It has been a while since I've typed away at my keyboard for my blog! So much in fact that life in general has change completely since the last time I wrote for you all! With that being said Blake and I have moved away from our home in Nashville back to our home of snowy Minnesota to tour the state and surrounding states for Saphire's Courage tour! And the biggest life changing, most exciting experience yet, we got married!!!! So on to all things wedding, because if you know me, you know my love for planning, decorating and weddings in general make my heart so full it could burst at any moment. It is my comfort zone, my creative soul piece, and my all time favorite thing to do besides music! Blake and I were engaged April 22nd, 2016 and married a year and a half later on September 23rd, 2017. Before Blake and I were engaged I started planning my wedding. When I say that, I don't mean that lightly. It wasn't as if I was just a girl that had always dreamed about her wedding, I was planning a wedding that didn't even exist at the time! I was calling venues to book, contacting my photographer, mentioning to my pastor, and pinning like a crazy person (over 2,000 pins on one board) (that was just on my ideas board, I had 6 wedding boards.) I am pretty sure I pinned most of Pinterest and if you were on my board you all knew you would be getting notified for well, 24 hours a day! Oops! All well dreaming that Blake would propose and my date of September 23rd, 2017 would actually come to life. When I say I love wedding planning, thats a bit of an understatement. I LOVE planning weddings! Unlike most, I was the girl that stressed a little, but was more excited than stressed. On the week of my wedding I even had everyone leave at one point in time, turned on my music and decorated and set up alone with a huge smile on my face and a full heart. I was so at peace in my own world decorating and creating what I had been planning for nearly 2 and a half years. Our wedding turned out to be absolutely everything I wanted and more. I chose not to sweat the small stuff, and focused on enjoying the one day you will never get back. Not to say I could ever have done this on my own. Which brings me to my friend Lacey. Lacey is the type of person that has that old soul but still young at heart personality. She literally glows. From the inside out, and sprinkles her sparkle on each person she is around. Lets just be honest we all need someone on our wedding day that is not mom, not sister, not family at all really or has an opinion or not on how far the table must be apart from the other or where a bowl or flower should be placed. That person sees your true vision and just listens to whatever you want and need! And that girl was my lovely Lacey. With similar style and mad bouquet making skills she worked quickly and eloquently in my desperate need to finish and tie up ends while I enjoyed my day. Her grace and bubbly personality made my day go smooth and I cannot thank her enough for standing by me and my wants and needs, always putting my opinion first. Long story short, I fell in love with the planning, decorating, the emotions, the memories, and the tears. So much so, I decided to keep all my decor and start decorating and sharing my love of planning with others! Below are some gorgeous photos capturing our details by the beautiful, Kristen Purrington with Purrington Photography. Thank goodness for a good photographer, to capture our day! Lord knows, it goes by way too fast and looking back at photos lets me relive the day. My mom always told me to spend the most on my dress, and my photographer and I did that just and am so happy I did! Blake and I chose a minimalist theme, with lots of Eucalyptus (I'm a bit obsessed with that stuff!), clean white candles and linens, and accents of gold and copper. Our sweetheart table was a table Blake hand crafted the week of the wedding. He chose to use live edge wood and it gave the perfect modern feel to our reception area. I chose simple center pieces with candles and edison lights to give the romantic feel we desired inside of our beautiful tent. I chose a deep burgundy for my bridesmaids to enhance the fall theme but keep the tones neutral yet give a dark side, and gave the groom dark charcoal vests with deep burgundy ties. Our tux place only provided white shirts, but I had a different vision in mind so I had all my groomsmen buy a lighter grey undershirt to give the darker moody feel again. We put Blake in a full tux with a light grey tie, my flower girls in ivory lace boho dresses, my ring bearer in a grey suspenders set and me in an ivory opened back Matthew Christopher gown. After the ceremony I slipped into my second gown with my flower head piece my mom made, and did a classic boho shoot before meeting everyone at our reception area. For my bridesmaids bouquets, I wanted something unique, classy and elegant, which is why I chose to use only Eucalyptus, seeded and silver dollar. For my flower girls I chose to give them small eucalyptus bouquets to give a more modern feel than having them throw flower petals. My bouquet had an arrangement of greens, wild flowers, roses and more. I wore my gammas pearls and a vail and garter my mom hand made. For our ceremony we chose to do a birch alter down by the river with sheer white fabric draped across. We wrote our own vows and shared them over a PA system so our wedding guests could hear them clearly. We pulled our personality into our wedding so nicely and we loved being able to see our creations come to life. I don't think people really understand how special our wedding was to Blake and I. But it was one of our greatest treasures and accomplishments because everything at our wedding we planned and created, so seeing everything come together so perfectly was incredible. All of our creativity got to be show cased on our wedding day and we couldn't have loved it anymore! My biggest tip for brides is to slow down, and enjoy the moment. I know it is so cliché since everyone tells you to do it! But it is so true. You only get this one day, and I promise you, you will love it more if you enjoy it! Secondly, if you plan to have a fitted dress, buy a second one for your reception! It makes your day more fun when you can move and enjoy dancing! Plus it gives your wedding day different styles and photos which is so cool!! Lastly, enjoy EVERYTHING. The tears, the sad, the happy, the silly, and the crazy moments. These are what makes your day all the more special. In the end, it's all about the marriage you and your spouse make! So as I finally close and stop reminiscing, I will start pinning away for the next upcoming wedding! See you soon! -Saphire
For more ideas and wedding planning tips, or to book us for your event, please contact Saphire and Blake Walker at Northernrootsworkshop@gmail.com. Happy planning! -Saphire and Blake
Photographer: Purrington Photography Ceremony Venue: Private land (thief river) Reception Venue: Private land (thief river) Consultant: Saphire Officiant: Matty Towse with Epiphany Station Wedding Gown: Matthew Christopher Veil and floral crowns: Made by Stacy Englund (Brides mom) Shoes: Tj max Hairstyle: Julia Jones
Hair color: Chloe Bakke Lash extensions: Amber Schindler Makeup: Saphire Wedding Rings : Ken K thompson Bemidji Bridesmaid Dresses: The Dessy collection from Formalities Men's Formalwear: Jim”s Formal from Formalities Stationary (invites, programs, etc): Simply to Impress (Designed by Bailee Jane Walker, Envelope calligraphy by Bailee as well) Florist: Halls Floral Trf Event Designer: Saphire and Blake Walker (Bride and groom) Other Rentals: Tent: Northern Event Rentals (bemidji) Ceremony Arch: Kris Petrich Sweetheart table: Blake Walker groom with Northern Roots Furniture and Design Catering : David Lee Cake and cupcakes: Leah Walker (grooms mom) DJ: The Outsider Dj (Grand forks) Signs: Northern Roots Furniture & Design and Kristin Redd (lettering) Decorating help: Lacey Simoneau Ann Margaret&Margie Jones Lorna& Dennis Brown, Stacy Englund, Bailee Walker, Leah Walker, Scott Walker Geri& Red Walker and more these people took my visions and helped to turn them into reality!