Vibrant Wisconsin Fall Wedding in Teal and Earth Tones

This vibrant Wisconsin Fall Wedding captured by Kristina Lorraine is making us miss this cozy season. We were sold as soon as the bride told us their color palette: dusty rose + toffee. With drool-worthy florals by Frontier Flowers of Fontana and planning by Elevate Events, this midwestern fete hits all the checkboxes and it’s ready for you to dive in to read the story behind all the beautiful details you will see throughout the wedding + pin your little heart out!

From the Bride:
The most important thing to Marty and I wasn’t to do with aesthetics but what we wanted everyone to feel. We’re naturally a laid back and quiet couple and we wanted our families to come together in an intimate and informal setting that was full of heart.

To help create this welcoming and intimate vibe, we decided against a large bridal party instead opting for two very important people to stand with us – our brothers. We also had two lounge vignettes at our reception venue to make for a more relaxed atmosphere and served dinner family-style for a true feel-at-home experience.

Our color inspiration began with a lovely rich merlot that we accented with hues of dusty rose and warm toffee create a romantic vibe full of warmth. Soft chiffon table runners, modern acrylic accents, floral arrangements lush in dimension with beautiful fall tones, handmade candles in varying ivory colors and the venue’s exposed brick made for a stunning balance of both industrial and organic elements.

Other details that I designed was the vellum menus that was at each place setting, the lettering on our acrylic signs that we printed as decals and applied, and our multi-layered ceremony programs.

Flowers – the type of flowers and the way in which we included them in our wedding was pivotal to us. As soon as we selected the venue which had an amazing industrial and modern vibe to it, we knew instantly that we wanted to contrast that with a natural element in the form of abundant, loose florals. The floral design included such flowers as mocca amaryllis, brown lisianthus, toffee roses, quicksand roses, blackberry scabiosa, nandina, bronze sea oats, blackberry copper beech, and other complementary seasonal finds. The warm fall tones of the flowers played so well against the red exposed brick and made for an absolute stunning vision all thanks to Renee from Frontier Flowers of Fontana.

Marty and I both have artistic backgrounds and with Marty’s engineering mind as well, we knew we could do just about anything. One of our largest projects of the wedding was making all of our pillarcandles ourselves. To bring in more autumnal colors, we wanted to make the candles in assorted ivory colors – from soft cream to warm toffee. We loved how they turned out with the different hues and even the small imperfections that come with making your own candles for the first time, all added to the artisan look.

Another large part of our wedding was the paper goods. The idea of designing our stationery was both daunting and exciting but allowed us to craft a custom look to impress our guests. Our venue really set the tone as we kept to a more minimalistic style with a lot of beautiful subtle details.
Our details card was another fun side project as I digitally illustrated both our ceremony and reception venues for use on the details card.

Wedding gown – The story of how I found my dress actually has sentimental origins from when my mom was shopping for her own dress. The very first dress she tried ended up being the one and when we went shopping for my own, there was always the hope that I would be as lucky as my mom and find it quickly. When we did go, it was actually the second dress I tried that ended up being the one and what a stunning dress from Watters. I absolutely fell in love with the detail of the dress – how the lace shaped itself around my body, how the beading had just the right amount of sparkle and texture, and the surprise factor of the open back.

Dessert table – There were many moving parts to our dessert table that was so beautifully executed that we give all the credit to our amazing vendor team. To start, Marty and I created a custom copper arch that was artfully adorned with delicate flower arrangements to frame the buffet table from Relic Vintage Rentals. The table, of course, had a wide selection of delicious desserts from Bloom Bake Shop like our almond raspberry rose wedding cake, salted caramel, and apple buckle mini-cakes and assorted sweet potato and apple cider doughnuts. Kelsie and Mallory from Elevate Events completely knocked it out by styling everything perfectly to make for a well-balanced and cute display.

Favors – Along with our candles, we wanted to introduce another handmade element into our wedding with soap favors made by us. We had the best of intentions but unfortunately, not all DIY projects for your wedding works out and after a few failed attempts, we decided to go with River County Soapworks for our handmade soap favors. We were so happy with how they turned out and the almond scent and toffee color swirls made the soap look and smell delicious!

Tablescape – The tablescape design was honestly one of the harder design decisions to solve but with the guidance of the lovely ladies from Elevate Events, we were able to create an elegant fresh-from-the-garden fall look. Various fall fruits such as pears, figs, cherries, and blackberries were strewn around the centerpieces and accented by votive candles and lanterns. Each place setting included simplistic cream-colored dinnerware, brushed gold flatware, textured glasses and vellum menus with a cherry or blackberry to accompany it.

Menu – Our caterer from Wholesome Harvest Meals was absolutely amazing in that she worked with us one-on-one to build a custom menu for our day. We wanted a farm-to-table experience that utilized a lot of seasonal ingredients and oh did Jaclyn deliver. The delicious menu included sweet potato rounds with bacon onion jam, pumpkin bruschetta, stuffed mushrooms and local meat and cheese platter for our cocktail hour. For dinner, we started with a mixed green salad with goat cheese, nuts, and dried cranberries and our main course was served family-style with braised beef tips and chicken and artichoke Florentine Pasta.

Stationery – We wanted to keep our invitation suite simple and modern for a timeless look that matched our loft-style venue. We incorporated a lot of personal touches to the suite such as our botanical-printed vellum wraps, custom illustrated map for our details card and monogrammed wax seals in antique copper. We also opted to have all our stationery printed in letterpress with key information highlighted in copper foil for a real luxe feel.

It’s so hard to narrow down the advice we would give couples starting their own wedding planning journey but we have to say sort your priorities early and be willing to invest in your top ones. Our number one priority for our wedding was the media coverage and I can’t say enough how crucial the role media has in your wedding. What they say is true about your wedding day, unfortunately – it’s gone in a flash and what you have left of the day are the photos and video.

Do research and find vendors that fit your style and that you connect with on a personal level. If you’re like most and get shy when the lens is focused on you, you’ll want to be comfortable with your photographer and videographer from the start. When you’ve found a good fit, don’t be discouraged by the price point. It may seem like a large part of your wedding budget but you will have no regrets when you get back those beautiful photos and video that you can cherish for the rest of your lives.

Wedding Vendors:

Photography: Kristina Lorraine
Wedding Planning: Elevate Events
Florals: Frontier Flowers of Fontana
Hair: Hair by Jacim
Makeup: Diana Skin Care Therapy
Venue: Mercantile Hall
Dress: Watters
Dress Shop: Bliss Bridal
Rentals: Relics Vintage Rentals
Catering: Wholesome Harvest Meals
Video: The Neskes
Favors: River County Soap