BRI + MIKE

It’s a tale as old as time lol – Bri worked at a meat market and Mike worked at the Dairy Queen across the street. Their crews partied together, and eventually Bri and Mike found themselves making excuses to hang out with each other. They officially started talking after a Halloween Party, and quickly became inseparable. They used to drive around in Bri’s old Jeep Cherokee, The White Stallion! They’d go for cruises around town to just get to know each other, share some music, and laugh. While Bri was driving and Mike was DJing, ‘I just had sex” by Lonely Island came on – a bit awkward for a first date.  Rather than skipping it, they sat there in akward silence and just let the song play out.  “It was Bri’s first time hearing the song, so it was kind of weird but funny as hell. We shared it with our guests as our encore just to make us laugh.”
After a late night cruise Mike asked Bri out, trying to lock it down the day before she left for vacation. Bri told him she’d think about it, and texted him when she got home with a “Sure!”. That was 9 years ago.

“Wild Carrot was the first and only venue we looked at! We fell in love with the space and the owners immediately, and could not have asked for a more perfect team to work with. The entire WC team made our day seamless and we’ve received so many compliments from our guest on their commitment to our perfect evening!”“We’re really into Missouri Native Wildflowers theme, which made colors vague and décor super easy! We’re going for a timeless vibe blended with our style. ““Even though we spent the morning together, getting ready, hair/make up, all that jazz, my heart was fluttering when I came down for the first look. I could not wait to be reunited with Mike, and see each other! “From the first conversation we had with Mike and Bri we totally hit it off. We loved that they were laid back and just so fully present. And we LOVED how much they laugh with each other. It was very natural to photograph them and they simply organically interacted and we just photographed them without much guidance at all!Bri and Mike did not have a wedding party which gave us such a nice, stree free time with them for photos. “We skipped a wedding party in favor of our ‘witnesses’ and chose Bri’s brother and Mike’s best friend to be with us. This was key to keeping our wedding stress-free, and we got to focus all of the attention on ourselves. “Katy (Mike’s sister) officiated the ceremony. She wrote the ceremony and completely killed it. “We actually hadn’t heard the ceremony Katy wrote until the ceremony itself and had no notes! We also winged our vows ha! We intended to write them ourselves in advance, but life got in the way. Rather than stress the morning of the wedding trying to write vows, we decided to just let it fly and it was hilarious! Totally us, and we’re so glad we didn’t spend the morning freaking out about what would have been sloppy vows anyway!”“I was cheesing hard during the ceremony, because Mike could not wait to kiss me. I felt so loved and excited, and even if I had to remind him to wait until Katy said you may kiss the bride, I was so overwhelmed with love.”“We loved our Honeymoon Fundraiser Card wall, and how we were able to share our travel plans with our guest. Mike came up with the idea for our coasters, and we were able to hand craft those with Bri’s mom and stepdad. Our party favors were collaborations with two of our favorite local businesses.” Easily the best wedding favors ever!!Bri and Mike’s bar at Wild Carrot was freaking AMAZING.  Craft cocktails and Bri’ssignature drink even included some edible flowers. No detail was missed!
This is the part of the evening where I lose conciousness. In lieu of a dinner buffet there were several stations set up. Let’s talk about a slider bar, a bruschetta bar, an antipasta and polenta bar. But let me tell you about two others that swept me off my feet from the moment I caught word about them.
Sweet and Savory Waffle Station
and a Mac n Cheese Station
Now we’ve been in business for a long, long time.  But Mac n Cheese had me shook. I still think about it.I’d also never seen anyone do a special sign to shout out their vendors. These two thought of every way to be gracious and kind. “We focused hard on gratitude, and celebrating with our people. We have so much respect and appreciation for our vendors and their teams, and it was important to us that they had a fun evening as well! We wanted everyone happy, well-fed, and enjoying the company of the beautiful people we are so lucky to surround ourselves with. Their support of us and our evening was incredible, and we can’t thank them enough”. Bri and Mike took dance classes to have a choreographed first dance to one of their favorite songs/bands – Stellar by Incubus. Bri had injured her knee leading up to the wedding, but she kept it together perfectly on the dancefloor. “We had to water it down to compensate for the off knee. But we really had a great dance down! However, a bum knee couldn’t stop us from having the time of our lives.”Bride/Mother Dance Song – Take it to the Limit – The Eagles – A song that my mom loves and reminds her of her mom – I wanted to surprise my mom with something thoughtful.Groom/Aunt (godmother) – Teach your Children – Crosby Stills Nash and Young “We liked the lyrics and discussed this song with Lori. When Lori went to see Graham Nash, she posted this song on facebook, dedicated to her children. It’s perfect. Mikes parents are big CSNY fans, and bri danced with Mike’s dad for the second half, and was able to share a nice moment with him.” Bride/Step Dad (Matt) – Rich Girl – Gwen Stefani “HAHAHA! Matt and Bri like to see shows together, and this one reminded me of how I didn’t realize Rich Girl sampled from Fiddler on the Roof. I thought he would recognize it and get to bust out some signature dance moves and we could laugh about it!”

Rather than throwing Bri’s boquet, she had a Daisies for the Ladies dance, where she shared daisies with all ladies at the party. “I hated the idea that I would throw flowers at single ladies, and would much rather share a dance with all the women who mean so much to me. Daisies were my grandma’s favorite, and I’m quite fond of them myself.” 

How did you feel at the end of the day?
We wished it could have lasted forever! But needed to snug with the cats!

If you could do it all over, would you change anything?
Absolutely not. Except for maybe Bri’s bum knee. Maybe recording the vows, since that was improv ha!

Advice for future bride/grooms:
Always remember the person you’re marrying is your partner! We’d highly suggest both people being equally involved in all things wedding related. Mike had just as many responsibilities as Bri, and we did everything together. Respect and communication makes things much easier. The planning should be fun!
We took dance lessons to learn how to dance and have fun, NOT to perfect a first dance. Practicing our first dance was a great way to spend time together.
Enjoy food tasting or smashing a bunch of cake with your loved ones.
If you’re like us, the honeymoon is WAY more important than the wedding. Have fun, try something new, and maybe give yourself at least a few days between the wedding and honeymoon to shift gears and be ready!
Try to eliminate stress, you’re marrying your person and the day revolves around that!
Make decisions in the interest of you as a couple, be together and get excited! Your day should be everything YOU want. We had a private getaway room just for the two of us. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!! We had a chance to escape with each other and have quiet moments alone, no family, no guest, no friends – just us (and our amazing vendors delivering us food ha!).
We could eat, drink, laugh, and be together in love throughout the evening. We also agreed before that we would do our best to stay together, or find our way back to each other all night. As things get hectic and side convos spur, we wanted to make sure we were together on our day – we love spending time together and wanted to be inseparable on our day.

Honeymoon Location:
18 days in Alaska!