There is so much pretty in this museum wedding by Katie Lewis Photography, Inc., I am going to start off by saying you will need to spend some serious time today in the gallery. We usually save that advice for the end, but it needs to be front in center for this Fargo fête! The entire affair is full of perfectly pretty details that need to be seen, for example – how fun is their “make a masterpiece” guestbook? Just love it. See what I mean? There is so much more see, so be sure to set aside some time for the full gallery on your calendar today!
Click here to see the entire gallery of images!
From the Bride…After we got engaged, my head started spinning about what kind of wedding to have. We tossed around a destination wedding, intimate lakeside wedding and the big hotel ballroom wedding. Ultimately, we decided to have our reception in a historic agricultural warehouse, turned art museum, in the heart of downtown Fargo. After several pros and cons lists, it boiled down to – 1) wanting to accommodate as many family members and friends as possible 2) Having a wedding that reflected us.
The museum was significant for a few reasons. First, it is downtown Fargo…not a huge downtown, but a quaint, artistic area that is the backdrop for our lives. We met downtown, live downtown and for three years I worked and Ben went to school downtown. It felt fitting we would show our out-of-town guests where we spend our days. Also, the museum is kitty-corner to where we first met. He was a second-year architecture student and I worked for the university. I saw him walking to class one day and knew I wanted to meet him. Months later we spoke for the first time at a downtown bar. (About one year and eight months later he proposed to me by setting up a scavenger hunt, strategically placing clues at meaningful locations. Many of the clues were downtown.) During the reception, it was cool to look out of the third-floor window and see the building where everything started. Lastly, Ben and I both love design. I have taken several interior design classes and he graduated in May with an architecture degree, so picking an architecturally interesting building seemed perfect for us.
For the look of the wedding we wanted it to be simple and timeless with vintage touches. We also tried to infuse our day with as many special family touches as possible. By our guest book, we displayed photos from our parents’ and grandparents’ weddings. The candy buffet offered homemade candy, including chocolate suckers and mints made by Ben’s mom and caramels made by his grandmother. My sister sewed the ring bearer pillows using special fabric from my Grandma Lil and buttons from my Grandma Eleanor. (Both are no longer with us, so it was special to have something small of theirs in our ceremony.) I also used a silver and blue pin from my Grandma Eleanor for my something blue, attached to my bouquet. The silver goblets at the head table were used at Ben’s parents wedding and Ben’s uncle sewed handkerchiefs with our names and wedding date on it. At our dance, we did an anniversary dance starting with Ben’s parents first song, “Can I have this dance.”
Our colors were light lavender (looks more blue in photos), cream and black, with touches of pink. I wanted the wedding to feel light and airy, like my favorite season – spring. The museum had some strict decorating policies – nothing hanging, nothing attached to walls, no candles. But we didn’t mind, because the building is so beautiful on its own with lots of natural light, beautiful wood floors and exposed brick, we didn’t want to distract from it. But I do love candles and I’m not a fan of fake ones. So to still get a soft glow on some of the tables, I worked with my coworker who is a graphic designer (who also designed our save-the-dates, invitations and programs) to design a candle holder wrap out of vellum. It covered the plastic tea lights and tied into the rest of our printed pieces. One of Ben’s ideas was to have the guests create a painting together. We mixed some colors the night before the wedding and set out an easel, canvas and the paints for guests to make a mark. We ended up with a playful piece of art that will forever remind us of our day.
Reception Location: Plains Art Museum / Wedding Photography: Katie Lewis Photography, Inc. / Flowers: Hornbacher’s / Caterer: VIP Room / Wedding Cake: Nichole’s Fine Pastry / DJ: Robert Benda DJ / Jewelry: Royal Jewelers / Men’s Attire: Halberstadt’s Men Wear / Wedding Dress: The Bridal Shop / Graphic Designer: Janelle Kistner / Musicians: Dakota Rose String Quartet