At around this time one year ago, Husband and I were busy affixing a beautiful floral and greenery garland to a bannister at Studio 324 in Rochester, and I noticed i'd tracked a bit of sand on the steps. Below me, guests of the new Mr. and Mrs. Robb Rice were gathering to celebrate the new couple, who had been married just a few hours before in an intimate ceremony surrounded by their immediate family.
We'd met Robb and Amy only a few weeks prior to their wedding day, which is pretty standard in the planning of a MinneWedding. With MinneWeddings, we get to know our couple, plan and style a setting with as little or as much input as they want to have, write a custom ceremony, and, in most cases, we provide photography, flowers, cake and champagne. Robb and Amy had hired the amazing photographer Brianna Rannells and the super-talented LeJardin Floral already, so we were up for the task of officiating, styling the wedding and designing a cake.
Beautiful Amy had a smile brighter than the Asscher engagement ring that Robb had recently surprised her with. Robb was clearly smitten with Amy, and we were happy to officiate and style everything so that this kind and genuine couple and their families could simply enjoy their wedding day.
As outdoorsy people, the couple knew they wanted an outdoors ceremony, and after a bit of scouting they chose Chester Woods Park outside of Rochester. It was as perfect as you could get for an outdoor wedding, but since it was March, the weather was still unpredictable. The sun was out but there was still snow and the weather forecast called for rain later in the day, right around the planned time of the ceremony. For every wedding there is a "Plan B" and I furiously texted all of the other wedding pros to keep them apprised of whether our ceremony would be at the "Plan A" location of the park or the backup at the gallery where the reception was planned.
We used clean snow to chill a bottle of champagne and arranged the Daube's Bakery cake with Italian raspberry curd and a buttercream that was designed to look like the unique ruffling on the bride's dress. Robb arrived with the wedding rings in a box on which Amy's nieces and nephew had carefully drawn pictures and messages of love for their aunt and soon-to-be uncle. And here came the bride, lovely in a delicate strapless dress. The bride and groom and I took our places on a small platform overlooking the lake, the water calm and smooth. Family members huddled together on the beach and watched as Robb and Amy exchanged vows. As I closed their ceremony with a Maori blessing in honor of their planned New Zealand honeymoon, the rain started, holding off until just the moment that we needed it to. Rain, sand and snow, and a bride in a strapless dress and something blue rain boots...a decidedly Minnesotan wedding.
