One of my absolute favorite aspects about working at a wedding company has to be getting to hear some pretty amazing love stories from our couples. Photographs from the big day can really tell a wonderful story, but there's just always something so special about hearing the behind-the-scenes stories straight from the bride herself!

This is why when Anna, one of George Street's very own Wedding Consultants, agreed to share details from her wedding with us, I was just over the moon with excitement! Are you ready to hear it from the bride??  

The love story...

Jesse and I have known each other for over 8 years! We met towards the end of high school when two of our closest friends introduced us on a blind double date. Little did we know that we would have an immediate connection, nor did either of us ever think we would find our forever partner at such a spontaneous outing! We spent a lot of time after that night getting to know each other and quickly discovered that we had so much fun just being our silly selves together. We dated long distance for four years during college, but that didn’t stop us from staying in contact and visiting one another as often as we could. Those four years weren’t easy and we missed each other all the time, but we pulled through and moved in together shortly after we graduated. We were so happy to finally be with each other in one place and have loved every moment of it since then!

The proposal...

To say that I was surprised by the proposal would be an understatement! I had absolutely no idea it was coming and was completely blown away by the amazing moment Jesse created for me. He managed to make me believe he would be proposing that winter, while he was actually going to be popping the question in June! It started like any other Thursday. We decided to go out for dinner after work, but first he wanted to take me to my favorite park- Centennial Lakes in Edina. I grew up in Edina and always loved spending time there with friends and family. When I think back to that evening, I remember how calm and collect he was as we made our way around the lake. (He later told me that he was constantly checking his pocket to make sure the ring was still there!)

Once we reached a part of the lake that had a small path leading out toward the water, I realized that he was no longer right beside. I turned around to see where he was and I saw my boyfriend of 6 years down on one knee. Believe it or not, my first reaction was to say “What are you doing?” Talk about ruining the moment! As he started saying all of the wonderful things that lead to the most important question I’d ever answer, I began to realize what was happening. He asked me to marry him and I said, “Yes, yes, oh my god, yes!” As he handed me the ring and hugged me I heard the cheers of all four of our parents who had been watching from the patio of a restaurant overlooking the lake. He had planned the perfect moment and made sure that the people most important to us were there to witness it.  I’ll always remember every detail about that day and the moment that started this amazing journey for us!

The location...

Our ceremony was held at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. This is the church I attended growing up and couldn’t imagine getting married anywhere else. Jesse thoughtfully offered to join the church with me and we became members about a year before the wedding.  The architecture both inside and out is simply beautiful! Finding the reception venue wasn’t quite as easy, but the first time I visited the Marriott in Minnetonka, I knew that our search was over. The hotel was elegant with a modern twist and had a beautiful outdoor patio with a water fountain and lovely landscaping which would be the setting for our first look.

The attire...

For my dress, I knew I wanted to find something simple, elegant and very bridal looking. Since we are more traditional than most, I decided that all my bridesmaids would wear the same dress style as one another. It was important to find something they were all comfortable in and I think they had a lot of fun trying on different styles during our visit to David’s Bridal. The lapis (dark purple) dresses we ultimately selected fit everyone so well and they looked amazing! As a striking complement to the dark dresses, we knew we wanted grey tuxedos for the guys. (Jesse said he felt like James Bond in his tux!)  

The highlights...

One of my favorite moments as I was getting ready to see my future husband for the first time was being in the hotel room with my mom and best friends. I can always rely on my mom to help me look my best and it was so special having her there! It was important to us to spend time with our families the night before the wedding and while we were getting ready on the wedding day since their love and support was a big part of what made our day so special.

Our first look was such an incredible moment. Jesse was waiting for me on the hotel’s outdoor patio with his back turned. Our photographer and videographer were right there with us and ready to capture this picturesque event as it unfolded. As he turned around and we laid eyes on each other, we were instantly overcome with emotion and couldn’t stop hugging.  My next sentence was, “let’s go get married!” and that’s exactly what we did. This is my absolute favorite part of our wedding video and I’m so glad we planned to have the moment captured!

After the ceremony, our bridal party surprised us by decorating Jesse’s new car and applauded as we left the church. It was just the two of us on the drive between the church and our reception and it was wonderful. We were both so excited and couldn’t stop smiling- we had just gotten married!

We had arranged to sneak in and see the ballroom set up before our guests entered, so our wedding coordinator let us in the back door with our photographer right behind us. It was so sweet of them to make that moment possible! Standing in the room in anticipation of the fun night ahead with my husband was so cool!

Thank you so much to Anna for sharing her wonderful & heartwarming story with us! It makes me so happy that we were able to be a part of her day, and I hope you enjoyed reading about her experiences as much as I did :) Xo, Danielle