Ashley & Sam’s Chic Rustic Wedding

We met in college while attending Concordia University, St Paul. Sam went to Concordia on a baseball scholarship while I was on a softball scholarship. We were introduced through mutual friends and teammates so you could say we were your cliche baseball/softball couple. We dated for 7 years before deciding to tie the knot. A lot has changed in our lives during those 7 years including our first vacation together to Cabo San Lucas, purchasing our first home together and rescuing our amazing dog, Bud. Sam’s main goal in life is to tease me and get under my skin, true love right? Sam teased me for weeks about purchasing a ring, showing me pictures, and pointing out the jewelry store whenever we drove by. One Saturday morning in February, I got up early and went to the gym for an early morning workout class. On my way home from the gym, Sam called and asked when I would home because he wanted to take Bud to the local dog park. I looked at the temperature gage in my car, I said it was only 16 degrees outside but we can talk about it when I get home. When I arrived home, Sam was making breakfast and I asked him if he had stepped outside yet today because it was freezing cold outside. He responds by saying, “We ARE GOING to the dog park.” My reaction was, “Okay, I am just letting you know.” Once we got to the dog park, we took a walk through the trails while the teasing still continued. At one point I was so annoyed, I turned around to find him on one knee and asked me to marry him. Of course I said, “Yes!” The proposal was perfect as I have always said I did not want to get engaged in public, I do not like when people to stare at me. Sam could not have done a more perfect job; it was just Bud, Sam and I.

The whole inspiration behind our big day was the venue itself. Legacy Hill Farms is so beautiful…it does not need much because it really speaks for itself. I love the look of black metal paired with dark stained wood, I guess you could call it industrial farmhouse or some call it french chic. I love using pops of greenery to really give it a natural look. I take inspiration from Joanna Gaines’ style, but I think a lot of people do.

I tried to keep my decor simple. 90% of our wedding was DIY decor my family helped me create. The table we used at the ceremony site to put the programs on was bought last year at a flea market and we sanded it down and stained it. We built all the signs and a friend from high school did all the calligraphy on the signs by hand. The memory ladder was made and we used decor from my house to decorate it. We created our own photo booth, custom cornhole boards, table numbers and programs. It was fun to be able to customize all the different elements of our day and put our own spin on it.

We went really simple on our flowers. We did different greens with white flowers. I thought that would look really simple and elegant. We incorporated dusty miller, seeded eucalyptus, spiral eucalyptus, white garden roses, white spray roses, white freesia, white lisianthus. We used these in the bridal bouquets, boutonnieres and arrangements on the ceremony arches. On the harvest style tables, we just added loose greens along the center to add some texture and softness to the wood tables. We also added our own touch of blue green eucalyptus to different DIY elements like the easels, memory ladder, and cake buffet.

The only personalized thing we did for our day was a slideshow with pictures of Sam and I throughout the years and then of us together. The slideshow was one of my favorite parts of the wedding. Everyone who watched us grow up were tearing up and everyone was laughing at some of the funny pictures we had. My favorite part of the day was the ceremony. We were able to customize it to exactly the way we envisioned it and it was us: Simple, not too corny and quick. We asked both of our godmothers to speak during the ceremony and we used nontraditional wedding vows, something more modern.

The most anticipated moment of our wedding day was the first look. I was so excited for him to see me all dolled up and in my wedding dress. I played sports my whole life so I am not a girly girl, so it was fun to see his reaction when he turned around to see me for the first time. I also loved taking all the pictures together because we never like to take pictures. Every Legacy Hill couple gets to put a lock on the fence near the ceremony site, so it was fun to get to put that on there as a symbol of our day.

Let’s be honest. I had the final say on what everyone would be wearing. When I looked for bridesmaid dresses, I wanted something subtle and elegant. I found the perfect color when I was working with Kennedy Blu…they introduced a new color this year and I fell in love. It was a french lilac. I let the girls decide what looked best on everyone and we went with that style. For the guys I knew it was going to be hot in the middle of august so I wanted to do the no- jacket look, but I needed something to add to just a plain white shirt. When I was at Men’s Warehouse I found the perfect tie: It was plaid with the color of the dresses and the navy for the suits. We went with navy because I felt black was too harsh for a late summer wedding and gray seems too business to me. I think blue suits just look classy. I had Sam (Groom) wear a white tie and his jacket so he would stand out in the wedding party. I didn’t want him to blend in with the rest of the groomsmen.

The best marriage advice I can give someone–keep in mind we have only been married for 1 month–but have fun together, laugh together, and never go to bed angry. I loved everything about wedding planning, I wish I could do it for a living! The best wedding planning advice I can give to a bride–I had to tell myself this the whole time–is no one is going to know it’s not perfect except you. Do not sweat it if something goes wrong, because something will go wrong, or if something didn’t turn out as you expected! Your guest are not going to know the difference, just let it go and move past and enjoy your big day, because trust me it goes so fast!