This wedding. There are many reasons why a designer would love a wedding like this, but when it's your own family, weddings like this are so much more.
It's no secret that Alex holds a special place in my heart. He is hard working, determined, kind, humble, and loving. All of these characteristics, I know, were set in place by another man who holds the deepest spot in my heart: Johnny. Alex walks like him. He smiles the same mega watt smile that crinkles his eyes, like him. He laughs like Johnny. And he loves Deanna in the same way Johnny loved Dottie.
Designing a wedding for Alex and his dearest Deanna was everything I could have hoped for for them (outside of the 95 degree weather that day). In determining where the wedding reception would take place, we tossed around the idea of local venues, but none of them fit Deanna and Alex. Then, it clicked. Deanna and Alex had just purchased a farm with a long gravel road, complete with an old wooden bridge and a lot of prairie. It was the perfect location, and although there was a ton of work to be done to the farm, Alex and Deanna knew it was exactly where they wanted to celebrate with their family and friends. They mowed and painted and planted and cleaned. It was all a labor of love.
We designed the day with every element of their lives included in it. From children feeding Alex's goats, to wildflowers that Deanna loved and vintage plates collected by family, to amazing food made by the families to dancing under the stars, it was perfect in every detail.
And even though Johnny wasn't there, he was.
He was in every way.
A single peony from Johnny's garden.
Design/Flowers: Johnny & Dottie | Photography: Shay Photography | Stationary Suites: Ivory Isle Designs | Ceremony: St. Edwards Church | Reception: Lessman Farm
