Local Blooms take Center Stage at this Colorful, Modern Wedding

Kelsey + Eric weave together cultures through this colorful modern wedding, featuring natural wood elements and local flowers.

In this heartwarming interview, Kelsey and Eric share the story of how they met, fell in love, and planned a wedding that was a true reflection of their values and backgrounds. From incorporating sustainable practices to blending traditions from Minnesota and Mexico, their wedding was a unique celebration of love, culture, and community. Through thoughtful vendor choices and a commitment to sustainability, they created an intimate and memorable event for their family and friends. Their experience is filled with valuable insights for couples looking to infuse their personal values into their special day.

Tell us a little about your love story. How did you meet and fall in love?

Eric and I met on Tinder at the end of 2015, but we didn’t have our first date until two months after we first connected! We finally had our first date at 4 Bells in Minneapolis and after meeting I knew right away that Eric was my perfect match, but it took him a bit longer to realize it. 🙂  We were engaged in late February 2020, just before the pandemic hit in full force. 

What are your shared values as a couple and how did you bring them into your wedding?

We love food, drinks, bright colors, and our family and friends, so we wanted to ensure they would all have a good time and be well-fed. We were married in September 2021, a few months after vaccines were first available for Covid, so it was important to us that our guests had access to vaccines and that our venue had indoor and outdoor access to ensure good airflow and all guests were comfortable. 

Tell us about the concept of your wedding. How did you make decisions about the location and approach you wanted to take?

We knew we wanted to celebrate with elements from both of our cultures.  I’m from Northern Minnesota and spent a lot of time outdoors growing up, so it was important to me to have local flowers in bright colors and a space that felt fresh and bright. Eric is Mexican and grew up in LA, so we knew we wanted to have a taco truck! Ultimately, thoughtfully selecting our vendors helped us make decisions that aligned with our vision and we were able to lean on them to bring the details to life.

“Ultimately, thoughtfully selecting our vendors helped us make decisions that aligned with our vision and we were able to lean on them to bring the details to life.”

Why was it important to you to incorporate sustainability and your values into your wedding?

I have always been mindful of waste and understand that events create tons of it.  I have also recently completed my Master of Arts degree in Sustainable Design, so I felt prepared to make decisions to offset the impact of our wedding. My husband and I are also big believers in experiences over things, so we wanted to ensure our guests were able to enjoy themselves in the moment without an excess of “stuff.” We opted for digital invites and the only printed material was a small menu at each place setting. Additionally, we wanted a smaller event so we had time to connect with each of our guests, so 75 was the perfect number for us!

How did you approach thinking about sustainability? How did you incorporate sustainability into your day?

We wanted our day to be uncomplicated so we chose to work with vendors who had similar stances on sustainability as us. While it wasn’t 100% perfect, I believe that some of our decisions made a big impact, like choosing Paikka as our venue and working with Common Roots catering to supply linens, plates, and cutlery eliminated the need for disposable plates that would have been provided.

We worked with Liquid Motion for our drink service and opted for reusable glassware and compostable cups. Pansy Floral offered local, seasonal, and sustainably grown, foam-free arrangements with blooms from Northerly Flora and the Twin Cities Flower Exchange. Beck at Pansy also coordinated beeswax candles for each table and we thrifted and found vintage brass vessels with flowers for small pops of color at each table. I chose to invest in a custom gown made by my classmate and friend, Chelsea at Modehaus.

“During our ceremony, we incorporated the lasso tradition from my husband’s Mexican culture and our flowers were all local and seasonal, pulling in some color from autumn in Minnesota. ”

You brought in some beautiful elements that celebrated both of your cultures. How/where did you incorporate them? How did you balance tradition and modernity?

During our ceremony, we incorporated the lasso tradition from my husband’s Mexican culture and our flowers were all local and seasonal, pulling in some color from autumn in Minnesota. We also incorporated some cultural notes with our food: Common Roots Catering provided some locally grown appetizers while Las Cuatro Milpas made some incredible tacos for our guests to enjoy.  

What were some of your favorite elements or moments of your wedding?

So many things! I’d say I loved our flowers the most - they were all local, seasonal blooms arranged by Pansy Floral. Additionally, as our guests arrived they were greeted with a welcome drink and classical and Spanish guitar throughout the ceremony and cocktail hour. The food was also incredible - we had planned to have enough leftover tacos to create a nacho bar at the end of the night, but everyone loved the tacos so much that we ended up ordering late-night pizza instead! 

What surprised you most about planning? What resources were most helpful in the process?

I can’t say I loved the planning process, but we hired a friend to help coordinate each of our vendors and organize the fine details. I also attended a virtual event on sustainable wedding planning that shared some unique tips and great reminders for us as a couple and used the Practical Wedding planning tool as a guide.

Any advice or tips for other couples who want to incorporate their values into their wedding?

• Remember to pause and take in the special moments throughout your day!

• Speak up about the things that you are most passionate about, individually or as partners.  It helped us to coordinate the components that we cared most about.  My husband coordinated the taco truck and drinks and I coordinated the photographer and florals. 

• Find the right vendors for you! I met with some really wonderful people throughout our search but ultimately chose those that aligned best with our hopes for our wedding and had personalities that made the process easy for us. 

• Don’t be afraid to use your network! Our coordinator and DJ were folks we knew through friends and some of our vendors had lists of people they have worked with in the past, this helped guide us to finding other wonderful vendors to work with. We also had friends and family who helped us make our signage and table numbers.

• Plan your food and drinks to reduce waste - our food allocation ended up being perfect for dinner, but as I mentioned we needed to order pizza at the end of the night. We also didn’t have any leftover desserts. We had signature cocktails, one of which was very popular so our coordinator had to make an extra trip to the liquor store to replenish (despite planning quite a bit extra!). 

• If you choose to provide guests with a gift or “takeaway” support local makers! We had custom leather coasters made by Northwind Supply and honey with custom labels from Ames Farm.

Anything else you love to share?

• Creating a seating chart was important, guests like to have direction.  

• We provided transportation to and from the event/hotel to reduce the number of commuting vehicles and to accommodate our out-of-town guests. 

• We took dancing lessons for our first dance and loved the experience, it was something new for both of us and added a little extra flair to our event.

• We didn’t have a wedding party and loved it - it felt like the day was more about us as a couple and how much each of our guests meant to us.

• Eat snacks throughout the event! Our coordinator set us up with some tacos before everyone else ate, which helped ensure that we were able to stay nourished throughout our first dance and mingling with our guests. 

Dream Team Vendors:

Venue: PAIKKA
Florist: Pansy Floral
Photography: Empiria Studios
Food truck: Las Cuatro Milpas
Appetizers: Common Roots Catering
Dessert: InkSweets
Bar Service: Liquid Motion
Musician: Jim Falbo Guitar
DJ: DJ Shiek
Dress: Modehaus Design
Hair and Makeup: HK Hair Specialist
Suit: Martin Patrick III
Lighting: PHOS Events