English Inspired Milwaukee Wedding

Though this wedding from Anna Page Photography takes place in Milwaukee, you’d almost never know it by its heavy English influence. There are many darling details to behold, but I’m particularly smitten with the bridesmaids’ headpieces – a trend I hope to see take more traction soon on this side of the pond!

From the newlyweds, Bill and Hillary: We envisioned our wedding to be simple and timeless. We wanted the style to be clean and soft. We hoped our guests would feel a sense of magic with pretty white lights, yet have people feel comfortable being surrounded by natural fabrics at a down to-earth-venue. We hoped for the smell of freshly cut grass and fall foliage. We envisioned our wedding to have a personal touch through aesthetic details and also through experiences like having us and our wedding party go around to the tables and pour the first toasts.

Our wedding was comforting, magical, happy, quirky, and honest. Comforting because of the wonderful love and care our friends and family brought to our big day, magical because of the glowing wall of lights, happy because this was the one day we had everyone who is important together with us on one day and we had the chance to announce the love we have for each other, quirky because of details like having a pinata for the kids and having the bouquet fall a part in the air so that more than one lady would catch a flower after the bride threw it from the top rungs of the barn ladder, and honest because we had our hand in every detail of the day.

We had only the suggestion of a color scheme, as we wanted all white with accents of soft linen colors. We had a lot of DIY projects for our wedding. It’s important to point out the reason this was so successful was because of dedicated friends and most importantly a bride and groom who were both equally invested in the event. First thing we did was design our family seal. This design would go on our save the date, invitation, programs, and favor of custom stemless champagne flutes. Friends and family wove together Salal, Italian Ruscus, and Seeded Eucalyptus into long leafy garlands for the doorways and tables. We also sewed together long lengths of linen for the tablecloths. We made our seating board by framing a vintage map and posting table assignments to all of our visited locations around the world. We painted our last names in our special font on printed patterns in giant square frames for the big wall. We hung large empty frames and tied glittered twigs to the wall for a photo booth corner where people could adorn themselves in pieces from our costume box that we brought from home. We scattered the ground with jars that we filled with LED tea lights which made it feel like fairies were at our wedding too.

See Also

Monogram Magic In This Textural & Earthy Wedding With Elevated North Carolina Flair

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Our advice would be to delegate small tasks to friends and family. On the day they will feel a part of your big day. Also, hold tight to what your wedding is really about. It’s not just about the two of you, it’s about you, your friends, and your family all coming together to celebrate. Also, designing a family seal was fun and useful and will be a part of our lives for long after the wedding and is a happy reminder of the day and your union.

Wedding Music:
Processional: Pachelbel’s Canon in D
Recessional: Vivaldi’s Spring
First Dance: “I Follow Rivers” Lykke Li (Live on the Moon)
We played mostly songs that everyone could dance to. We only had a few slow songs in the bunch. The Groom made the entire play list for the wedding. He started collecting songs for the wedding day even before our engagement! There were classics like The Beatles and Gloria Gaynor along with new pop such as Rihanna and Iconapop.

Wedding Location: Milwaukee, WI / Photographer: Anna Page Photography / Wedding Dress, Bridesmaids’ Dresses, Mother of the Bride Dress, Flower Girl and Ringbearer Outfits: Made by the bride, Hillary Amber / Headpieces: Made by the bride / Groom’s and Groomsmen’s Suits: Zara / Groom’s Tie: J. Crew / Groom’s Shoes: Cole Haan / Groomsmen’s Ties: Uniqlo / Tie Clips: The Tie Bar