
Where our wedding was, and how we chose the venue(s):
Our wedding was at our farm outside of Columbus, WI. We purchased a small farm almost 2 years ago and the barn was in amazing shape. It’s over 100 years old!

Our favorite part(s) of the wedding:
My nephew Tyler who is 19, sang and played acoustic guitar during our ceremony. Almost every single song he learned was recorded before he was born. When Kevin walked down the aisle with his parents, Tyler played, ‘Holding out for a Hero’, by Bonnie Tyler. He did AMAZING. Kevin is a HUGE Footloose fan. This song was appropriate for so many reasons!
Kevin and I also wrote our own vows. It was so touching to be able to express our vows from the heart.



What was definitely worth it:
Having it at our place. The photos and memories from that day mean so much more knowing it was in our backyard.
Greatest challenge planning the wedding:
We are SO GLAD we had our wedding on our farm BUT living at the same place as the venue could sometimes be a challenge. We wanted to constantly ‘do things’ in preparation. I am a sprinter and this was more of a marathon…I probably swept the barn 20 times before the actual day J.


Resources that helped us along the way:
Pinterest and Etsy! I would find things I liked on both sites and then bring these ideas to my dad. He played a HUGE role in helping us construct a lot of our décor. I would tell him what I liked and he would build it. He actually built the bar in the barn out of old barn wood.
Advice for other people planning their wedding:
The day will go by so quickly. Try to enjoy every moment! Don’t stress, everything will get taken care of.



Other cool stuff people should know:
My dad and I made all of the decorations. He trimmed birch trees, placed them in corners of the barn and we strung clear lights on them. He found an oak tree already down. He trimmed it to be the base of our cake. He spent a lot of time stringing lights and hanging material on scaffolding.
We purchased our centerpiece flowers from a vendor at the Sun Prairie Farmer’s Market the morning of our wedding.

The wedding photos we’re most excited to see:
There was so much going on that day, we are excited to see our guests engaging with each other. We know there were bits we missed and we can’t wait to see what was captured in the photos!

We chose Maureen Cassidy Photography because:
We met with Maureen in January and immediately felt comfortable with her. She had only one day open in September, our date. It was meant to be! She has such amazing energy, we knew she would be able to capture our day perfectly. And when she confirmed she would climb the barn banisters if needed, we knew she was our photographer! The day of our wedding, she was so much fun!



Vendors!
Ceremony & Reception Venue: our home
Hair: Bfix Salon in Madison, WI
Make up: My sister and I did ours together
Wedding Dress: I found my dress online. It was from a boutique in NYC and had been a mannequin sample.
Bridesmaid Dress: www.modcloth.com
Groom & Groomsmen Attire: Everyone picked their own
Catering: Eldorado Grill provided our dinner with smoked brisket and mashed potatoes
Bar-tending: We had kegged cocktails provided by Dlux. Old-fashions were on tap!
Rentals (tents, chairs, linens, etc.): Event Essentials
Officiant: Rev. Rita Erickson from Tomah, WI. She was great!
Wedding planner: Kevin and Maria 🙂
Flowers/Florist: Wild Apples Floral in Baraboo, WI
Invitations: Maria made them. She has a design background.
Dessert: Market Street Diner did our wedding cake along with rustic pies, pumpkin and s’mores bars.
Basset Street Brunch Club provided us with donuts. Guests were encouraged to take them home for breakfast the next day. Flavors included Maple Bacon (yesss!), Oreo-Crusted and Sprinkled.
Photography: Maureen Cassidy Photography
Bands: During cocktail hour, the No Name String Band: Midwestern new-time string band.
Our dance was The Rusty Hearts: electrified, stringified and countrified music.
Both bands fit our theme quite well. In fact the Rusty Hearts even countrified some songs from the 80s and learned how to play ‘My Maria’.
Maureen Cassidy is a Madison wedding photographer, Madison family photographer & Madison boudoir photographer who loves capturing connections, love and beauty in Wisconsin and around the world. If you would like to send her a message contact her {here}.