For Your Consideration

by Laura Vietmeyer

 

“I’ll take it under consideration.” Little did they know, Stephanie’s response when Brian first asked her out in a text message would lead to “I do.” The couple loved their wedding, but weren’t exactly in love with the planning. So, they picked the best vendors and trusted the process, going with the flow on the big day. “Life is choices,” they note, “choose wisely.”

 

Brian and Stephanie first met at a party for a mutual friend. As Stephanie tells the story, when Brian asked for her number at the party, she gave it to him without intending to ever go out with him. Her infamous “I’ll take it under consideration” response to his first message spurred regular texts from Brian about all of the fun things he was doing, always with the note: “For your consideration.” Stephanie enjoyed these glimpses into Brian’s life and eventually agreed to go out with him. Brian, however, notes that things went a little differently. “She pursued me relentlessly all summer until she was part of the fun,” he says.

The first date and subsequent relationship led to a new consideration: an engagement. Brian asked permission from Stephanie’s father who Brian says could be a professional linebacker for the Green Bay Packers. “If you met Steph’s dad, you would ask him first, too,” Brian notes.

With her dad’s blessing, Brian set to planning the engagement. After attending a show at the Overture Center in Madison, Brian asked Stephanie to play a game with him. After following clues planted throughout the house, each containing a reason he loved her, she found herself on the balcony looking through their telescope for the biggest star in the sky. When she couldn’t find it, she looked down to find Brian on one knee with a ring. “I put on the ring and we were engaged!” Stephanie says. “I also think there were fireworks. I remember fireworks,” Brian adds.

The couple’s yearlong engagement kicked off with a trip to Appleton to tell Stephanie’s parents, followed by a drive to Chicago to tell Brian’s parents. They tried to tell as many people face-to-face in a whirlwind of dinners, lunches, and parties before announcing the news on Facebook. Then, it was time for the wedding planning to begin.

The planning process can be overwhelming, as the couple would learn. Brian notes that even when they felt like they were getting ahead with the planning, there was always something new to be done. The couple used resources like Veil Magazine, the checklists on Wedding Wire, and Pinterest to get organized. They also trusted their vendors to bring it all together. “They do this for a living for a reason,” Stephanie says. They also enlisted the help of family and friends to add DIY touches.

Their family added special touches on the day of the wedding. Stephanie’s grandma, who had passed away three years prior, made porcelain dolls for all of the granddaughters, hand sewing replicas of their wedding dresses. Stephanie’s mom made a doll for her daughter so that she wouldn’t miss out. Stephanie also used her grandmother’s mirror to get ready and carried her handkerchief in her dress. This was Stephanie’s something old, borrowed, and blue.

The preparation paid off as Brian and Stephanie were wed by the friend who introduced them in front of their 10-person wedding party and 200 guests at the Overture Center. As season ticket holders, they now remember their wedding every time they attend a show. The ceremony was personal; one of Brian and Stephanie’s favorite parts of the day.

After the vows, it was time for the reception! The couple wanted it to be a big party with all of their loved ones. Food, wine and music took center stage. The reception had three different music features, including a flash mob of a cappella singers, dueling pianos and a DJ. From the wedding party’s entertaining entrances to the “Live long and prosper” conclusion of Stephanie’s father’s wedding speech, the reception was an event to remember.

When asked what element of the wedding was worth the expense, the photographer was the unanimous response. “At the end of the day, you have your photos forever,” Stephanie says. “They make us happy every time we look at them.”

Stephanie, in reflecting on the overall experience, offers this sage and honest advice to future brides: “Do what makes you happy. Life is short. Love is rare. Marriage is a blessing. There are so many people and so many opinions, and at the end of the day, you need to do what makes you and your partner happy. Pick your battles, make the choices, but know when it is all over, it’s just the two of you, for better or for worse. But for so far, it really is for better.”