What was suppose to be a large wedding with lots of friends and family quickly became a very small intimate wedding of 8 people. Having to postpone their big celebration was tough for them, but thankfully love wasn’t cancelled and they still got to keep their original wedding date and focused on what truly mattered, them! Never in my life have I seen two people so joyful in the midst of change. Neil and Katie made the absolute best of their circumstances. They had their bridesmaids and groomsmen join in on zoom as they got ready to walk down the aisle.
From the moment Neil saw Katie he couldn’t stop smiling! They made sure to make the day extra special as Neil’s brother officiated a beautiful ceremony and they shared their love for one another. Family and friends watched by zoom and my heart hurt as Katie’s tear filled speech to them expressed her sadness for them not able to attend. They made sure to have their first dance in the beautiful courtyard of Villa Sienna and even danced with their mom and dad. Despite everything going on, their wedding day was a beautiful, intimate occasion with so much joy! I know that they will never forget what a special day it was, and I feel beyond blessed to have been a part of it all! – Dusty
Magic for this one of a kind day created by:
Venue: @villasiena
Florals: @blumeevents
Dress Shop: @marieebridalscottsdale
Dress Brand: @enzoani
Cake: @PieceofCakeAZ
Shoes: @jimmychoo
Paper: @poppyjackshop
Groomswear: @generationtux
Rings: @benbridgejwlr
Rings: @tiffanyandco
“I wish I could relive the whole day over again, and there were so many things that stand out. If I could relive though 1 hour of the day I would say it would be the time I spent chatting with my groomsmen on Zoom, which led to my first look & photos with Katie The reason I would like to relive it is that I see it as my “Oh My God I am getting married!” moment. My groomsmen created a feeling that I felt as though I was transitioning from being a Bachelor to a Groom. It was great spending time with them as the last time we saw one another was my Bachelor Party weekend (also the last weekend before all the quarantine started) Dusty then called me over to take a few photos & to get ready for my first look. The time I spent waiting for Katie to come out I deeply thought of how far we had come. And the best thing about is that we’ve only just begun! When she tapped my shoulder I had the combination of goosebumps & butterflies (a crazy feeling that I’m not sure I’ve ever felt) As I looked into her eyes I noticed they were teary, and then I became teary. It was a surreal moment that I will cherish forever. In words it is so hard to explain, but I can tell you the feeling was incredible & euphoric.” – Neil
“How many favorite parts can I have? A few of my favorite things vary significantly from traditional wedding day norms. Neil and I started our day with a workout together in our garage. We love being active and working out together so it was nice to do that together on our special day. Also, instead of your typical fancy wedding spread, we had pizza and buffalo wings. If you know anything about me, you know that I am die hard buffalo chicken wing lover!! We actually stopped at one of our favorite restaurants to pick up pizza. Our favorite manager was working and she made Neil come back out to the limo and get me and bring me inside to say hi. A lot of people stopped to stare at us – or maybe it was my dress. My most emotional favorite moment was the first look. I did not expect to be the first one to cry.” -Katie
“There are so many things I love about Katie, but one thing that sets her away from the rest is her “can do” attitude. You can put any task in front of her and she will accomplish it. We were completely devastated when we had to reschedule our wedding because of COVID-19. We had fully planned a wedding, just to reschedule and re-plan. I did help but Katie led the re-planning process. As we got closer to our original wedding day, Katie had asked me my thoughts on getting married still on that original day. It sounded great, but the leg work behind it seemed overbearing. In a short amount of time we had to find an area to get married, coordinate with our photographer, cake maker, DJ, ask an officiant – and oh yeah – coordinate with our families who live over 1500 miles away to join us for our special day. Katie took it under her wing, and got everything coordinated! I am so happy we went through with our original wedding day. This example is just a small snippet of who Katie is. She is my lover, best friend, and the hardest worker I know. I mentioned this in my vows, but because of her I feel like I’m becoming the man I’ve always wanted to be.” – Neil
“I chose Villa Siena because of it’s beauty and little need for decoration. Villa Siena was nice enough to allow us to use the venue for our less than 10, socially distant ceremony. I didn’t have to worry about decorating for our ceremony because the venue itself is beautiful enough. While I did have plans for our big celebration (which is postponed for September), the details for this ceremony were done quickly. I am so thankful that Dusty, our DJ (Ray the DJ), and Kristen from Blume Events were able to participate in our big day. Kristen put together our flowers from the supply she had. Thankfully, it was Mother’s day weekend so she has a little more to choose from. The flowers for our May ceremony were so different than the ones I had planned originally but they were beautiful. The red petals on the flowers matched my Red Jimmy Choo shoes. These were by far the favorite part of my outfit. They’re red for the Wisconsin Badgers : ). I had to beg Neil to let me buy them. I reminded him that these shoes are shoes I can wear again and again – date nights, anniversaries, grocery shopping, and to Badger Football tailgates (duh) – that is something not every Bride gets to say.” – Katie
“During the ceremony the moment that sticks out in my mind the most is my brother speech on the definition of marriage. Katie and I asked my brother 3 weeks in advance to be the officiant for the wedding. Myself being the good older brother that I am had offered a hand for feedback and let him know he could rehearse with me. He had never officiated a wedding, never been in a serious relationship, and his focus has been on nursing school. Katie and I both felt guilty asking him to be an officiant granted he was studying for his finals. The day before the wedding my brother had rehearsed his notes. There was one part he did leave out, and that was his definition of marriage. He asked my grandmother for help, and they both constructed a masterpiece. The way he described love, and how he saw through it through my grandmother & grandfather only made me think of my love for Katie.” – Neil
“The whole day was unique. To start, it didn’t go down the way we planned. COVID19 threw a wrench in our plans. However, our friends and families were there for us in so many special and unique ways. For one, it was definitely strange having to drive myself to my hair and make up appointments that day. I had to go to both appointments alone due to COVID restrictions. I broke down crying on the way there. I always imagined getting ready with my bridesmaids, sipping on mimosas, laughing, and reminisicining on all of the fun we had leading up to the big event. When I got home, I had a zoom meeting with all of my bridesmaids. They were all wearing their bridesmaid dresses – which I loved!! They also each put together a slide in a presentation with pictures of us and said a few words about what I meant to them. Now, that REALLY made me tear up. They all made me feel so special and I am so grateful for that because they were so far away! I also had a zoom meeting with my bridesmaids after I got in my dress at the venue so they could all see the dress before Neil did. What was really unique was the fact that most of our guests were able to attend via zoom meeting. We had about 90 attendees on the zoom meeting – including some of our grandparents who would not have likely been able to attend in person anyways. I had 97 text messages when I looked at my phone later. We felt so loved! Oh and the most unique thing – who would have thought we would be spending our wedding night sleeping in the guest bedroom?! We gave up our master bedroom to my parents since they were visiting. Now – that is definitely something we will tell our kids and grandkids.” – Katie
“The advice I would give is not everything is going to go as planned or how you dreamed of – stay calm and come up with a new plan together. There is always a Plan B. Obviously, COVID19 caused me to postpone my big celebration and start from scratch when planning our small intimate ceremony in 3 weeks. However, I had so many other unexpected things thrown at me . A bridesmaid that was due around my wedding and couldn’t be in the wedding anymore; having to find another officiant because my brother couldn’t travel; losing another bridesmaid (& sister in law) for our September wedding because her due date is near our second date. Your wedding day is about you as a couple and your commitment to each other. Did Neil and I want all of our friends and family there to celebrate the day with us? Absolutely. Would we change the fact that we had a small, intimate ceremony with 6 of our family members present? Absolutely not. The day was beyond memorable. It was special. It was a day we will never forget.” – Katie
We are so happy for you guys! Enjoy life as newlyweds! Much love, the Jenn Wagner Studio Girls
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