A Fresh Informal Fête

August 6, 2012 in
Real Weddings
Etsy.com handmade and vintage goods

Brad Evans
ghostlyferns

Brad Evans is a web and graphic designer. He is the co-owner of Ghostly Ferns, a web design, branding and illustration studio he runs with his wife Meg and their best pal Tuesday.

http://ghostlyferns.com
@ghostlyferns

Meg and I do not like attention. After nine years of dating, we decided to get married in spite of the number of eyes that would be gawking at us. “How can we do this for us?” we asked each other. We settled on the idea of two celebrations – a ceremony tucked away in the woods for our closest relatives, and a party in our hometown for everyone we love.

We wanted the ceremony to be as small as we could imagine. Only our immediate family was allowed — and no press! We wanted it to be quaint, and being tucked away in the woods was incredibly important to us. Luckily, we were able to find a sustainable building set in the Minnesota countryside on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi river.

Shortly after we arrived at the ceremony location, a monstrous storm rolled in. Massive winds swept debris past the large windows, the temperatures dropped to the upper 40s, and the power went out. In spite of the chaos outside, indoors we happily proceeded with our vows. Our photographer gracefully waited with us until the storm passed – we desperately wanted to get outside and take some post-ceremony photos in the gorgeous Minnesota wild.

“Yes, the power was out for the entire event. Who cares? We had a beautiful, memorable day!”

Two hours later, the storm had moved eastward. We dashed outside, prepped the fire, and got some amazing moody photos.

After the ceremony, we immediately began planning a party in our hometown of Kansas City. This was the day we were truly excited about. The jitters and nerves of the ceremony were over and we could concentrate on having fun! We had very little time to plan the celebration since were both traveling and prepping for a cross-country move. We purchased a ton of decor elements on Etsy and made a few party rental purchases, but hadn’t exactly thought how they would go together. “The jitters and nerves of the ceremony were over and we could concentrate on having fun!” We really had to rely on our friends and family to pull this thing off.

In the end, our friends truly powered the party. The group included an expert party planner, a bartender, a professional hand letterer, a photographer, and a videographer. We grabbed a local bluegrass band called the Prairie Acre and let the fun roll. The highlights were definitely the fancy cocktails, Kansas City BBQ, and all the bluegrass tunes you could hope for.

The casual atmosphere and general good times must have rubbed off — even the neighbors were setting up chairs in their backyards to listen to the tunes.

All photographs by Ashley Moe. Video by Kyle Moe.

Etsy.com handmade and vintage goods
Etsy.com handmade and vintage goods

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