One Day: Zane and Emily

This is the second week of the series, One Day, where I am able to feature a couple that has recently planned a wedding and are now happily married. This week I am excited to introduce Zane and Emily. They were engaged for a year and ultimately celebrated their wedding day at Thornapple Pointe Golf Club in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They planned and executed their big day with a budget of $13,000 with accent colors of navy blue and orange. Read Emily’s advice below and enjoy some of their photographs!

1. Now that it has been about 8 months since your wedding day, what do you remember most about the day? I remember it being so ridiculously windy! But seriously, I mostly remember it being such a whirlwind to try to enjoy the time with all of our friends and family who had traveled from all over the U.S. to celebrate with us. And the song our friend Jeremy sang at our wedding (“Your Song” by Elton John).

2. What was the vision for your wedding day before you started planning? We knew we wanted to get married outside, under a bright blue sky. We also wanted an open air type reception, in the same place where we got married, so our guests wouldn’t have to drive between or wait for us while we took pictures. We were going for a bright and fresh look and feel – casual and summery. Zane’s one vision: to play a round of golf with his groomsmen the morning of our wedding!

3. How did that vision change by the time you were finished with the planning? I never would have pictured the colors we chose – I wouldnt have thought that orange flowers would look so good with navy blue dresses! But my mom was convinced that it would be beautiful, and I was so happy with the way it turned out! It really fit the atmosphere that we were going for!

[Images from top to bottom: awesome orange tissue paper flowers for your reception site found at theknot.com, adorable clutches found Yensew’s Etsy shop, gift packaging, snazzy boutineer idea from theknot.com, dramatic orange curtains as a reception accent, coral colored dress from Anthro, and something blue from Nomsa’s Etsy shop!]

4. What difficulties did you face while planning a wedding in Grand Rapids, MI? A major difficulty was finding the “perfect” spot to get married outside. When you are considering an outdoors wedding, there are a lot of things to consider: the weather- whether it will rain or be way too hot (which is very unpredictable in MI!), bugs, setting up sound equipment, seating for guests – whether the sun will be their eyes or not, etc. We also wanted the background to be picturesque enough so we wouldn’t have to decorate it much!

5. What was your least favorite part of wedding planning? Having to make so many decisions about every little thing! There were so many things I just didn’t even care about… the seating arrangement, what song I walked down the aisle to, where the attendants stood, when we cut the cake or threw the bouquet, etc -the list goes on. I just wanted to relax and enjoy the weekend with family and friends, but when you’re the bride, you’re “in charge” and everyone will be looking to you to decide.

6. What was your favorite part of wedding planning? Planning all the details! We went very DIY with everything. I put together all of our invitations, programs, menu cards and favors myself, and my mom & aunts put together the centerpieces and set-up the ceremony & reception areas. It was a lot of work but we saved a lot of money that way. I was really lucky to have such great help too! And I loved doing it! It was really fun to see everything come together!

7. How did Zane (the groom) fit into the wedding planning process? I tried to incorporate his opinion as much as possible, but like most grooms, he barely had one. There were a few things that he cared about: playing golf, the music for the ceremony and for the reception, good food, and the suits he and the guys wore. He did, however, do all the planning for our honeymoon to Mexico!

Emily and Zane’s wedding photographer : Melissa Burkholder