A winter wedding, I have wanted to be part of one since I began Bliss Coordinating, and when Natalie contacted me I was thrilled!
Natalie hired me a year before her wedding, but with Natalie and Rob living out-of-state, she knew it would be more complicated than usual to plan a wedding. She made several trips back to Wisconsin and Madison for meetings to work on details, timelines, tasks and to tour the venue. We also communicated regularly via email and coordinated using Google Docs.
Their wedding was at the iconic Memorial Union Great Hall, Natalie had a vision of 100’s of candles warming the room, along with flowers, touches of gold and evergreens as decor. Their families rented the Union suites, allowing them to prepare and dress at the Union in a relaxed atmosphere, and enjoy the use of the entire floor without the usual crowds, since the Union was closed for the holidays.
The day before the wedding Natalie and her family packed up all their specially collected decor, photos, signs, custom steps and wedding arch her father had made, as well as the tablecloths he had lovingly ironed, and trucked them up to Madison.
The day was wonderful! A few of my favorite parts were:
- The moms and bridesmaids wandering the hall sipping Champagne in their robes as they got ready
- Rob, the Groom unable to keep a grin from his face all day
- The beautiful winter bouquets and flowers created for the wedding
- The great staff at the Union, who went above and beyond to make the day run smoothly
- The wonderful addition of live music by Camerata String Quartet
- The surprise arrival Bucky!
- The warmth of friends and family gathered to celebrate on a cold winters night
As their coordinator some of the tasks I did were:
- Coordinating the rehearsal
- Communicating and coordinating with vendors before and during the wedding
- Keeping the timeline for the day
- Setting up decor
- Setting up guest book, gift, place card and cocktail tables
- Cueing the Bridal party as they walked down the aisle
As the afternoon faded into evening the room took on a beautiful glow, Natalie and Rob exchanged their vows, and a cold winter night turned into a wedding to remember.
A big thank you to all the great vendors I had the privilege to work with:
Hattie Paulin at the Wisconsin Union
