Kristen and Shae planned their wedding from 3,000 miles away! Luckily, they gave themselves plenty of time to budget for their wedding and determine exactly what they wanted for their special day. Kristen spent many childhood days playing in these fields, making it an extra special venue for her wedding day! Thanks to Abbey Hepner for submitting such a sweet collection of photos.

From Kristen – The inspiration for our wedding was mostly the location. I love the rustic look and have a lot of that look in my house, but once we decided on the location, that was really when everything fell into place. The wedding site was my Grandparents’ house on my father’s side. They knew I wanted an outdoor wedding and offered to have it at their home. I was ecstatic, because it was perfect. I worked very hard on planning the wedding and making sure everything went with the theme. A couple of my bridesmaids and I made the ringbearer pillows, the flower girl pails, the favors, and the programs. My cousin owns a print shop, Parkland Quickprint, so she did all the printing for the wedding. I really wanted a classic wedding, with a rustic feel to it. I wanted the wedding party to be dressed up, but not too formal. That was the inspiration for the grey tuxes. I loved how cute the ring bearers looked!
My favorite moment of the day was the ceremony itself. Shae and I had been together for five years and we were both so ready for that moment! There was a feeling of true happiness running through me and I could not stop smiling. After the ceremony, everything seemed to go by really fast. I also, of course, loved dancing with Shae and my father. These are special moments I will treasure through Abbey’s wonderful pictures for the rest of my life.
If I were to give advice to planning brides, I would say start early and keep pictures of the types of things you like and the colors you like. I started with ideas of things I liked, but they didn’t really work with my theme or my budget so I changed things frequently, allowing my wedding to evolve into something beyond anything I could have hoped for. Another thing I think really helped me was that we set our date for a year and a half away in order to budget for the wedding. Once we decided on the location, I immediately contacted my photographer and paid my deposit to ensure that I got her. Then as little things happened we paid for them, right away. We didn’t want to wait till the end to pay for services or things we needed, because we just wanted it taken care of. We were able to bargain a little because of it, too.
We absolutely loved our wedding and the pictures we have from our special day are perfect thanks to Abbey!


Vendors –
Photographer: Abbey Hepner Photography
Hair Stylist: Karina Manley
Caterer: Carr’s Catering
Floral Designer: Chris Skilton
Dress Designer: San Patrick
Cake Designer: Romelynn Eleno
DJ: Brandon Ghorley
Tuxedo and Mens Attire: Calvin Klein
Bridesmaid Dresses: Nordstrom
Officiant: Dave Coleman

Read More: DIY, Real Wedding, rustic