Elisabeth & Cory’s Simple and Chic Heritage Hill Wedding

Like a scene from a movie, Elisabeth and Cory met on Valentine’s Day at their alma mater, the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. Four years later, the couple had picked out rings, but Cory still wanted to give Elisabeth a special moment to make their engagement official. The two were camping at their favorite spot, Peninsula State Park in Door County, when Cory suggested a bike ride around sunset. “I asked him if we could just stay at the campsite and relax instead of going on a bike ride,” Elisabeth remembers. “He replied ‘Oh trust me, you’ll want to go on this bike ride…’ I knew something exciting was about to happen!” 

 “We rode our bikes past the beach and we stopped by the boat launch to take some photos. We walked out on the large, white rocks to see the full view of the beautiful water. As I was taking pictures, Cory got down on one knee, opened the ring box, and asked me to marry him. I screamed and yelled ‘YES!’ We hugged and kissed as the sun was setting over the water. It’s a special moment to remember.” 

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That was the first of many special moments as Cory and Elisabeth started planning a simple and chic wedding. They booked their ceremony at the Heritage Hill State Historical Park and their reception at The District Event Center in the Enclave Grand Ballroom. In preparation, Elisabeth attended the Wedding Show at Shopko Hall, and the couple eventually chose raspberry pink and light green as their wedding colors.

 For the ceremony at Heritage Hill, Elisabeth hoped for an outdoor affair in the Victorian Gazebo, while Cory preferred to have the ceremony held indoors at the Moravian Church. Because of chancy weather, plans were made for both — it would be a game-time decision. “Our rehearsal was held on a beautiful, sunny Friday afternoon in the gazebo — but by evening it started to rain and continued through the morning of our wedding day. With the drenched grounds, our ceremony was held in the church after all. As it turned out, it was more perfect than we ever hoped for! With our family and friends gathering together and filling the church, it became more intimate and meaningful for us.”

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After Cory and Elisabeth said “I do,” the party moved to the Enclave Grand Ballroom. “Our favorite part was finally being able to relax and enjoy visiting with our guests!” The reception started with a cocktail hour of hors d’oeuvres and an open bar, then switched to wine and beer being served throughout the evening. For dinner, the menu was Elisabeth’s favorite: Broasted chicken and beef tips with all the fixings, served family style. “My one request,” Elisabeth says, “was that the servers not remove my plate until I was done with my favorite side dish — mashed potatoes. I was quite surprised and watched with a huge grin as Cathy, the event coordinator, carried out a large bowl piled high with mashed potatoes and served them exclusively to me.”

 For dessert, Elisabeth made sure to have the proper sweets in honor of her grandparents who had passed away. Dessert came from Manderfield’s with slices of beautiful cake, cupcakes, and baskets filled with gourmet cookies. There were also jars of assorted candies — a favorite of the  younger guests. 

 As for DIY projects, two stand out for Elisabeth, both of which her mom helped her with: The place cards and the card box. For the place cards: “Using PowerPoint, we entered our guests names and added a design similar to the one on our invitations. We printed them on ivory card stock, cut them, punched one side with a floral vine design, and folded them in half.” For the card box: “We found a discounted paperboard storage box shaped like a small trunk. We cut out an opening for the cards, sprayed the box pearl ivory (the color of my dress), and decorated it with adhesive pearls, an ivory ribbon, and an ivory floral piece.” 

 To capture all the details of the day, Cory and Elisabeth hired Gosia’s Photography. “We were very grateful to have worked with Gosia. She truly captured all of the special moments of our wedding day. We are so happy that we can relive our wedding memories every time we look through our photos.” 

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VENDORS

Photographer~Gosia’s Photography.  Beautiful photography! 

Bridal shows attended~  Green Bay- The Wedding Show

Did you take dance lessons~ No, but Elisabeth is a professional dancer/dance teacher so we practiced.   

Invitations~ Six Nineteen Invitations.  Amber Bahr is a wonderful designer to work with – the invitations she designed especially for us were lovely, and her prices were very reasonable.      

Rehearsal Dinner~ Titletown Brewery Company -Green Bay

Ceremony Location~Heritage Hill State Historical Park – Green Bay

Reception Location~ The District Event Center -Green Bay

Cake Designer/Dessert~ Manderfield’s Home Bakery

Flowers~Lilybee Flowers, Inc. – Carrie Strobl is a talented florist.  She worked diligently to make sure our visions came true in her bouquets and flower arrangements.  They added fresh flowers to our cake and tables, transferred flowers from the ceremony to The District, and made sure everything was beautiful and perfect for us. 

Music/Entertainment~Ceremony Guitarist/Musician: Bob Shebesta

DJ for Reception~Creative Sound and Lighting– Julian Uptegrove

Videographer~ Dérailleur Media – Benjamin Kotenberg

Where did you buy your dress~The Bridal Event

Rings~ Kessler’s

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