Mary + Liam

January 22, 2022 / Milwaukee, Wisconsin

How did your love story begin?: Liam and I are college sweethearts, meeting at Marquette because of mutual friends. We have been together over six years and have really grown up together from college to post grad and now are in our upper 20s. The ~planned~ proposal (according to Liam) was suppose to be in Paris during a trip we booked for September 2020. However, the world had other plans and because of the pandemic we had to cancel the trip. Liam still wanted to propose in September 2020 though, so he planned a "birthday party" for me at Juneau Park in Milwaukee with some of my closest friends and family. We had cornhole and beer and I was expecting a casual birthday celebration. Liam asked if we could grab a picture together and while I am smiling with a White Claw in hand taking the picture, Liam turned to me and proposed :) The casual birthday party turned into one of the best days ever with lots of happy tears and celebrations and it was even better because I had my best friends with me. It might sound crazy but I think I preferred this to the original Paris plan ;)

What was your vision for your wedding?: I have always wanted a winter wedding, I have four sisters and three of them got married in summer weather so I've always wanted to do something different. Originally, I wanted a rustic, ski lodge kind of look, but after booking Turner Hall I fell in love with the space and turning it into a moody romantic winter vision. Booking our perfect venue was our highest priority and was a pretty easy decision after touring Turner Hall. Next priorities photography and DJ and we did a lot of research and discussions with professionals to find the right ones. Picking local vendors was extremely important for Liam and I and we prioritized it throughout the wedding planning. Neither Liam nor I have a great eye for design so we really relied on the expert vendors for rentals, flowers, music, etc. to help build out our vision and it turned out better than I could have ever imagined.

Tell us all about your wedding dress!: MY DRESS! I was very anxious about dress shopping, I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted and the weight of the decision was lying really heavy on me. Luckily, my stylist was Jess (who I adore from taking many yoga classes from her) and she was so calm and reassuring. I browsed the Strike gowns and we started the appointment by trying on the dresses I fell in love with online. I thought I would end up with a dress like the Alena Leena Ginkgo, slim a-line with lots of floral details and sparkle. But when I tried it on I didn't really feel anything. I felt pretty but not that feeling in your stomach like "this is what I want to wear on my wedding day". I tried on a few dresses and after trying on each dress, Jess would ask me what I liked about the dress, what I didn't like about the dress, and she would show me dresses that more aligned with what I liked. Eventually, Jess pulled the Alena Leena Armeria and I thought to myself "that's way too much for me I could never pull that off" but I tried it on and I had that feeling and I couldn't say no! Armeria is so dreamy and romantic and gave me all the feelings I wanted to feel on my wedding day. The dress is such a dream UGH :) :) :)

You planned and you planned, but how did the day ACTUALLY go?!: The day was an absolute dream! My favorite part of the day: the final song of the night was "Mr. Brightside" and all of our friends and family were on the dance floor surrounding me and Liam just screaming the words and dancing and it was such a magical moment. I don't know if I'll ever have that feeling again and I feel so lucky to have experienced that. Our wedding was traditional in the fact that we had a ceremony followed by cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing. However, we did not do a cake cutting, bouquet toss or garter toss. Great stories from the day: 1. During my father-daughter dance, my dad and I danced first to "What a Wonderful World" then to "Wild Thing". My dad used to sing "Wild Thing" to me and my four sisters growing up, even telling us he wrote the song (lol), but during "Wild Thing" my four sisters ran on the dance floor and all five of us danced with my dad to it. That was not planned at all and was just impulsive of my sisters to join but it was such an incredible memory, I'm so happy they ambushed my father-daughter dance :) 2. While taking pictures at Marquette University (yes, it was January and 20 degrees outside but I really wanted the pictures!) I was taking a picture with my hands up and one side of the left sleeve rips off the bodice of the dress (and it was noticeable). The pictures were before the wedding too so I was really anxious. My oldest sister told our limo bus driver to stop at the campus Walgreen's, picks up a small sewing kit, and sews it back up right on the bus within minutes, you wouldn't even know it was ripped. I didn't even know she could sew! It was incredible. 3. My dad didn't tear up when he first saw me in my wedding dress, but he did tear up when he saw we named one of our signature drinks after him (go figures). He only drinks whiskey manhattans on the rocks with cherries, so we put that exact drink on the menu and named it "The Bill Newby" and he loved it. 4. At the end of the night we surprised our wedding guests with a school bus outside Turner Hall that was taking anyone who wanted to to close Wolski's with us. Not too many of us lasted until close, but Liam and I and about ten others have a picture closing Wolski's in our wedding attire.

What is your best advice for future brides-to-be?: 1. At the very least hire a day of coordinator. It was, without a doubt, the best money we spent for our wedding. The coordinator made sure that all the vendors knew where they were going and when, she coordinated the rehearsal dinner, and handled literally anything else that I didn't want to think of handling! She was Liam and my biggest advocate for the day and we feel so lucky to have had her. 2. Have a plan in place with the wedding party how the heck you are leaving the venue. Who is cleaning out the bridal suite? Where is all the decor going? Who is driving things home and when do things have to get out? Thank goodness we had our coordinator to handle most of this but I wish I would have thought it out a little bit more beforehand.

Vendors:
Dress: Armeria by Alena Leena via Strike Bridal Bar Venue: Turner Hall Ballroom
Photographer: Anna Page
Photography Hair: Lexi Lee Hair
MUA: Arch Apothecary
Rentals: Relics
Food: All Occasions Catering
Dessert: Cranky Al's
DJ/ Videography: David Charles Productions
Officiant: Judge Derek Mosley
Day of Coordinator: Lu + Birch
Rehearsal: High Note Karaoke Bar and Dorsia