Minnesota Backyard Summer Wedding: Marissa + Josh
Marissa and Josh had the perfect Minnesota backyard summer wedding! You know it’s going to be a great wedding when the groom rides a horse to the ceremony! Plus the dance was next to the pool and the reflections (indulging my love of reflections) of the guests during the conga was one of my favorite parts of the day. And earlier in the summer Marissa and Josh had their engagement session underwater and had one of their images made into a magnet for their wedding favor!
About their wedding as told by Marissa
How did you meet and fall in love?
Joshua and I had our first class of college together (Mandarin Chinese) at CSB/SJU. We became good friends and spent most of our days together. Everyone knew I had a super big crush on Josh, but he didn’t even consider me an option because he thought I was too cool and was slightly intimated by me. One night after a few drinks… we got a little closer and we’ve been together for 9 years now!
How did you choose your venue?
1. My parents have a beautiful property that has the room to host a larger wedding (something I wanted) 2. Didn’t have to pay for the venue and it was perfect for my Minnesota backyard summer wedding!
Thoughts leading up to your wedding day?
We were excited but worried about the weather. It ended up being perfect despite the 100 degree heat the day before. The thunderstorm/tornado warnings the morning of the wedding killed the heat and left behind beautiful clouds for the photos!
What was your favorite part of the day?
There was several favorites! The ceremony was great because we ran everything. We didn’t hire anyone outside our family so very personal and heartfelt. Justin had one of the best best man speeches I’ve ever heard! The dance party was lively. My mom brought extra champagne out later despite her “no glass by the pool” rule that has been implemented since we’ve lived there and of course a bottle was dropped. Josh and I connected eyes and were like… oh, shiiiit* but when it hit the cement it didn’t break! It bounced back up in the air and our friend Kevin caught it and the champagne proceeded to fly out of the open bottle drenching him entirely! And at the end of the night, we played “Piano man” as a CSB/SJU tradition where everyone gets into a big circle and sings, the men drop their pants and sway in their boxers and Joshua and I were dancing in the middle (it sounds silly but was super cool by the pool with all the lights)
What is each of your favorite images from your wedding?
I have sooo many favorites:
1) We each have our own artistic photo—me-my favorite getting ready photo with the make-up spray and light behind making a beautiful mist
Josh with the smoke of his cigar surrounding him—so cool and artistic shots!
2) Couple shots-I love how it captures the vibe of our wedding with our classy outfits but wooden cow fence at the farm, the angle of the fence is great
I love this one with the yellows of the meadow and green plains in the back, just beautiful.
I love that you captured me singing and Josh watching me during our first dance
I’m so happy you got a perfect picture of the twirl of my dress-one of the reasons I loved my dress.
I love the image of with the guys smoking cigars, love the angle you took this photo at
The photos of us doing the conga line around the pool is awesome! You can see the reflection of everyone dancing in the pool.
Is there anything that you would change? Besides the minor hiccup of the gold cart accident—nope!
What is your best advice to anyone planning a wedding? You can NOT plan for everything and things WILL happen that suck and are out of your control, so just have fun, dance, and trash your dress!
Vendors:
Shuttle bus: Eclipse Global Transportation
Hair Stylist: Nancy at Hair Mate
Makeup: Heather Winkelmann
I would love to hear about your wedding plans! Let’s chat!
