Get the Look
Photographer: Andrea Nigh Photography Ceremony Venue: First Lutheran Church Reception Venue: The Gallery Event Space Gown: Amore Bridal Menswear: Zegna Black Suit Bridesmaids Gown: Banana Republic Invitations: Minted Florist: Blue Bouquet Hair: Envy Salon Makeup: Jill Jenkins Cake: Icing on the Cake Officiant: Reverend Eric Carlson Band: The Patrick Lentz Band
Austin & Laurie’s Love Story
Austin and I met in November of 2010 at a friend’s apartment. Austin and I began talking, had a lot in common, and come to find out we were both from Des Moines, Iowa. We never knew one another but after playing the “name game” we found we knew many mutual people. We were inseparable that night and diverted from our group of friends to go bowling together. Shortly after that night we went on our first date to Kona. We proceeded to date for nearly four years before becoming engaged.
A cold winter night in December of 2013, I was planning to be working at an event (I’m the Private Events Director for the Kansas City Power & Light District). It was a big event with a lot of moving parts. The event got up and running and during the course of the evening, my boss prompted that we go to Maker’s Mark. Low and behold Austin was standing in the doorway and said he had a limo lights tour scheduled and that he had run it by my boss so that I could be gone for a while and return back to work momentarily. Austin loves to plan surprises, so he, whisked me away and off we went. We popped a bottle of champagne and began talking and admiring the holiday lights around town. The limo proceeded to stop by Crown Center and Austin suggested we get out to look closer at the tree. I obliged and it was then that Austin got down on one knee. After a few minutes, both of our families ran out from a second limo and had witnessed the entire proposal. I was in complete shock. It was truly a beautiful and memorable moment. We all went back to the limo and toasted to our engagement. My boss met us back at Makers Mark and was kind enough to take over my event for the evening. I suggested that we go bowling as that was what we had done the first night we met. The group was on board and as we walked into the space our friends were there, many of whom traveled in from out of town to be there. Yet another moment of complete surprise! I felt so appreciative of the thought and planning Austin had done to make the proposal so special. It was amazing to have our families and friends there to share in our joy with us.
Time goes by so quickly and we wanted to savor the moments that we were experiencing together rather than to immediately dive into wedding planning mode. We gave it a couple weeks and by Christmas we had a date set, April 11th, 2015. While not weddings, planning corporate and social events is what I do for a living so I have to say this made the planning process much smoother. We also knew right away that we wanted our reception to take place at The Gallery. My style is modern traditional and so it was a perfect match. The next element within the details of how the reception space was going to look was securing an acrylic candle box that suspends from the ceiling-a dramatic eye-catching statement piece. This was the perfect piece for big impact and romantic feeling that I was striving for. From there, candle additions on the guest tables and throughout the space evolved along with incorporating metallics. I love gold and silver together. Touches of gold and silver were then incorporated together using pillows we placed on white lounge furniture, candle details, and ribbon around the bridal bouquets, cake, and cocktail tables.
A Few Special Pieces:
During the engagement, my mom and I went on a candle hunt together! We had a great time (and created a special memory) looking for gold and silver candles at craft and home stores around town. The night of the reception, over a hundred candles were illuminated to bring a special flicker to the room.
I have a love for pizza so we offered guests assorted flatbreads as a late night snack along with popcorn which is a favorite food of Austin’s.
