I was not your traditional wedding planning bride. My husband and I wanted two things: free beer and a live band at the reception—no worries, both were provided. Neither of us had interest in having a wedding party or inviting everyone to the actual wedding ceremony. We didn’t even take engagement pictures. We wanted a party.

Russ proposed in November. We did not want a long engagement and I also didn’t want to interfere with ‘farming seasons’. In my opinion the date was one of the hardest things to choose. Between making sure the church and venue were available and everyone complaining about your ‘potential dates’ it’s simply annoying to put it nicely. Once the date was set everything fell into place. We chose Friday, April 8th, 2016 At 3:00PM. No reason in particular for a Friday, it just worked out that way.

WEDDING DAY:

-Hair, 10:30 in Lindsay at Static Salon by the amazing Mikaela Korus.

-Headed to the church in St. Edward after to get ready and make up done by Britton, my cousin and first person to ever actually do my make up in eighth grade if I remember correctly. She was also the first person to put lipstick on me at age 25. Yes, I know late bloomer.

-Pictures started at 1:00

-Wedding 3:00-3:20. Does anyone believe that this was a Catholic wedding with mass? Because it was. Our priest is the bomb. Also, we only invited our moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas and our brothers and sisters families. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND DOING THIS. It was so nice to just enjoy the moment. My maid of honor was my mom and Russ’s best man was his brother, Justin.

-Par-tay bus filled with friends shows up at 3:30 to pick up Russ, myself and family members that wanted to start having a few beverages. This was one of my favorite parts of the day. We stopped at a few bars and road tripped our way over to Humphrey to the reception that began at 6. CHEERS!

The rest was a whirl-wind of awesomeness. Every bride I talked to before myself actually being one said that you will feel a sense of regret of not talking to everyone. Well, they were right and they also told me not to worry about it. Other than that, I wouldn’t have changed anything. Oh wait, I would have made Russ cut his hair.

The low-down on everything:

Dress: I initially bought a $55.00 dress for my big day. My mom decided the week before to take me to find something “a bit nicer”. As you can tell that happened, thanks to The Black Swan in Lincoln, NE. Fun Fact: It’s actually two pieces and a pageant gown.

Food: TACO BAR! Ok, we also had roast beef but that wasn’t added till two weeks before the wedding per request of my grandpa—that is not a joke. We also had a desert bar, no traditional cake—so no we did not “cut” the cake or feed each other anything. Also, we did not ‘release’ tables. You could go eat whenever you wanted which was one of the biggest compliments we got that night and continuously after (and still are).

Flowers & Decor: Of course I wanted it to be colorful and modern. Cherry branches and bright colored flowers such as, protea’s, hydrangeas, roses, peonies, delphinium and much more. Pictures do not do them justice. I do not remember how many total centerpieces or fresh pieces were actually made. My brides bouquet was actually a combination of all the flowers mentioned before. I loved the folded leaves and all the colors and textures in it, momma did good! Sadly it was “stolen” from our reception. Yes, someone actually took it. Let that sink in.

Bride-to-be Tips:

  • This day goes by quick so make sure you take in as much as you can of it. Easier said than done, trust me.
  • Watch your alcohol consumption. I definitely had a nice buzz but remember it all.
  • Tell people to be there 10 minutes before they actually need to for “less stress”.
  • Stick to your guns. Everybody will have an opinion and tell you exactly what you should be doing when it comes to planning, decorating and just everything in general. The ever-popular cliché saying “It’s your day do what you want!” was actually harder than I thought it would be.

Russ’s Helpful Hints:

  • Do not be hungover
  • Expect to take an outrageous amount of pictures and be asked to pose in awkward positions
  • Be ready to have the exact same conversation with every single one of your guests. “Congratulations! Are you guys excited?” “Honeymoon plans?”
  • Be prepared for all your friends to want to take shots with you—Heather’s response to this, “Do you realize you do that to every groom at every wedding we go to? Karma.”

Church: St. Edward Catholic Church, St. Edward, NE

Reception Venue: Humphrey Community Center, Humphrey, NE

Hair & Nails: Mikaela Korus – Static Salon, Lindsay, NE

Spray Tan: Mikaela Korus—Static Salon, Lindsay, NE

Photographer: Rita’s Photography, Fullerton, NE

Catering: Country Mile Catering, Genoa, NE

Band: Lemon Fresh Day, Omaha, NE

Flowers & Reception Decor: Obvi, St. Edward Floral

Dress: The Black Swan, Lincoln, NE

Call me crazy about the way I did things but everything worked out great on our wedding day. I have had numerous people call and ask questions about the way I did things (mainly about the having a small ceremony, large “after” party and doing the food the way we did) and I’m always happy to explain. Comment, e-mail or Facebook me if you have any questions!

Always think outside the box,

Heather