Donna and Garrett’s Woodland Forest Wedding

Wedding Story:

How many guests?

9 guests at the ceremony, 60 at the receptions

What was your wedding theme or vision?

We wanted our wedding to be very relaxed and intimate to limit stress and focus on what was important. As far as aesthetics and picking out my dress, I really wanted a woodland forest fairy vibe. I love nature and the outdoors so being outdoors was important to us.

Why did you choose your wedding venue?

The venue we chose was quite small and would facilitate a small wedding perfectly. We loved that both the inside and outside space was beautiful. The building is historic and you could tell how much the owner maintained the character of the building while making it feel updated.

What made your ceremony unique or special?

Our ceremony ended up being far more unique and special than we could have ever had planned for. The morning of our wedding, Garrett and I decided we would prefer to elope in front of a small group of friends and our parents rather than go through with the more traditional ceremony as planned. Our wedding planner extraordinaire Jayme Galanos (Darling Wedding Company) contacted our photographer, videographer, and officiant and told them the change in plans. Garrett and I lived very close to Olin Park at the time and spent a lot of time in quarantine in that park together. It was a very special place to us and to this day remains to be the most special place to us in Madison. The weather was perfect, 75 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. The wild flowers were just starting to peak and the leaves had just filled in all the trees. Our officiant Pat Werk (Koru Ceremonies) performed our ceremony as it was written and Garrett and I shared our vows in front of our 5 friends and our parents.

What made your reception unique or special?

The reception turned out just as we had envisioned it. We decided to have a wine only event with a choose your own pasta station. Our guests raved about the food. Garrett and I got to specially pick out each wine that was served and Garrett and I shared a bottle of wine from our favorite winery that we’d been storing since the beginning of our relationship. Additionally we had a make your own s’mores bar for dessert that was a hit as well.

Describe your florals for bouquets and flower arrangements.

The florals ended up being a huge part of not only our wedding day, but our wedding planning as well. I am an avid gardener of all things- vegetables and cut flowers. I wanted to be able to contribute some of the flowers to my florist for our wedding day as I knew that would make it extra special. I had successfully grown cut flowers only one season prior to the wedding (as opposed to the 10+ years of vegetable gardening) so I knew it would be a long shot, but I still wanted to make the effort. The varieties of flowers I grew took about 100 days to mature, so I started my seeds indoors in February for a projected harvest date a couple days before June 3rd. We grew the ranunculus and anemones under low-tunnels to protect them from snow and freezing temperatures. It was about 1 week before the wedding that the flowers finally started blooming and it was at that moment I knew I would be able to harvest bucket loads of flowers for my wedding. I’m not sure exactly how many stems I contributed to my florist, Ariel (Briar Loft) but I was happy to be able to grow the majority of my flowers for her to work with.

Seeing as we didn’t know how many flowers we would have for Ariel to work with until very close to the wedding, I told her to prioritize my bridal bouquet. Seeing as we didn’t have bridesmaids or any other personal flowers, I wanted my bouquet to be quite large. From what I hear, it was the largest bouquet Ariel had ever made and it was breathtaking and full of the fruits of both mine and Garretts labor.

The ranunculus and anemone corms are perennial if you dig them up and protect them from a freeze. Garrett and I moved across the country last summer to North Carolina and I brought the corms with me and planted them in our new garden this fall. As I write this (March 14th) the very same flowers that Garrett and I had at our wedding are blooming once again. I intend to be able to see those very same flowers every year for seasons to come and that is something quite special.

What was the vision/inspiration for your wedding cake?

Garrett and I wanted to have an interactive experience for our guests for dessert so we decided to have a s’mores bar instead to celebrate the beginning of summer! I have also loved s’mores so this was a surprise to nobody.

Describe the favors for guests.

Going with the garden theme, I decided to have each guest receive a packet of seeds from one of my favorite seed companies. Hudson Valley Seed Co produces the most beautiful seed packs that feature art from artists local to their area.

Were there any special sentimental items in your wedding?

I think my bouquet was by far the most sentimental item included on our wedding day. Not only were the flowers grown by me, but I also decided to include a bouquet charm with a photograph of our cat who we love very much.