Kierra + Colty | Willow Brooke Farm
THE PLANNING
This wedding is a very special one because the bride is one of RE’s lead planners! Kierra has worked with RE since almost the beginning, so her wedding was exciting for the whole team. It was clear that their family and friends were just as excited, because they maxed out their venue’s capacity limit at 270 guests! Speaking of their venue, they chose to get married at the stunning Willow Brooke Farm. We had never been to the space before, but absolutely loved it!
RE owner Kellie was the lead planner for this one, as there was no way she would have missed Kierra’s wedding day! She had planning meetings on site at our office with the bride and her mom. It was fun to hear her ideas and decisions after working so many weddings over the years. Kierra is such an amazing person, so it was wonderful to be able to help with her special day - especially after she has helped so many other couples celebrate!
THE MORNING
It was a chilly day in November when everyone made their way to Willow Brooke Farm. The ladies gathered in the house on the property to get ready with LHN Beauty who got busy perfecting their hair and makeup! Meanwhile, the guys were prepping for the day in the groom's room [aka, enjoying the pool table and lounge furniture;)].
While the wedding party was busy getting ready, the RE team of Kellie and Kristin got to work setting up. We placed the linens from Apres, table decor, and ceremony decor. The florist added dried and fake flowers in vases, which we placed on the tables and throughout the venue. (Fun fact, the couple returned most of the dried flowers after the wedding to be reused). Since they had maxed out the capacity of the venue, it was a tight fit. We worked with the venue’s team to place the tables in a way that would allow the most room. It ended up working out great!
Once Kierra was finished with glam and slipped into her bridal dress from Annika Bridal Boutique, it was time for the first looks! As we said, Kierra has been on the RE team since nearly the beginning. So even though it wasn’t an official first look, when Kellie saw her all dressed up there were definitely tears and lots of love!
The bride did a first look with her dad and brother, followed by her groom. It was so sweet seeing all of their reactions! Right after the couple’s first look photos, Nicole Ashley Photography pulled them aside to the ceremony site to read their vows in private. Here’s what the bride had to say about it:
“I loved doing our vows with just us right after our first look photos. It was more intimate and less pressure to say the right thing in front of a large group of people. We had separate vows that we wrote together and we used during the ceremony - we made these a little more funny!”
After they were finished, the wedding party joined them to capture a few group photos. We absolutely love the ladies boho bouquets from Juniper Rose Floral!
Once photos started wrapping up, the RE team pulled the wedding party aside for a day of rehearsal. After working with us for so long, Kierra knew the importance of having a rehearsal the day of the wedding. If you aren’t sure why we are in favor of them, check out THIS blog.
THE CEREMONY
As guests started arriving at the venue via First Student Charter, we directed them to take their seats in the Historic Barn. The ceremony backdrop was made by the bride and her dad, we loved the unique look! It was surrounded by large pampas grass and battery candles to match their vibe. Since it was a bit chilly, the venue had heaters in the ceremony barn and provided blankets. Everyone was cuddled together with love in the air!
The couple’s ceremony was filled with people who were super special to them. There was a mix of men and women on each side of the wedding party. Each member walked in with their significant others, so the processional included brothers, sisters, wives, grandmas, girlfriends, etc. They had all of their most important people involved! After each person walked down the aisle, they took a seat rather than standing up by the couple. Colty was escorted in by his mom, while Kierra was escorted by her dad. The bride and her father paused after each step as they did their processional walk, to take it all in. This was their time to shine after all!
The ceremony itself was extra special because the couple’s friend was officiating it! It was his first time being an officiant, but he did amazing and left everyone laughing with tears of joy in their eyes. Then finally the couple sealed all that love in with a kiss and they were officially Mr and Mrs!
THE RECEPTION
Guests made their way out of the ceremony barn for cocktail hour and enjoyed passed appetizers from Canadian Honker and drinks from Willow Brooke Farm. The venue had the bar trailer open outside, which guests had fun visiting. The couple and their wedding party made their way to the Barrel Lounge after the ceremony to partake in a celebratory tequila shot before heading back to cocktail hour to socialize! It ended up being a bit chilly for guests to stay outside, so most decided to mingle in the White Willow Barn which was fully heated and set for the reception. Here is the bride’s take on the situation:
“I was originally bummed about the cold weather but was pleasantly surprised when everyone was forced inside during cocktail hour because we were able to see everyone in a short period of time.”
The decor in the reception space was simple, but stunning. The head table was set for 16 people. It was decorated with a cheese cloth runner, vases, name cards, and chargers for the couple. All of these items were provided by the bride and groom. Oh and we can’t forget the couple’s dog, Biggie! She couldn’t be with her parents to celebrate their day, so they had a photo of her at the head table so she could still be a part of the day. They also had a memory table in the entryway and displayed wedding photos of both of their parents which was fun for guests to see!
Once it was time for dinner, guests found their assigned seats via a seating chart. Tables were dismissed to go grab food from Canadian Honker’s buffet. They were such a great team and amazing to work with! As guests finished their meal, they made their way over to the dessert buffet provided by Better Together Bakery. There were bars, cookies, and other bite sized treats to ensure that there would be something for everyone! Fun fact: The owner is friends with the couple and was a guest at the wedding!
The RE team also cued the speeches that were given by the bride’s father, the maid of honor, and the best man. They were the perfect mix of touching and humorous to keep guests entertained while eating!
Once it was nearing the time for dancing to start, we moved tables to make room. This left a gap in the timeline for everyone to just relax and socialize a bit more. Kierra was definitely in support of this decision:
“I loved having a little bit of breathing room in our timeline after dinner/speeches so the team could clean up tables but it also gave time to go to the bathroom and chit chat with more people before the dance started.”
When the dance floor was ready, the couple did their first dance to Strawberries by Camp. It was such a sweet moment to see the happy couple blissfully in love! Their dance was followed by two equally sweet parent dances.
Now it was officially time to get the party started, and this group did not disappoint! The DJ was a friend of the couple’s and he did an awesome job keeping the vibes up and the dance floor packed! Courtney Rae Films was able to capture the energy of the reception perfectly, so the couple can relive it forever!
Guests were also busy using the photo booth provided by Courtney Rae Films. The ceremony backdrop was repurposed for the photo booth and made the perfect background for the photos! The kids were kept busy with a bingo/find game, which they loved!
As the night progressed, guests enjoyed a late night snack of pizza from Liberty’s Pizza and wrapped up the evening with plenty of dancing and drinking! Speaking of drinking, Kierra has a bar service tip to share with all the couple’s planning their wedding:
“A random tip that I didn’t realize until we were finalizing our final bar tab was that we sent the venue a headcount of all the pregnant and/or sober people so they could be subtracted from our final drink count since we had an open bar and paid per person. Saved us some money in the end and I had never really thought about it before! Also another tip, double fist water, you won’t regret it!”
At the end of the night, First Student Charter picked guests up and safely shuttled them back to the hotel. The bride and groom were able to sleep at the farm house at the venue which was very convenient! The RE team completed the clean up package and loaded up all the decor to be easily transported off site.
Kierra + Colty, what an honor it was to be a part of your wedding day! We absolutely loved every second of it and hope married life is amazing! Thank you for being an amazing Rustic Elegance team member!
One final time hearing the bride’s thoughts about this day:
“I might be biased, but our best investment was hiring Rustic Elegance!! I always knew I would use you all on our wedding day so it was a no brainer for me. Even the day of I was so wrapped up in the day that I didn’t even realize all the things getting done behind the scenes! Everything was so seamless and I got so many compliments from friends and family about how nice it was that they didn’t have pressure to do anything but enjoy themselves!”
VENDORS
Venue: Willow Brooke Farm
Caterer: Canadian Honker
Bar Service: Willow Brooke Farm
Linens: Apres
DJ: Couple’s Friend
Florist: Juniper Rose Floral
Officiant: Couple’s Friend
Photographer: Nicole Ashley Photography
Videographer: Courtney Rae Films
Photo Booth: Courtney Rae Films
Dessert: Better Together Bakery
Transportation: First Student Charter
Hair / Makeup: LHN Beauty
Bridal Dress Shop: Annika Bridal Boutique
Coordinator: Rustic Elegance
Creatively written by: Hope Konkol