Country Wedding

A couple of weeks ago, as you may remember, Ira and I took a trip up to Northern Wisconsin. Our main reason for going, beside to visit with Ira's family, was to attend the wedding of Ira's childhood neighbor and playmate, Jess Theron. Growing up as nearest neighbors, they spent a lot of time together, climbing through hay bales in the Theron barn, romping through the woods and getting on each others nerves, as children are wont to do.


I love this picture of Ira and Jess after the wedding.

Jess and Noah have long been our friends, so we were definitely excited to be included in the festivities!

I got much inspiration from this event because almost every aspect of this wedding was touched by homemade elements from the decorations and flowers, to the food served and ipod powered dancing.


Check out this great makeshift hand washing station set up outside the
port-o-potties, complete with running water, soap, lotion and a mirror!

Jess's family hosted the wedding on their property, which was a most beautiful backdrop for a down home country wedding.


Aromatic pine trees are the back drop for quirky wedding portrait of Jess and Noah

The ceremony was performed nestled between their vibrant red barn and lush flower beds.



A large tent was set up in the field next to the house to hold the reception in.



Ira comes from an area which prides itself on its strong community ties. A wedding is always a group effort. The day of the wedding, the grounds were crawling with neighbors and friends dropping in early to help set up and be of assistance. All the flowers were cut the day of in blue ball canning jars collected from willing lenders. Ira's mother, Janice, and I were also called to aid to bring more flowers and the Northland dessert staple, a pan of bars!


We were asked to bring bars to compliment the Root Beer float dessert, as Jess and Noah are not cake eaters.

As Janice and I were leaving to get ready for the wedding, Jess and her three brides maids arrived. With scissors and ribbons in tow, we watched them march out into the flower beds to preparing their bouquets. Each was beautiful and unique.


Jess's Bridal Bouquet on left and one of the bride's maids bouquets on right

The food, prepared by their friend Kate Stout, included organic free range meat from local farmers and all the salads were prepared with fresh organic greens and produce harvested from her own garden.



The menu included roasted turkey and ham, with fresh anti pasta salads of tomato cucumber and a second of yellow beans and almonds and a garden salad of mixed greens.



Of course no wedding is complete without the vitals, which was supplied by Viking Brewery, a small micro brewery in Dallas, Wisconsin. They had rented a cooler trailer with taps so everyone could help themselves. I can tell you we did!


Viking Blonde Pilsner. Also available was the Copperhead Lager.

We ate, danced and drunk our selves silly. We were thankful we didn't have far to go as Ira and I staggered the 1/2 mile walk back to his house. With a wonderful mix of country charm and an understated elegance, Jess and Noah, along with the help of all the community showed everyone you don't have to spend a fortune to have a beautiful wedding. Even the after -party mess was attractive.



Click here to view the complete Flickr set of Jess and Noah's Wedding.