Morgan + Tom | Willow Brooke Farm
THE PLANNING
Morgan and Tom had the most dreamy winter vision for their January wedding in Minnesota! Since we specialize in backyard and barn weddings, we don’t get many opportunities to coordinate winter weddings. Needless to say, we were pumped!
Rustic Elegance Owner, Kellie, did most of the planning via Zoom with the bride’s mom, Michelle. She was always very organized and we loved working with her to set up her daughter’s wedding at Willow Brooke Farm!
THE MORNING
Oddly enough Minnesota hadn’t gotten much snow yet this winter, but that quickly changed before Morgan and Tom’s wedding. The morning of the big day, we woke up to a ton of snow from the night before! It was a bit chilly out, but perfectly matched the vision of their wedding day.
The wedding party got ready on site, with the ladies in the house and the guys in the groom’s room. Morgan and her gals worked with an amazing beauty team that left them feeling gorgeous. Beauty by Betsy and Emma Schierman nailed it! Once the guys were dressed, the RE team helped them pin on their boutonnieres. Morgan then slipped into her dress from Sumarokaova Atelier. This dress was absolutely stunning and nothing like we had ever seen before! She truly looked like a princess!
Meanwhile, the RE team was busy putting the final touches on decor and setting up our photo booth. If you didn’t know, you can rent our photo booth (even if you don’t book us for coordination)! Check it out HERE.
The bride and groom then did their first look and took portraits with the fresh, white snow as their backdrop. The scenery and flowers from Clementine Flowers complimented their looks perfectly! Crystel Becker Photography then had the wedding party join for a few fun group photos before we pulled everyone aside for a quick day of rehearsal.
THE CEREMONY
The ceremony took place in the historic white barn on the property, which is not heated. As guests arrived, we had them wait in the reception hall until right before the ceremony as it was heated. We timed it so perfectly as the second shuttle from Broz Transportation arrived, we escorted all the guests to the barn. This way everyone could stay as warm as possible for the longest amount of time!
We absolutely loved the ceremony decor that consisted of light up trees and crystals that the family had set up the day before!
Once everyone was seated, we began sending the wedding party down the aisle. We worked with GMan DJay to time the music as we cued the 5 attendants on each side, the two ring bearers, and the flower girl. Their flower girl was only 5 months old and pulled in the venue’s wagon that the family had decorated. This was so cute! The bride then made her grand entrance with her father to “You and I” by Valerie June. The ceremony was short and sweet, partly due to the weather and getting guests back to the heated barn. Nonetheless, it was so special. The couple shared heartfelt words and their long awaited kiss!
THE RECEPTION
When guests made their way back into the heated barn, they spent time socializing and enjoying drinks served up by Willow Brooke Farm. As we mentioned before, the couple opted to add on our photo booth rental! It was available to use from cocktail hour through the reception. Morgan and Tom decided on the black sequin backdrop which worked perfectly no matter what outfit their guests were wearing! Guests received digital prints to their phones right after they were taken. They had the option to take photos, GIFs, and boomerangs. All of which are available to the couple the day after the event. This is such a fun way for the couple to view the reception through a different lens! They were able to see guests of all ages loving the photo booth and having fun with it. The bride’s grandma even booked the photo booth for her wedding because she had so much fun using it and it stayed busy all night! Delivery and setup were included as the couple booked us as their coordinators. You can learn all about this service on our Photo Booth Page!
As cocktail hour wrapped up, guests were welcomed to find their seats using the seating chart that was displayed on one of our easels. The couple rented a lot of decor from the venue, as well as a few items from our rental inventory. There were 3 different table arrangements to add variety to the guest tables. They consisted of cylinder vases with floating candles, lights, votives, branches, mirrored chargers, napkins (tied by family), water glasses from the venue, and thank you notes. A lot of this decor was set up by the family the night before. We loved that the couple used the venue’s sofa and arch behind the head table to give it that extra VIP pizzazz! The space provided the perfect scene for Stroh and Co Films to capture clips for the couple’s wedding video.
Once everyone was seated the couple and their wedding party did a grand entrance into the reception. The vibes were high and ready for the celebration to continue! Le Chien Bleu provided a delicious buffet dinner, which was served to the head table as a plated meal. Continuing that VIP treatment. ;)
For dessert, the couple made sure there was a large variety of favorites displayed on the venue’s marble table! There were mini cheesecakes and tarts from their caterer, macarons from SugarBeats, and brownies from G&G Petite Sweets. YUM!
To top off their decor, they had 2 ice sculptures! There was one at the entrance, sitting outside as a welcome, and the other was a drink luge set up by the bar on the hot chocolate bar table. This is always such a fun touch that really amps up the “wow factor” of your wedding, and Tom Schiller Ice Carvings nailed it!
After dinner, the couple then began their first dance to “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” by Starship. This was followed by the father daughter dance to “Angel” by Shaggy, which the groom and his mother joined in on. We love the trend of combining the parent dances!
Once the first dances wrapped up, JunkFM began to play and opened up the dance floor to everyone. Guests flooded the floor and kept it packed all night long! During this time, Morgan snuck away for her dress change and joined everyone else in dancing the night away (and popping in to use the photo booth)!
The Mac Shack provided a late night snack of pizza, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed during their dancing breaks. Meanwhile, the RE team was busy cleaning up decor and packing it away into the designated cars. It was a chilly January clean up, which is what we are there for! This way you and your loved ones can stay and enjoy the night, rather than worrying about who to send out for the late night clean up shift!
Morgan + Tom, your wedding was one to remember! Thank you for having Rustic Elegance on your team!
Huge thank you to Crystel Becker Photography for sharing these lovely photos with us!
VENDORS
Venue: Willow Brooke Farm
Caterer: Le Chien Bleu
Bar Service: Willow Brooke Farm
Late Night Snack: The Mac Shack
Dessert: Le Chien Bleu / SugarBeats / G&G Petite Sweets
Hair: Beauty by Betsy
Makeup: Emma Schierman
Ice Sculpture: Tom Schiller Ice Carvings
Ceremony Music: GMan DJay
Band: JunkFM
Florist: Clementine Flowers
Photographer: Crystel Becker Photography
Videographer: Stroh and Co Films
Photo Booth: Rustic Elegance
Transportation: Broz Transportation
Bridal Gown: Sumarokaova Atelier
Coordinator: Rustic Elegance
Creatively written by: Hope Konkol