This wedding is a very very special one to me! (And I promise not to cry as I write this!) You see (the Bride) Sarah and I met 10 years ago on our first day of College at Purdue. We had just moved all of our stuff into our dorms and we were at our very first official college event where we stood next to each other, unable to hear what was going on. We apparently bonded over that and I soon found out that her dorm room was right next to mine. The rest was history! Within hours we had told each other our life stories, cried, laughed, ate pizza, watched 6 episodes of Grey's Anatomy and became best friends. Sarah has been by my side through every mile stone since. We turned 21 together and survived to tell the tale, graduated Purdue and became 'adults', I visited her in NYC when she lived there and we ate ourselves through the city, she stood by my side on my wedding day, held my hand while I had my son, helped us move boxes from apartment to town home to house, and vacationed with each others families more times than I can count. In the words of Meredith and Christina (Grey's Anatomy reference), she is my person.

When Sarah met Jake last year I finally got to see her experience the love and happiness that she so deserved to have. Sarah finally found someone to replace me as her biggest fan and cheer leader, someone who is proud of even her smallest accomplishments and someone who loves her, supports her dreams, and values all of the beautiful things in life that she values.

I knew I liked Jake when the first time we met him he went right into the playroom with my two year old and jumped into his imagination land with him and off they went playing while Sarah and I drank our wine and watched from the kitchen. My son quickly took to Jake too (in fact he was recently renamed "Uncle Cake"). So Uncle Cake, we all love you!!

So anyway, the Wedding, why you are all here! Sarah happens to be a Wedding Planner, which just makes this SO MUCH MORE AWESOME, right?! What does it look like when a Wedding planner, who literally goes to Weddings every single weekend, gets engaged? Well plain Amazing is what! Sarah and I spent hours wracking our brains trying to think of really unique ideas that neither one of us has seen at a Wedding before. It was tough but between the two of us, and a few other Wedding Vendor friends, she came up with some really cool ideas and of course made it happen!

Sarah grew up on the lake here in Indiana, so when her and Jake got engaged they knew they wanted something with a Lake theme. They soon found Mackinac and fell in love. It was the most perfect setting I have ever seen for a Wedding. If you have never been to Mackinac Island in MI, it is GORGEOUS! They do not allow cars on the island, so you park your car on the main land and take a ferry over. (My son claims the best part of the trip was the ferry ride!). When you get on to the island they bring your luggage to your hotel on bikes, and deliver it right to your room. Gosh did they deserve a tip! What a haul with my camera gear, two kids, and basically our entire house all packed into 12 suitcases lol. Sarah made personalized welcome bags chalked full of personal gifts for the guests. It was filled with cookies and snacks made by her and her mom, Salt Water Taffy from the island, Purdue and IU cups (because unfortunately Jake went to IU), champagne, water, maps and welcome information, all perfectly coordinating in Gold and White.

The day of the Wedding was rainy, very very rainy. We had to move some plans around and not everything went exactly like it was planned but Beth, who works for Sarah at Plum and Poppy was AMAZING!! We ended up renting a horse and Carriage to take us around for pictures instead of walking, which who can complain about that, it was so cool! And the rain stopped for a total of 20 min right during pictures, so we were able to take the umbrella's down and get some really awesome shots with the Grand Hotel.

Lastly, I want to talk really quickly about the flowers, because Linda of Accent Floral Design is a miracle worker. Not only did she search the globe (literally) for some really unique pieces, but she then had to take them via ferry to the island, store them is a refrigerator somewhere else on the island, and then wheel them back to our hotel for the reception...in the rain. Amazing!

Ok, so without further ado, becuase this is probably my longest blog post yet, Sarah and Jake's Wedding preview. And as you scroll read the captions to get a better feel for all of the unique details Sarah put into the day!

Mackinac Island in the Rain!

Bikes and Horses, the only modes of transportation on the island!

Those are Hops! Yes the same hops used to make beer!

This is how the guests were transported to the ceremony location! Not a bad ride huh!

Our view pulling into the Grand Hotel!

Normally this is PACKED! Thank you rain for making this shot possible!

The gorgeous Lake Huron

Oh how perfect right!

Deciding which boat to buy ;)

My gorgeous best friend! She's beautiful inside and out!

That is my son, he does not mind this one bit!

Ok, up next we have the reception details. So personalized, thoughtful and beautiful!

Some of the centerpieces were also edible! Champagne Grapes, yum!

Check out that view in the center photo!

Instead of place cards, guests were to find their personalized champagne glass with their table number on it.

After it got dark, the room was lit up by the low light of candles and the rain continued to steadily pound on the roof. It made for a very romantic setting!

The Amazing vendors that made this day happen:

Planning: Plum and Poppy - Sarah
Coordinating: Plum and Poppy - Beth
Florals: Accent Floral Design
Second Shooter: Teresa Schmidt Photography
Video: Unique Heart Productions
Dress: Marie Gabriel
Reception Venue: The Chippewa Hotel
Hair and Makeup: Something Blue Stylists
Paper Products and wood cutouts: Jupiter and Juno
Rentals: A Classic Party Rentals, Violet Vintage
Linens: LGI Linens
Cocktail Dress: Bella Bridesmaid
Favors: Joanne's Fudge Shop
Calligraphy: Katie Jones Emerson