Jessica & Levi

Please share a bit about your story.
please use the following examples: how you fell in love, the proposal, something fun and quirky about the honeymoon
Jess & Levi both grew up in Milaca & knew of eachother but never associated with one another until their college years. They were both single & apparently had tons in common, so their moms thought. Their moms tried hassling them to go on a date for quite a while until finally Jess caved & added Levi on facebook in hopes their moms would let it go. They started chatting & realized wow they do have a lot of similiar interests, so Levi asked Jess on a date. He was working in Las Vegas at the time, so they became really good friends & talked everyday straight for 9 months. Once Levi got bored with Vegas, he decided it was time to move back to Minnesota, so thats when they decided it was time to make it official. For the next three years they both moved all over the place chasing their dreams and pursueing a long distance relationship. But finally, they both ended up together in La Crosse, WI. They decided since they were in their permanent location, it was time to start traveling the world together & go backpacking! On their second trip they went to Colorado and thats where Levi proposed! It was on the 3rd day, they went over 3 mountain tops and camped at a lake that night. Jess was exhausted, but Levi convinced her to go down & check out the lake & thats when he proposed. It was perfect. She suspected it could happen anytime since they had been together 6 years but wanted it to be a surprise, so she never asked too many questions.

For their honeymoon, they flew out the morning after the wedding & went to Yosemite National Park in California! Not the typical beach honeymoon. They saw a ton of wildlife, but thankfully no bears. Jess is terrified of bears. They stayed at the white sage cottage the first 3 nights, & then went backpacking. They hiked up 11 miles & 6000ft on their first day. On the 2nd night, they only went 5 miles & a guy got altitude sickness & was throwing up all night. He had to be rescued the next morning. The 3rd day, they went 17 miles all downhill, 5500ft. They took in the best views of the park.

What did you envision your wedding being prior to planning?

We envisioned our wedding to be a small outdoor venue that wasn’t formal, but more relaxed and laid back like we both are. When we came across Rum River Barn & Vineyards, we knew it was the place. It was right near Milaca where we both grew up and it was informal & country themed which was exactly what we envisioned.

What was your color palette and your style vision?

Our color pallette was dark gray, turquoise & white.

What unique elements or DIY details did you include?Jess’s Dad built the arbor we got married under and now it is used for the entrance to our garden. The bridal flowers were all wooden & made by the bride & groom. We wanted something we would be able to keep. Once we heard wooden flowers were a thing we knew thats what we wanted. We also found some free pallet wood near our house along the road way & made our card boxes & honeymoon fund box. The centerpiece wooden pieces were cut by Levi since he does a lot of chainsawing for work.

What was your favorite moment? Your favoritecrafted detail?Bride: I have multiple favorite moments but if I had to only pick a few my first would be not being able to keep it together reading Levi’s love note he wrote me.

Then putting on my dress & seeing my mom fight back tears. I didnt expect any tears on my wedding. Didnt even wear waterproof mascara.

Lastly, Coop being a part of our day as the ring bearer & running to the front when Levi said go!

Groom: the first look and how pretty Jess looked and when coop ran to the front when I said Go!

The entire ceremony was probably my favorite especially when I looked at Jess & told her I was going to dip her on the kiss & she was totally surprised!

Tell us about your flowers, your gown, your favors,your cake, etc.The bridal party bouquets & boutineers were all wooden flowers that Jess & Levi put together. It was a lot more work than either of them anticipated, but turned out just as they had hoped. The gown was a lace mermaid gown from a boutique in the cities I found with my aunt Denise, my Mom & sister Tiffany. The party favors were can koozies we had personalized that read ‘cheers to love laughter and happily ever after’ all the invitations & save the dates were made by my sister Tiffany who did a phenomenal job!

What is one piece of advice that you could givebrides-to-be?Take 15 minutes that day & sneak off with your groom! It doesnt seem like much at the time but looking back, it was one of my favorite moments. the day goes by way too fast & no matter how much you plan some things wont follow that plan. Its nice to get away from the crowd for a few minutes & be able to relax & catch up with eachother on your mornings.

#weddings #ido #rings #bynicoleann #nicolehollenkamp #mnweddings #weddingphotographer #milacamn #stcloudmn

Rum River Barn & Vineyard Short Stop Catering, St Cloud Music on Demand, Sartell

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