Local Wedding

It was very important to us to do as much business locally as we could for the wedding. And I am proud to say we did about 95% of our business that way. So here is the breakdown:

Bridal Wear:

Gown and head piece – Bridal Productions

Jewelry – All were gifts from Chad and purchased at Mark’s Jewelry in St. Lucas

Garders were ordered from KD Rae

Shoes were a custom order from Nike

Grooms Wear:

Tuxes were all ordered from Amundson’s.  And since my boys had grown since measuring they were more than accommodating in getting a size larger for us. 

I gave Chad and the boys matching tie pins with their initials on them which came from Hammel Jewelers.  Chad lost his but that is another story!  I also gave Chad a set of cuff links from Hammel Jewelers.

Bridal Party:

Dresses were ordered from Bridal Productions.  All fit nearly perfect except for the girl who lost a bunch of weight J

The tuxes were brown and as mentioned above they came from Amundson’s.  Becasue they were brown we got brown socks for everyone which we also got from Amundson’s.  And yes, I probably bought them about 6 months ago.

The gifts for the bridal party included:

                Personalized make up bags from KD Rae

                Jewelry from KD Rae

                Personalized shaver bags from KD Rae

                Bar glasses that were engraved at Nordic Lasers

                Eclips gift certificates

                Ball caps from the Ossian County Club

                For my boys an ITunes card from Sim’s TV & Electronics, and a Wal Mart gift card

Decorations:

Party Island were our go to girls.  Tammy and Jill are great.  They are there for set up and take down.  I wanted to use burlap on the tables and I was able to get rolls of it from Pinter’s Pumpkins and Gardens.  I also picked up some candle votives from KD Rae that were brown and green. We also used some hen and chicks on the tables.  Mason made some boxes out of old barn boards which we lined with burlap and placed the hen and chicks. The plants were raised in Calmar at Chad’s aunt’s house.  They were really fun and cheap!  Our name cards on the head and family tables were rocks from one of Wiltgen’s quarries that my sister in law Amy painted on.  Again fun but cheap.  They were fun projects that allowed us to put our signature touch on the day.

Catering:

Lynch BBQ did all of our catering and we also got some tables and chairs from them.  The meal was great.  We had pork loin, corn, mashed potatoes, pasta salad, and buns. 

The rest of the tables we needed came from Ness in Waukon.  He was a life saver.

The cake was ordered from Pinter’s Pumpkins and Gardens.  It was delicious.  Our cake serving set was purchased at KD Rae and our cake toper came from Hallmark.

We got all of our cups and napkins from the Bargain Outlet. You can order most any color you can imagine from them.  And the price is right. 

I found some green oval buckets from Happiness Is.  I wanted three of them and they were able to order more for me. Two pails were used for silverware at the head of the serving lines and the third one was used for snack mix.  The pails were green and I had Letterwerks add “The Wiltgen’s” in brown on them.  I got scoops for the snack mix from Ace Kitchen Place.

Printing:

I feel that all I need to say here is that the staff at Letterwerks rocks. We got our invitations (wedding and shower), thank yous (shower and wedding when we are ready), cups, koozies, and programs (all paper and photos), and our save the date magnets.  They work fast and they are great at design.

Registry:

We were registered at Ace Kitchen Place, JC Penney, The Perfect Edge, and Agora Arts.  The nice thing about these local stores is that they will call you with questions and even tell you if you need to come in and register for more!

The Bar:

The important stuff right? The beer was ordered from Barney’s which then came from local distributors.  The liquor was ordered from JR’s on the Rocks.  Pop came from 7Up.  Ice was from King’s Kubes.  And the Chamber ambassadors were our bar tenders.  We owe them so much for all their hard work.

Flowers:

The Country Garden did all the flowers.  They were exactly what I wanted and of course beautiful.  My bouquet included white gerberas and roses.  I had my grandma Courtney’s rosary and a necklace of her included in my arrangement.  I also purchased different types of ribbon from the Country Garden.

Random thoughts:

Our unity candle was a project.  The taper candles came from Vanberia.  We ordered a vase from KD Rae and I actually had a hard time finding a candle to fit it.  The solution was a candle from Ridgeway’s Country Star which was placed on top of coffee beans that came from Java John’s. 

I am sure I am forgetting stuff.  Feel free to ask us any questions.  I would challenge anyone receipt for receipt on costs.  I firmly believe everything you need is right here and you won’t be disappointed. 

Bride's Blog

Brides Blog: Day 4

I really don’t even know where to start.  The day was gorgeous and most everything went according to plan.  I was not even aware of one flaw until long after it had been taken care of.  We have some of the best friends and family anyone could ask for!  Oh, and I did get some flak for brining my wedding binder with me on Saturday – but I needed it twice. I may have a hard time parting with it now.  It has been my constant companion for the past 9 months!

The day started at 8 a.m. with the girls at Eclips.  Most of us had both our hair and makeup done.  A little pampering to start the day is always fun.  Everyone looked beautiful.  And the crew at Eclips is superb.  Thanks to Keri I have nice nails – no one needs to know it has taken me months to get there! I guess until now.  Jody is my main girl when it comes to my hair.  I don’t even get an opinion.  I sit in her chair and she does what she feels is best.  And she knows me well enough that she can successfully do that. I also had my knuckles waxed last week too – not painful at all and it cured my man hands!

Arriving at the church was a bit of reality.  When I walked into the basement there were already a few people there waiting for me.  As much as I love being the center of attention (sarcasm) it was the first time for me during the day that told me this is our day.  I took a moment and looked around the church to check out the flowers which also gave me a moment alone to take it all in.

Thing One and Thing Two took on the challenge of getting me into my dress.  It had a corset back which means a lot of standing still and being pulled and tugged on.  But those girls know what they are doing.  Somewhere in the midst of all the wardrobe changes Chad’s brothers delivered a gift to me from my groom.  Chad sent me a beautiful set of diamond earrings which went nicely with the diamond necklace he had given me for my birthday.  He loves to buy jewelry and of course I love to get it. Chad is a very generous and kind man and I hope that throughout our life together I can reciprocate that.

As I have mentioned my boys walked me down the isle. As I stood waiting for our turn my heart was just pounding.  Even Mason mentioned he was a bit nervous.  Of course we made it.  When I reached Chad he was shaking and I am sure his heart was racing just as much as mine was.  The ceremony went well.  I found myself just trying to focus on what I was supposed to be doing and of course breathing that I was not even paying attention to the things we spent time on planning.  Songs, readings, etc. 

The reception was beautiful as well.  The food was great and the beer was cold.  What more could you ask for really? The band was fun and kept many people dancing all night. I still think of Slap and Tickle in their tights and 80’s hair and laugh.  What a night.

There were so many people that I did not see and I apologize for that. It really means so much to us both that there were so many people there to celebrate with us. We love you all.

Sunday was exhausting but we got everything done.  It has taken me a couple of days to get some sense of organization around our house but we are getting there.