When Liz Banfield, Minneapolis photographer and wonderful friend of C&B, sent us a few pictures of Michelle and Noah’s Mississippi River wedding, we were instantly charmed: every handmade detail…the traditional farmhouse setting…fresh take on the wedding reception as a picnic…wow! And then, when we talked with Michelle and she described the couple’s style as ‘vintage modern,’ we could hardly contain ourselves: “We like to mix old and new, so we thought it would be fun to celebrate in a way that was once familiar but not as common these days.” A truly heirloom wedding—so much to love! A wedding photographer herself, Michelle definitely knows style! We’re completely enamored with her design process and the beautiful, meaningful day the couple created—we know you will be too! Nine years to the day from the couple’s first kiss—does it get any sweeter?

 

Michelle’s dress was made just for her by Minneapolis fashion designer Joy Teiken of Joynoelle—so beautiful!

“I tried on a lot of dresses and, not being a girl that wears dresses very often, nothing felt right. Then I went to Joy. She made it so easy! I showed her some pictures of dresses I liked and told her which shapes I thought fit me best and she went from there. I went in every few weeks for a fitting and Joy would fix anything that needed changing. It was a fun process and the dress turned out beautifully. I must have tried on my dress twenty times between picking it up from Joy and the actual wedding day, I loved it so much!”

 

The picnic-theme inspired invitations were designed and handmade entirely by Michelle. So much care and thought—every detail is so gorgeous!

Michelle told us, “I printed all the invitations at home, and used my sewing machine to add three lines of pink stitching to 150 invitations, reception and reply cards! Even I started thinking I was crazy after awhile! I’m not sure I ever finished tying off all the loose threads, but the invites did go out on time, hand-addressed and all.” The brown paper envelopes—chosen to resemble paper lunch sacks—were found at Paper Depot, cardstock for the invites at Paper Source, and vintage stamps on Ebay.

The color palette—cherry blossom pink, marigold yellow, spring green, chocolate and cream—was inspired by the spring season. Michelle says her friends, the bridesmaids, picked out their own dresses with color swatches she passed along to them and she and Noah chose ties for the groomsmen.

 

Michelle said she hoped the florals would be simple and look hand-picked from the garden. She described the bouquets created by Fleurissima as ’stunning’ and we couldn’t agree more! The flowers fit just perfectly with the mood the couple wanted for the day—bright, cheerful, casual.

More from Michelle: “The bridesmaids’ bouquets were each a single color, pink, green, or yellow, and included a number of different flowers which gave them a lovely texture. My bouquet was all tulips—my favorite flower—in various shades of pink and white. The men’s boutonnieres were simple and sweet—a couple green Kermit mums with a little branch of pink blossoms for the groomsmen, and green berries with a little pink branch for Noah.”

 

When we asked Michelle about keepsakes from the wedding, she mentioned special details from the ceremony: “Our ring bearer, my nephew, carried our rings down the aisle in a wooden box that I now use for jewelry, and our flower girl carried her petals in a basket that came with flowers from my grandma when I was a baby.”

One of Michelle’s favorite moments from the day: “Noah and I spent most of the ceremony kneeling in front of the altar with our backs to our guests. I wanted to turn around and see everyone’s faces but I couldn’t. During communion, my sister-in-law sang the Ave Maria, and hearing her beautiful voice reminded me that everyone we loved was right there behind us. It was a wonderful feeling.”

More from Michelle & Noah’s wedding soon…!

Tags: handmade wedding, liz banfield photography, minnesota wedding, real midwest wedding, wedding photography