We held the ceremony at our church here in Des Moines, and the reception at the Sticks furniture work space just a bit further west. Plymouth church is a beautiful old traditional building, while the reception site is glass, steel, and concrete - very modern. The vision I had was a contrast in themes - traditional meets modern, spring garden meets urban and edgy, casual comfort food meets elegant presentation...etc.
I spent months collecting vintage vases (close to 200) from thrift stores and flea markets to use for the reception, and Jeri and Jodi at Gateway did an amazing job filling them out with gorgeous wildflower-inspired greenery and blooms. They even tucked in some Kale, and a couple of artichokes! (in my bouquet).
The catering/floral/event planning team at Gateway Market did a great job transforming the Sticks space in to a lush evening "garden" space with a bit of an urban/edgy feel from the glass and steel backdrop. They catered a pulled pork barbeque dinner, with a whole array of sides. We had two great wines - Crios de Susana Balbo Torrontes (a fabulously floral-fruity but relatively dry white), and a Cabernet-Carmenere blend by Yali (a spicy-smoky-fruity red that went perfectly with the barbecued pork). We did a veritable smorgasbord of beers, everything from the typical Bud/lite to Sierra Nevada, to Guinness, to Schlitz (at Nick's insistence...went over suprisingly well).
Our favors were handmade vanilla-sea salt caramels made by a fellow Etsian, PixieLaneCottage, which we wrapped up in pillow boxes with a monogram label that I designed. Caramels are my absolute favorite, and these were DIVINE! :)
My very best friend in the world, who is a pastry chef in the Bay Area currently on hiatus while raising her son (with another one on the way!), generously offered to make a 5-tier (plus extras) cake for us! It was vanilla with a raspberry creme filling, and SO delicious.
I'll quit rambling now and let the photos cover the rest for me. :)
