Enjoy these home-made images of Lydia (Livingston) and Sean Mailen's beautiful wedding at Gale Woods Farm in Minnestrista on Sunday afternoon, September 25th. When Lydia and I first visited the farm a year ago, it was a cold, miserable day and it took lots of imagination to see what it could be. God gave us a perfect day! Warm and breezy--one of those perfect fall days we Minnesotans wait for all year. 
Their theme verse from the Bible uses the symbol of a tree planted firmly so that storms and draught have no affect on it and it continually bears fruit. We illustrated this biblical idea with trees and apples, lots of color and texture--and the day God provided was the most beautiful of all decorations!I created trees from birch and added hundreds of ribbons in the wedding colors (a bow to a favorite music video of Lydia's) to frame rather than hide the lovely view at the hilltop wedding site. The breeze did the rest!
I have had the honor of planning all four of the Livingston girls' weddings. Lydia is the last of that legacy, which is bittersweet for me. She is a lovely woman, inside and out and precious to many, many people. It was hard to limit the guest list to 300 friends.The colors were purple and red with fall color accents. Lydia wanted full, wild flower textured bouquets. I created bouquets of dahlias, ranunculus, seed pods, freesia, mums, zinnias--pretty much a garden mix of "you name it, it was in there!" This is a look I love more than any other...although I have lots of favorites!
After the touching ceremony and their "I do's" guests wandered the grounds, greeted friends and made their way to the barn for a pig roast. We dressed the tables with an eclectic mix of vintage and thrift store plates (all with a touch of red in them), red pocket-fold napkins held a menu card and program for the evening. I made centerpieces in fall colors with generous wire bowls filled with Lydia's favorite apple: Honeycrisp! Apples also served as place cards and favors.
The second centerpiece was up high in my copper cones. Thanks to a whole team of helpers, we were able to put up lights and fun "bag lights" I create by putting plain paper bags over old-fashioned Christmas lights (the big C9 kind) and tying them with ribbons.
Thanks to the Livingston family for the honor of serving them in this way!
Lydia wrote before the day: "Over and over again you bless me, Sean and our family. Thank you for sharing the gifts the Lord has given you so generously. You have put so many hours in to make Sean and my wedding beautiful and special as it can be. It is a calming relief to know that you will be present and taking on the tasks that will make the day go smoothly for us."
My dentist, who happened to be at this wedding, said "I am a guy and I NEVER notice flowers at weddings, but really, your flowers were amazing! I have never seen anything like it before--really beautiful!"
Love,
L + K
