally in our happily ever after. Some of my fondest memories in our relationship in general have been incredibly simple, often just a few words but sometimes even wordless exchanges where we’re both happy together in a moment.

We are obsessed with Steph’s bridal accessory choices. Those sheer, embroidered, fingerless wedding gloves and that bridal headband from Lelet NY? Modern bridal perfection.

Also, LOVING Steph’s bridal hairstyle by Slays by Dray and that smokey-eyed makeup look by Brittany Ross MUA.

The Ceremony

Style Society Bloom brought so much warmth and contemporary whimsy to the space with the day’s pink, burgundy, and rust orange florals.

A MASSIVE round of applause for Steph’s shimmery, pearly, metallic gold wedding nails!

“Before dress shopping I had fallen in love with a specific dress designer but I knew that they were out of my budget,” Steph remembers of how her dress shopping journey began. “I went into dress shopping thinking that I would try on some stuff to see my size and what looked good on me and then I would go online and find a used dress by said designer.”

“I made appointments at two shops in Minneapolis and brought my mom, my matron of honor, and maid of honor (if you’ve ever watched Say Yes to the Dress, you know not to bring a lot of personalities). The first shop was a bust but I had at least figured out what I liked.”

“My experience at the second shop was completely different,” Steph says of her appointment at a&bé bridal shop. “The stylist that I worked with was amazing. After talking for a bit she pulled my dream dress on the first try! I tried on a couple of other dresses to make sure that I didn’t feel that way about anything else. I ended up with a gorgeous Jenny Yoo dress with a big bow on the back.”

“That night, I unfollowed all the bridal boutiques and dress designers on social media because I knew that I didn’t need to see anything else.”

How cool that Cooper paired his custom orange wedding suit with some fun kicks from Asics!

After “I Do”

“Perhaps one of the best and most thoughtful details of the day was the seating chart,” recalls photographer Alyssa. “Rows and rows of hand-painted books with each guest’s name listed on the spines – a perfect detail since the bride is a prolific reader!”

“We DIY’d the books for the bookshelf seating chart with help from my younger brother and his partner,” Steph says. “We hand painted every book and spent hours applying names and numbers to the spines.”

Have a book lover in your life who would go crazy for this seating chart idea? Keep our book lover gift guide handy for their next birthday!

“I knew I didn’t want just another boring suit rental for my wedding and on a whim I reached out to Anthony of A.Stone Tailor to see if I could get something custom,” says Cooper of how he found his way to this warm-tone look. “I couldn’t have been more thrilled.”

“I lost track of how many compliments the suit got on our wedding day and am so grateful for Anthony.”

Steph’s bridal party chose their own bridesmaid dresses based on the warm + moody wedding color palette. “They killed it!” she says. We couldn’t agree more.

“I’ve been following the Green Wedding Shoes blog since I was in high school (2012),” Steph remembers. “I used to browse the DIY section and add them to my Pinterest (I never made a single craft lol).”

“Once we got engaged I used the blog to help inspire me for our own wedding, so to have my own wedding featured feels like a full circle moment.“

(Love getting a peek at Steph’s strappy wedding heels from Jimmy Choo.)

The Reception

Guests enjoyed a delicious dinner from Crave Catering at tables adorned with decor from Style Society.

Our Musical Choices
Processional
OTHERSIDE by Beyonce
Recessional
Always Forever by Cults
First Dance
Real Love Baby by Father John Misty

“All of the beer bottles that we used as bud vases were from beers that we (mainly Cooper) drank throughout our years together; every single one came from us,” Steph says. “Our unity ceremony was a beer ceremony that Cooper curated to fit our tastes (and it tasted amazing).”

Our Advice
No one will remember your wedding the same way that you did. When your guests think back to your wedding they’re going to remember how they felt while they got to celebrate with you. Your guests are coming because they love you so make sure they can feel you throughout. Stay true to who you are as a couple; if it doesn’t feel like you, don’t do it.

Congrats, Steph + Cooper! Your dreamy Minneapolis wedding was beyond beautiful. And this this full-circle GWS moment is so special for us, too! We’re glad we could provide some inspo for this stunning day. Wishing you two nothing but the best!