The Wedding of OZ
April 30, 2022
You might be wondering why I titled such a perfect day “The Wedding of OZ”. When you’re a bride you obsess about every detail, no matter how small, because you want one of the most important days of your life to be perfect.
In the weeks leading up to our wedding, I was having a recurring dream that a tornado blew through our wedding day, sending the buildings, flowers, and guests airborne. I would wake up in a panic and after a while we started calling it the “Wedding of OZ” dream. Bonus points if you figured out the OZ (Owens/Zerby).
I could try and guess what the meaning of those dreams were, maybe it was a metaphor for the journey of life, maybe it was it was my subconscious warning me about the whirlwind of emotions coming, or maybe I was just really concerned about a severe thunderstorm on my wedding day. I’ll let you ponder that yourself.
I knew from the start that for my wedding I wanted a lot of flowers, and I knew that I wanted to arrange them myself. To be clear, when I say I wanted a lot of flowers, I wanted a LOT of flowers, and I wanted to incorporate things that most people would have never seen before. Between my colossal stack of flowers, the last minute details, and packing up the decorations, those last few days managed to keep me very distracted. Whirlwinds huh…
The day was anything but a disaster, but it’s impossible for it to be a disaster at Oak Lodge with the beautiful property and incredible staff. The weather ended up being a perfect 68 degrees and partly cloudy, not bad when you book without having any clue how it will be.
The morning of our wedding I did one final walkthrough of Oak Lodge before getting ready. I walked past the “Welcome to our Wedding” sign and into the gift shack where I had placed the floral “Z” that we built. It was a simple design but one of my favorites of the day. Inside the chapel on the alter next to our bourbon pour were simple bunches of larkspur and curly willow placed in vases with the alter being bookended by two ferns that my mom had spent all winter tending to for me. Lining the walls were roses and baby’s-breath in pouches. The chapel at Oak Lodge is stunning and beautiful on its own, it's why I fell in love with Oak Lodge for our venue, so I wanted to keep the flowers simple inside.
In the tavern for the cocktail hour were fun cocktail glasses of yellow, pinks, oranges, and purples which would be moved to the outside tables following dinner. Inside the reception hall were high and low table arrangements of soft spring pinks, whites, and greens. One end of the room had a greenery and fresh flower wall that Mike and his dad built showcasing family members on their wedding day behind our cookie table. Rather than all cookie trays, there were cylinder vases full of fresh white tulips topped with wood rounds to display the massive amounts of cookies.
On a side table highlighted one of the most important parts of my life, my dog, the dog of honor – Ruger. A simple vase of curly willow and blue delphinium for my blue merle Australian Shepherd.
After my walkthrough it was time for me and the girls to get ready. Hair, makeup, nails, and you guessed it, more flowers. My bridal party requested pinks in their bouquets so pink is what they got. Soft rice flower, roses, lisianthus, and ranunculus paired beautifully with their navy blue lace dresses. For me, I love classic whites and greens, simple and elegant for my bouquet.
From first look to the last song, the day was perfect thanks to our incredible vendors. Oak Lodge took care of everything for us, including spur of the moment changes. They take accommodation and customer service to a whole new level. Kate from Captivating Imagery captured every moment in stunning detail and got those natural shots that I love so much. Doug Edgell beautifully played our ceremony and the cocktail hour, and String Theory rocked the reception all night long. We had Churn provide an ice cream bar, because what’s cake without ice cream and a big shout out to my Aunt and Uncle’s bakery, Moio’s for the cake and extra treats. Makeup beautifully done by Makeup Design Studio and hair by Chariot & Vine Salon Studio. And lastly a special thanks to Pastor Nordby for a truly special ceremony and sermon that we both took to heart.
