Photos above and throughout blog by Brown Street Studios
Meet Claire & Ross.
These two sweethearts came to us from Chicago, and chose to have an intimate destination wedding in the Wisconsin Northwoods. What a GREAT day! We are so excited to share the photos and memories from their wedding day as well as the planning journey we were on together, and to be honest, this one is just a complete joy to remember. Claire and Ross were the epitome of our ideal client – kind, gracious, and excited to be married. They trusted the process of our wedding planning, trusted our opinions and recommendations for vendors, and they were a complete joy to work with.
From one of our very favorite photographers on the planet (Brown Street Studios) to the perfect weather, to a venue that offered such gorgeous lakefront, forests, and indoor space, we really were set up for success. A quick aside: we really can’t say enough about Brown Street Studios. Ben & Becky are such lovely, kind people, they have such a strong knowledge of the industry and what goes into capturing brilliant wedding photos and including all the right details, and we look forward to time spent with them. As you can see in this blog, EVERY photo they take is stunning. HOW do they do it?!
I planned most of the wedding with Claire, and towards the end we were able to include Claire’s mom in the wedding planning so she could be involved in the process and could have an extra dose of peace of mind. These two ladies were so kind and lovely to work with. Their time getting ready on the morning of the wedding was precious.
To take the jitters out before the ceremony, the men became boys and went outside to play frisbee while the ladies finished up getting ready. We loved the kindness and exuberance the wedding party brought to the day. They were great supports for Claire and Ross, and they obviously had a great time themselves! They were coming to Wisconsin from all across the country, so their time together was also a reunion of sorts, and a joyful one at that! Holiday Acres was the perfect location for this kind of connection and fun to happen authentically.
Claire and Ross wanted to choose a wedding venue that embraced the natural beauty of the Wisconsin Northwoods and wanted their friends and family to be able to appreciate the beauty like they do, so they chose Holiday Acres Resort in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. This venue had tall pines, gorgeous waterfront, cabins and beautiful accommodations for an indoor reception, and everything we needed was onsite. We were able to have the bridal party get ready onsite, enjoy the lakeside ceremony, and carry right into the indoor reception all without anyone needing to drive to another location. Logistically, this made for such a smooth day for all involved.
Claire and Ross chose to have their first look out on the pier of Holiday Acres, just adding more intimacy, beauty and romance to their already perfect day. I learned to bring makeup wipes after the first look after their personal, gorgeous first look because our precious Claire was feeling all the emotion! When she came back after the first look with tear marks down her face after her professionally done makeup was complete, we swept into action.
Holiday Acres has many weddings on the property and they were perfectly prepared for us to do a waterfront wedding. There’s a wooded, natural space for weddings, and they also had all the chairs onsite, which saved us a step in needing to bring them in from elsewhere.Their ceremony was right at the golden hour as the sun sparkled on the lake and forest, and Claire and Ross created such a personal, intimate, special ceremony right there by the water.
This was the first time that I (Marsha) had ALL the guests coming out of the ceremony hugging, crying, embracing – in all the emotion and joy we ran out of Kleenex! I’ve been doing wedding planning for over a decade now, and this has never happened to me. It speaks to how special these people are, and the amount of love that surrounded them, and frankly, it was such an honor to be part of it! They chose to plan an intimate wedding with only about 70 guests so they could really connect and enjoy their dream day, and it was such an honor to be there to experience the connection, reuniting, and love between everyone. It was so perfect for Claire and Ross and their personalities; they were able to sit back and connect with their carefully chosen number of guests while we, as their wedding planner, took care of all the details.
Forth Floral is a local florist in Rhinelander who did such a beautiful job creating the right florals for this day. There were so many bouquets of flowers thoughtfully placed around the ceremony and reception venue, and the space felt even more lush and alive with these amazing flowers. Coupled with a delicious array of food from the staff at Holiday Acres, the reception space was beautiful and allowed for continued connection and joy to radiate between the married couple and their guests.
A huge thanks to all the wedding vendors who worked with us to execute this tremendous day – it’s really one for the ages! Sending all our love to you. To see the website for each listed vendor, click on the vendor’s name.
Claire & Ross's Vendor Team
Venue, Rentals & Caterer: Holiday Acres Resort
Hair & Makeup: The Magician Beautician
Photographer: Brown Street Studios
Claire and Ross, we hope your first year of marriage has been as full of love, surprises, connection, and bliss as your wedding was. We care about you both and are glad we got to walk this wedding journey together!
All our love,
Marsha & Team
