The Thursday before & Saturday after!

The wedding weekend kicked off bright and early on Thursday morning as we headed to the Stone Barn to decorate. We had a great time decorating while jamming out to the ipod. Candace & Kari, aka my wedding angels, decorated the day away-hanging the paper lanterns, setting up the shepherd hooks and mason jars along the aisle, putting tablecloths, plates and napkins on the tables, etc..

McCayla climbed the tree to tie crystals from the tree and Bonnie tied thulle to every single shepherd’s hook. She also patiently poored water into each and every mason jar, a job that took forever!

My Dad pounded in all the signs and did most of the heavy lifting. My mom made sure we thought of every single detail and stayed on track. Tom Imes prepared the wedding vehicle and Barb prepared everything for rehearsal! Meanwhile, back at the farm, Joanie and Amber were busy putting together the bouquets! It should also be mentioned that had to pluck the petals off about 4 five gallon buckets full of roses, hydrangeas, orchids and other flowers in order to get the "petaled aisle" ready! I love you girls!

The amount of work that goes into setting up and tearing down a wedding is astounding. Without my small army of wedding soldiers, I would have been out of luck.

At 4:00 pm headed to the church for a blessing. Drew’s uncle has married all of Drew’s cousins, and Drew was the last cousin to receive a wedding blessing from his uncle Bill. Unfortunately, Bill’s granddaughter was married the same day as us, so we arranged to have a blessing in the church on Thursday evening. It was also meaningful for my family as my great-great-great grandfather Jacob built the original West St. Olaf church; although the church burned down, most of my Thoe relatives have attended West St. Olaf. Many of them were married there and several are also buried there.


Pictures by Metalbird Media:

Photo by Metalbird Media.

Photo by Metalbird Media.

Photo by Metalbird Media.

Photo by Metalbird Media.

On the way to the church we realized that I didn’t have any flowers. I was in the van with my mom and we stopped to pick some wildflowers in the ditch. First we picked black eyed susans and queen anne’s lace, but it didn’t look quite right. We chucked them out the window and grabbed these instead! I don’t think we could have ordered anything so beautiful, they were perfect. I loved the simplicity of Thursday- just my closest family & friends, a simple dress, simple flowers and Drew, all in the presence of God at the church. It was perfect.  

photo by Britt Klug

Thursday evening we went to the barn for rehearsal. Rehearsal went smoothly and we enjoyed Roscoe’s barbecue and growlers from the Duluth Brewhouse. (Drew was originally in charge of catering. He suggested Roscoe’s and I said “Drew, I am not eating bbq in my wedding dress” and with that I usurped his role in selecting a caterer. We did enjoy Roscoe’s on Thursday night!

We invited anyone to give a toast on Thursday night. Some great stories were shared! My little sister Katrina recalled the time she came to visit and we dressed up in old fashioned clothing and went to the Titanic exhibit at the Science Museum. Then she called me the smartest blonde she’s ever met and we all laughed.

Friday morning my lovely stylist showed up at 6:20, what a trooper. While Bonnie was the first on the hair schedule, I failed to tell her that we changed the time from 7 am to 6:30 am... you can imagine her delight when I came barreling down to the basement to get her up.

The photographer came at 10 and began snapping pics of everything. Bonnie put on her wedding dress and we got some pictures together in our dresses- fun!


Photo by Metalbird Media.

When Drew arrived we met in the backyard. He gave me the necklace and earrings I was wearing and I gave him an engraved pocket watch. (My mom gave my dad an engraved pocket watch on their wedding too!)

Then.. the Bosco fiasco happened- but hey, it wouldn’t be a Thoe/Imes wedding without some sort of Bosco fiasco.

The wedding was fabuloso! The wedding would not have been a success without the help of Candy, Kari, Nicole, McCayla’s boyfriend and Logan.. as well as the help of my sisters, parents and Drew’s parents. We truly thank you from the bottom of our hearts and I apologize you had to work so hard on Thursday and Friday.

Photo by Metalbird Media. Bouquet by Your Enchanted Florist.

                                               

Drew is so lucky to have best friends he's grown up with, they met in elementary school!
Photo by Metalbird Media.

It takes a lot of time, energy and moolah to be a bridesmaid... thanks again girls for making the journey to MN, for finding blue dresses and for putting up with me! I love you all sooooo much!!!
Photo by Metalbird Media.

Photo by Metalbird Media.

My Mom played guitar while McCayla sang "Perfect Two" by Auburn. It was amazing!
Photo by Metalbird Media.

Photo by Metalbird Media.

My Maid & Matron of Honor!
Photo by Metalbird Media.

Photo by Metalbird Media.

Sign by McCayla, Tin cans by TJ, bike ensemble put together by Tom Imes! (-:
Photo by Metalbird Media.

First dance to "You Send Me" by Sam Cooke. We never practiced dancing to that song, but it went okay nonetheless!
Photo by Metalbird Media.

I was able to sing a few songs with the band which was fun for me!
Photo by Metalbird Media.

Fast forward to Saturday morning!

On Saturday, we all reconvened at the Thoe house for gift opening. Here are some pics of some of the higlights!

Matching kimono robes from our neighbors!

A lefse maker, carrying on the Thoe tradition!!!

Yesterday our coworkers surprised us with this gorgeous quilt! Thanks Alyssa! We love it!!!  

At 4 o’clock we whipped out the butterhead. I was very sad to see her go. At 7:30 we all loaded onto the haywagon for a sunset tour of the Thoe farm.

These two pics are by Britt Klug!

At dusk, the neighbors lit off a bunch of fireworks in honor of their annual thrashing party which is always held the first weekend in August. After their grand finale, we followed suit and shot off our own fireworks. One of the fireworks did backfire on us.... but no injuries! (-:

The next day most people went home. Britt stayed an extra day so we took another haywagon ride over to the thrashing party where Britt was able to experience some antique tractors!

photo by  Brittsky

Shout outs! I owe so many people a huge THANK YOU!

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect weekend. Everything went just as I hoped it would. I expected to feel extremely disappointed after the wedding was over, but I'm so happy with how everything went, and I'm so happy to be an Imes, that there simply isn't any time for disappointment! I'm too busy smiling!

Truly, the only hiccup occurred at about 1:00 on Friday. As a train of vehicles departed the Thoe farm for the stone barn, we realized Bosco was missing. There were only a few of us at the farm, and we searched desperately for Boz. In the chaos, Drew set down the rings and the marriage license.

We finally had to leave, because we were already late. As we drove to the barn, we realized that not only was our dog missing, but the rings and the marriage license as well.

Luckily, my friend's mom found Bosco in a vehicle. (Bosco doesn't love the farm. He is usually pretty desperate to leave so we think he jumped in my friend Bry's vehicle, hoping she'd turn on the AC and drive him home!)

The most amazing part of a wedding is having all your favorite people together all at once. We had friends and family join us from Virginia, Maine, Connecticut, Alaska, New York, California, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, New Hampshire, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois. What a blessing to have everyone together!

Photo by Britt Klug

McCayla made us a bunch of beautiful signs out of old wood we found on the farm! As you may recall, this is the bike that originally drew me to Drew!

Photo by Britt Klug

Walking out to "You Make My Dreams Come True!" by Hall and Oates was a highlight for me! 



Cocktail hour

An assortment of paper lanterns, we loved the lanterns with LED lights we purchased off Saveoncrafts.com

Photo by Britt Klug

Flower girl skirt by Lil Miss Goodie TuTu, flower girl tank top by Justice

Assortment of "vintage china" gathered from thrift stores, estate sales, and antique shops.

Veil and hair piece by Fascinating Creations

Necklace and earrings by Divine Jewel

Bouquet by Your Enchanted Florist

Dress by David's Bridal

Shoes by Aldo

Hair and make-up by Noelle Hennessey

Milk jugs found at the Thoe Farm

Hand stamped with stamps purchased at craft stores and off Etsy

Shout-outs!

I truly have nothing but good things to say about all the vendors I worked with. Noelle Hennessey did our hair, and she did such a wonderful job. If you are looking for a stylist in the metro area, look up Noelle! She can be found at  Molly Black Salon, 546 Marshall Ave. St.Paul. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and at Foiled Again Salon in Minneapolis Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The address is 2807 Johnson St. Northeast Mpls. You can email me or go to www.foiledagainsalon.com. to book online.

She does do wedding parties on Saturdays, and she is amazing with vintage looks! I just love her, she is always such a good sport. She drove down from St. Paul at 4 am to do my hair at the Thoe farm at 6:20 am!

As you know, I tried to stick to a budget and so we ordered our flowers in bulk through Sam's Club. We ordered hydrangeas and baby's breath in bulk. The bouquets turned out beautifully (thanks to Amber for putting them together); however, the white hydrangeas looked the best. The green and blue hydrangeas did not look as fresh as the white.

I did want to buy my bouquet. I decided to go to the florist Drew uses when he buys me flowers, ahem, I mean the one and only time he bought me flowers... (hehe). She has won several awards and I knew she'd do a great job. I was shocked to find out that the bride's bouquet often ranges in price between $125-$700. Naturally, I went with the $125 option; however, when my bouquet arrived I felt like a million bucks!

Lynne Tischler, the florist, is the most charming, personable and lovely woman. Right away she asked me about my budget, and even though I wasn't spending  a lot of money, she treated me like a first-class client. She understood my budget and was so willing to work with me. She called to make sure everything was perfect and even offered to come down to Rochester if anything went awry with my bouquet! I loved my crescent shaped bouquet, and it was just what I envisioned. She also provided the petals for the aisle, and she understood just what I wanted!

The band, Golly Llamas, knocked everyone's socks off! Ahem, I may or may not know the band... wink wink... so if you need a cover band for any reason, you know who to contact! They went above and beyond to play for my wedding and they kept everyone dancing until midnight!

Finally, I want to recommend my caterer. We worked with Omar's Cafe out of West Concord, MN. They are a family owned and operated business, and they use as many locally grown, organic, products from the farmer's market as possible. The Sunday brunch at the cafe is to die for. It's worth the drive from Rochester, Owatonna, Albert Lea, even the cities. I'm serious, take your wife or your mom or your family down to West Concord for their Sunday brunch, you won't be disappointed!

Omar's family went through a serious family emergency this week, and despite everything, they whipped up the most amazing meal. There was so much food- all of it delicious! They also provided a beautiful fruit and veggie bar during cocktail hour.

I'm still on a wedding high and I wanted to make sure to give a shout out to all my amazing vendors! If you are getting hitched, I encourage you to look into some of these amazing small businesses!

xoxo

Love, Bridezilla!!!