This modern Minneapolis DIY wedding, captured by Natalie Champa Jennings, has a little something for everyone. The clean, contemporary venue is perfect for those of you who love a little glam. The DIY details provide so much inspiration for those of you who want to create for your own big day. The gray and yellow color palette adds a little whimsy for you romantic LBBers. But my favorite was definitely the floral design by the lovely La Petite Fleur – modern, clean, and chic, chic, chic. Click here for more of this lovely couple!
Kyle and I met in college our senior year through mutual friends. Upon graduation we both moved to Minneapolis and continued our friendship by spending more and more time together until we began dating in 2007. After two and a half years together, Kyle proposed. On Valentine’s day, Kyle took me ice skating at our favorite outdoor Minnesota ice rink. I didn’t think too much of it because we didn’t have any other plans that day and had decided to go ice skating last minute. Kyle’s skating skills have never been impressive; so I was not surprised when he fell to the ground after an aggressive turn. However, words cannot describe my surprise when rather than crawling to his feet, Kyle instead stayed on one knee and asked me to marry him. Much to Kyle’s relief, I said yes after spending a few stunned moments on the ice.
We were looking for a venue that was modern, simplistic and had a lot of light. We also planned to have the ceremony outdoors and needed a great space. The Burnsville Performing Arts Center had that modern sleek vibe in the building and also had a beautiful outdoor garden area and amphitheater. We immediately fell in love with the place.
My inspiration for the wedding was really the colors: yellow and gray. I had seen a gorgeous yellow and gray wedding on Style Me Pretty and fell in love with the color scheme. I wanted to DIY a lot of items, but also wanted to keep the décor simple and colorful to let the venue shine. I made chalkboard signs from mirrors, table numbers from scrap wood, made my own hair piece, hand stamped cocktail napkins and spray painted votives gray for the tables. I also found some funky yellow jug and white circle vases on craigslist and used them as my centerpieces. The florist, Carra Otten, did a beautiful job of seeing my inspiration and putting together amazing arrangements that complimented my DIY projects.
We incorporated a Dutch love letter ritual into our ceremony. We wrote each other love letters and sealed them in a trunk with a bottle of wine and two glasses. The trunk will remain sealed until our 5th anniversary when we will drink the wine and read our letters to each other.
I had a brooch added to my bouquet. It was a gift I had given my grandmother when I was 5 years old. She had held onto it for many years so I wanted to show her how important she is to me. I also had some of my mom’s lace from her wedding dress wrapped around my bouquet.
My most vivid memories are of my first look with my husband and when we released butterflies. Natalie did a beautiful job of capturing our emotions in the first look. It was so reassuring to see my future husband and have a few private moments with him before the wedding. I also loved the butterflies. The venue had several butterflies flying around and my bridesmaids grabbed a couple for us to release. It was so much fun, even though I look quite scared in the photos. My favorite photos also included the ceremony photos. The amphitheater was so beautiful and there is so much emotion in everyone’s faces.
We had frosted sugar cookies from a local non-profit bakery in North Minneapolis that teaches young people employment and interpersonal works skills to prepare them to enter the workforce. I felt it was a great way to support a cause that is important to me (I’m a Recruiter for a living) and the cookies are absolutely delicious. We did simple gray frosted and yellow frosted cookies.
Photographer: Natalie Champa Jennings / Floral Designer: La Petite Fleur / Event Designer & Planner: Bride / Invitation Designer: Bride / Cake & Desserts: The Baker’s Wife & Cookie Cart / Wedding Gown Designer: San Patrick, from Raffine Bridal / Bridesmaid’s Dress Designer: J.Crew / Hair: Jess Pratt from Pixie Salon / Make-up: Mariah Herndon from Mariah’s Beauty Marks / Venue: Burnsville Performing Arts Center