Charming yet exciting, what a title for a blog post but it is so fitting!  Combine custom tailored blue suits with a band called Jacuzzi Puma (who wear hooded faux-fur vests) or a humongous 5-toon pontoon with champagne and flutes!  Britni and Patrick's friends have both class and spice, elegance and fun.

One comment I frequently hear from my couples is that they have never planned a wedding before and they are hungry for advice, so I've started sending my recently married couple's a questionaire both to help me improve, but also to help my future clients with their wedding planning so let's hear from Britni and Patrick about a few aspects of their day.

"What was your favorite moment from your wedding day?" 

Patrick and I love a good party, and it's a major reason why we booked a live band in the form of Jacuzzi Puma for our wedding entertainment. We'd scrubbed through a lot of stinker bands in our search, but eventually found Jacuzzi Puma and went to see them play at Excelsior Brewing by Lake Minnetonka. I'd heard them online & thought they shredded, I loved their eccentric style (2 of 6 members wear signature furry hooded vests for every show) & believed their lead singer, Mitch, to have the most amazing cover band voice I'd ever heard, but I was worried maybe they wouldn't be able to play your standard wedding songs. When we walked in they played "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins, then "Shoop" by Salt-N-Peppa, and finally my favorite band The Red Hot Chili Peppers's "Give It Away." We were sold on the spot. After approaching them following the show & emailing back and forth on wedding day details, Mitch told us they would learn up to 10 new songs for us which was insane! and truly a testament to their talent. In crafting the set list, Pat was insistent on having them learn "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers as we'd seen it go over really well at other DJ weddings & it was a late night singalong staple at his college house. When they started to play this song at the wedding, one of our college friends, Haley, asked them if she could borrow the signature furry vests. I'd assumed she was snagging them for herself and her boyfriend, but she then approached me & Pat on the dance floor and made us wear them. I was ECSTATIC, but also came to realize that those vests get pretty sweaty during a show (totally worth it). So we naturally started a conga line, jumping up and down in our vests with our friends shouting "OH I KNOW I...OH I KNOW I'M GONNA BE I'M GONNA BE THE MAN WHO GETS DRUNK NEXT TO YOU." As the song progressed, Patrick decided to steer the conga line towards the stage. He and I jumped up and joined Mitch next to the mics in time to shout the "DA DA DA" out for the crowd's echoing "DA DA DA!" We stayed on stage for several more rounds of this as well as the "dun diddle un diddle un diddle uh da's." At the end of the song, even Jacuzzi Puma realized what a special moment had just occurred, with Mitch stating "Well shoot, we should have ended on that one!" My biggest regret from the night was not having you around to snag some epic pictures, but we have a ton of blurry iPhone video footage from our friends to help us remember it forever.

I always ask my couple, "What wedding planning related advice would you offer to couples planning their wedding?"

I would say hang on tight for the final 30 days and outsource things that you know you aren't good at that are going to cause you a lot of stress. I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out how I could buy/rent/coordinate my own decor needs for the day of, despite the fact that I'm bad with decorations (exception being our annual Halloween party) and the thought of having people deem my wedding as ugly was giving me severe anxiety. I eventually came upon Megan Gemmell of Something Blue, she is a close personal friend of my new sister-in-law, Anna McNeil, and she was spending the weekend with us at Pat's family cabin for the Birkie ski race in February. She told me that she had done the decor for Anna's wedding alongside her sister & business partner, Jennifer. I loved their stuff as well as how flexible they were - booking them took a huge weight of my shoulders & made me realize how foolish I was being in trying to do it myself from the start. 
For the final 30 days thing - a lottttt of vendor details don't get locked in until that final month, because obviously, our vendors are very busy people who live & die by a ton of weddings! So be prepared for all the inputs that are going to come through in that final month, and try not to murder your significant other in the process.

"What was the best, unexpected thing that happened on your wedding day?"

The reaction of all the little kids! Grand View being a resort frequented by a lot of guests, a ton of them being families, you're a bit on display throughout your ceremony and then walking the grounds between events. On the way to our cocktail hour pontoon ride as well as our sunset photos, so many random people stopped to tell you "Congratulations" and sooo many kids ran up to shyly say hi or tell me how pretty I looked! I about died over the cuteness & felt like a real-life Disney princess. One little girl even stopped me and made me take her Cowboy Groom and Cowgirl Bride rubber duckies, she refused to let me get to the pontoon without them. They are my cherished keepsake from the weekend and I doubt I'll ever let them go.

"What was your experience working with me on your wedding day?"

Amazing. We've received so many compliments across family & our wedding party about how efficient you were, as well as how much you weren't afraid to be honest to ensure we get the best possible picture (i.e. telling people they were getting a little too booby in pictures, making sure we didn't look like Statue of Liberties with our bouquets, etc.). I was in a wedding this past weekend where the photographer was no Tim Larsen and kept bringing up all your recommendations to the girls throughout the formal photos, so your advice lives on! Also I felt like as soon as the pictures began at 1pm that day I was able to take a back seat and just be guided through the rest of the day vs. having to be the one leading the charge as I was that morning prior to pictures. It was a good feeling :)

Britni and Patrick you, your friends and families are amazing.  Congrats.

Wedding Vendor Partners

Amazing Second Photographer: Garrett Tetrick
Dress: Made with Love
Dress Salon: a&bé
Bouquets & Head Table: Bloom Designs
All Other Floral and Decor: Something Blue Minnesota
Coordination: Grandview Lodge -Becky Bohnenstingl & Jaci Ohotto
Desserts: Sweet Life Bakery - Dani
Hair: Captivating Beauty - Missy
Make-up: Captivating Beauty - Tracy
Suits: Atmosfere
Robes: Totally Brides
Rockin' Band: Jacuzzi Puma
Place Cards: Love Me Letterdly
Rings: Sather Jewelry