Clare and Eric’s Private Outdoor Wedding in the Forest

Clare and Eric are married! YAY! These two have been together for almost four years and first met online while they were both attending Purdue University. Fast forward to last year and Eric told Clare that he wanted to recreate their first date for their 3rd anniversary. At the end of the date, Eric asked Clare for her hand in marriage. Clare obviously said yes!

These two tied the knot on Saturday and it was the perfect day! They held their wedding at a location that was very meaningful to them, the Frank and Ada Beineke Memorial Forest. This is land that is in Eric’s family and several of Eric’s family members have been married here as well so it was the perfect location for them. They really wanted their wedding to focus on their union and them becoming their own family unit. Because of this, they wanted to keep everything fun and lighthearted and wanted it to have a backyard, family reunion, casual vibe. Since the location is gorgeous with lots of greenery, they chose to let the nature shine through and included in accents of blue and white. For their ceremony they had Eric’s stepdad officiate them and for their reception they had lots of lawn games, board games, and card games for their guests to play. Both of their families always would play games during the holidays and family gatherings so they wanted to continue the tradition with their wedding as well!

FROM THE COUPLE:

How/when/where did you meet?

Eric and I met online in September 2019 while we were both students at Purdue.  We found we had a ton in common and on our first date we spent hours talking.  We instantly had a connection and were inseparable.  Fast forward and we will be married less than a week before our 4th anniversary!

How/when/where did the proposal happen?

Early on while Eric and I were dating we talked about all the fun date ideas we wanted to do.  Being college kids, we weren’t able to do a lot of our ideas and spent most of our time studying and taking walks around campus.  On our 4rd anniversary, Eric told me he wanted to recreate our first date with everything we always talked about doing.  This time, at the end of our date he proposed!

What was the vision for your wedding?

Our wedding vision was casual and informal.  We wanted to do things as simply as possible with the focus being our union surrounded by mostly family.  The most important part of the day for us is us coming together and becoming our own family unit.  We chose a location meaningful to us and ruch in natural beauty.  Our ceremony and reception location will have lots of greenery and to compliment that we chose to accent with shades of blues and white.

How many guests?

63

Why did you choose your wedding venue?

We wanted a quick and meaningful ceremony that was officiated by someone we love and trust.  After considering our options, we chose Eric’s stepdad to officiate and about 24 hours after asking him he sent us pictures that he was registered and certified to marry us.

For our reception we wanted to keep everything casual and light-hearted.  We are opting for lawn, card, and board games.  Both of our families typically play some variation of games during holidays and other gatherings whether it’s euchre or joker, so it made sense to continue the theme with our wedding.  We will have decks of cards, corn hole, ladder toss, ring toss, as well as a few board games.

What was the inspiration for your wedding cake?

Our inspiration for our wedding cake was classic and timeless.  We are going with a simple round cake with white textured icing.  We also plan on doing plenty of cupcakes for guests to grab.