What Was This Bride’s Biggest Wedding Planning Challenge?
Planning An Out-Of-State Wedding
Kurt and Kristina pulled off a beautiful, elegant wedding and overcame special challenges of out-of-state planning and drenching rains on their wedding day! Photographs by Tyler and Christina Hoff of “T & C Photographie”
What was your biggest challenge?
Planning a Central Illinois wedding from Virginia was definitely a challenge! I knew early that I needed to find vendors with good communication skills as the majority of our conversations would be through phone or email. I made sure to reach out to vendors that I was interested in working with soon after getting engaged. This gave me a chance to look through portfolios of their work, find out about pricing, and get a feel for their communication styles. Selecting vendors I was really comfortable with made the planning process much easier.
Kurt and Kristina chose to get married at the gorgeous Allerton Park and Retreat Center in Monticello, Illinois and were hoping for an outdoor wedding on the beautiful grounds of the park and then move inside the mansion for the reception. The weather had other ideas for that day however! We love her black rubber boots which saved her gold slippers from the mud (see below). Thankfully the rain stopped long enough that they could take photos outside.
Would you do anything different?
If I could control the weather, my answer would be, “Have it not rain all day!” Thankfully we had a rain back-up plan, so the ceremony was moved inside and the venue staff did a great job coordinating that change. Other than the rain, we ran into surprisingly few mishaps the day of!
Kristina had many great ideas and was meticulous in her details & planning. For her wedding flowers, Kristina chose coral peonies, pink & blush garden roses, stock, wax flower and assorted ferns & greens. Fancy Florals By Nancy, a Fairbury wedding florist, delighted Kristina with her wedding bouquets and wedding reception decor including hand-wired garlands to decorate the mantle, chalkboard and bride & groom chairs.
What did you enjoy the most?
I loved getting to see all the details come together and the vision I had for the wedding brought to life. We had some traditional elements to the day, but having special touches that incorporated unique elements of our relationship made the day that much more meaningful. A few of my favorites were our signature drinks named after our three dogs, popcorn favors (one of our favorite treats!), and the giant monogram we used as a guest book and now have on display in our home!
Other venders included: DJ – Tim Taflinger “Absolute Light & Sound , Shelly Albee “Sweet Cakes” for their wedding cake and Fancy Florals By Nancy for their wedding flowers. For more information on Fancy Florals By Nancy wedding flowers, wedding bouquets, and reception centerpieces, call, text or email to get your free consultation. 309-212-6570 – fancyfloralsbynancy@hotmail.com
