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Giana & Austen’s Wedding
Months to Plan: 18 | Guest Count: 137
Music down the Aisle: 1000 Years-Christina Perri | First Dance Song: You-Dan & Shay
DIY décor, capturing memories, and dancing through the night – Giana & Austen take time to make sure their day is memorable.
Following her high school graduation, Giana went on a trip for the fourth of July to Minocqua, Wisconsin where she met Austen who was vacationing with his friends. The two groups ended up spending the entire week hanging out. Later that year, Giana and her friends visited Austen and his friends before heading off to college.
Over the years, the two didn’t keep in touch too much. But Austen did keep in touch with Giana’s mom, Gina. Both shared a common interest, Gina was a cheerleading coach and Austen was a cheerleader. Austen had a crush on Giana from the moment he met her and he always asked Gina to put in a good word for him. However, Giana was in a long-term relationship, but that changed in 2019.
When, in 2020, Giana learned Austin accepted a position in Tulsa she thought they should hang out one more time before he moved. Unfortunately, the only week Austen was free was the week Giana was going to be on a family vacation in Key West. So, Giana invited Austen to join the family in Florida.
After Austen moved to Tulsa the two kept in touch, talking every day. Later, Giana made the trip to visit Austen. It was following this trip that the two officially started a long-distance relationship which lasted 10 months – until Giana moved to Oklahoma.
Giana found a ring receipt and knew a proposal must be coming but months had passed with no proposal. It was late November 2022 and Austen asked Giana to go look at the Christmas lights at a park in Tulsa known as The Gathering Place. Giana loves Christmas lights and the two planned to meet some friends there. Austen kept trying to hurry Giana along but she took her time getting ready. She didn’t understand what the hurry was since it wasn’t even dark enough to see the lights yet.
When they arrived at The Gathering Place, Giana was perplexed as there were no Christmas lights visible and Austen was making her take a strange route to the spot where they were meeting their friends. When she got to the stairs, Giana noticed rose petals leading up to the landing. At the top of the landing, was a ring box and where Austen finally got to propose. Their friends were there waiting to record the moment and Facetime it with Giana’s family but because it was too dark they returned the next day to restage the proposal for pictures.
Giana wanted a long engagement, believing it would make the planning less stressful. So, the couple had a two-year engagement and spent a year-and-a-half of that planning the wedding. Giana admits that she is terribly indecisive so she turned to Pinterest to give her ideas for the wedding. Unfortunately, it gave her too many ideas and made making decisions even harder for the couple.
The couple decided to get married somewhere between Austen’s family in northeast Wisconsin and Giana’s family in northern Illinois. Unfortunately, this meant the couple had to do a lot of planning without visiting with vendors or touring spaces. But virtual tours of venues and email and video chats with vendors made the planning possible, though, the couple admits that it was stressful planning a wedding long-distance. Eventually, they decided to have both their ceremony and reception at the Hotel Retlaw in Fond du Lac.
Giana and Austen wanted a traditional ceremony but they added some personal touches. A friend, who was a pastor, wed the couple and incorporated their story into the ceremony. The groom, their parents and the wedding party joined the ceremony to Perfect by Ed Sheeran. The bride’s entrance was highlighted by Christina Perri’s A Thousand Years. Finally, the couple chose Burno Mars’ Marry You as their recessional song and the guests exited the ballroom to I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas.
One decision that came easy for the couple was that they wanted to spend their money on what was most important to them and that was the photos and video of the day. The couple hired Brad Cisewski as their videographer and say they would recommend him and his team to any bride.
About a year prior to the wedding, Emily Kettner Photography shot the couple’s engagement photos. She was the perfect choice to document the wedding day. The Hotel Retlaw served a magnificent backdrop. The glamorous art-deco lobby offers crystal chandeliers, porcelain-tiled floors and black and white panels adorning the pillars and doors. The couple took photos in front of the hotel, in the lobby, and on the terrace both before and after the ceremony. Austen and Giana praise Emily’s work and for really going above and beyond, posing the couple for the photos, and keeping them on their timeline. They say Emily was also great about working with their coordinator and videographer.
To try to keep costs down, the couple took the time to do several do-it-yourself projects for the wedding. With the help of instructional videos online, they created an arch out of pool noodles and fake flowers. The arch was used during the ceremony and then set behind the head table at the reception. They also created a double-sided welcome sign with one side for the wedding and one for the rehearsal dinner. The sign was made of black acrylic which was purchased on Amazon and the graphics were created on a Cricut machine. Invitations and place cards were also designed by Giana and printed at home or through Vista Print.
Giana and Austen knew they didn’t want to spend a lot on flowers. So, the table centerpieces were also DIY projects consisting of black stands and clear vases from Hobby Lobby and fake flower balls from Amazon. The bridal bouquet and bridesmaids bouquets were also created by the couple. They ordered white roses and baby’s breath from Costco’s website and with the help of a floral arrangement kit, created beautiful bouquets for the special day.
Because both the ceremony and reception were in the same space, the room was quickly turned around before guests were welcomed back in. Guests were given bottle of bubbles and a bubble machine filled the air with magic as the newlyweds entered the reception. Food was catered by the Hotel Retlaw. The couple chose a two-tiered cake from Manderfield’s Bakery with raspberry and lemon filling. In addition, Giana & Austen ordered 9 dozen strawberry, vanilla, chocolate, and carrot cupcakes from Manderfield’s. The couple says Manderfield’s was so easy to work with, especially on the design of the cake. Both the couple and their guests agreed, all the cakes tasted amazing.
But the reception was all about the dancing. The couple choreographed their first dance which included a crowd-pleasing lift of Austen by Giana. Giana also had a first dance with her parents and then it was a big party for all on the dance floor. The bubble machine was turned on and blow-up guitars were handed out. The couples favorite moment was when they were hoisted onto the shoulders of their guests and played “air guitar”. For the rest of the night, it was all about the dancing.
If you are the least bit indecisive and can afford to do so, the couple highly recommends that couples hire a wedding planner to help them make decisions and provide guidance. The couple say they wish they had hired a wedding planner from the start because they struggled so much with making decisions. At the very least, they recommend hiring a Day-of Coordinator. Giana and Austen hired Belle Babic from Belle’s Events for the day-of but say that they wish they would have hired her to plan the whole thing. Even for just being there for the day-of, they say it was well worth it because Belle was extremely helpful with keeping everything on time and doing small things that took the stress away from the day.
Wedding Film by Brad Cisewski Video
Photographer | Emily Kettner Photography | |
Hair Stylist & Makeup Artist | Tiffany Tallinger | |
Day of Coordinator | Belle’s Events | |
Invitations | Giana created-Printed at Vista | |
Rehearsal Dinner | Brick House, Fond du Lac | |
Ceremony & Reception Venue | Hotel Retlaw, Fond du Lac | |
Cake Designer/Dessert Table | Manderfield’s Home Bakery, Appleton | |
Music/Entertainment | Time of Your Life Entertainment | |
Officiant | Light of Life DJ ( Ryan Otto) | |
Videographer | Brad Ciszewski Video | |
Bridal Boutique | Alyssa’s Bridal, Tulsa, Ok | |
Rentals-Chairs | ” I Do” Decorating & Rental Services | |
Rentals-Greenery Wall | Sunflower Wedding Rental Supply | |
Bridesmaid Gowns | Azazie | |
Rings | Israel Diamond Supply, Tulsa |