A Family Affair- A Wooded, Boho, Micro-Wedding in Lakeville, MN

On a warm, late September, Monday afternoon I attended one of my favorite ever weddings. This day was absolutely perfect in its simplicity, and will forever be my model for how an elopement or micro-wedding should look. Journey back with me as I remember Danny & Carli’s wedding story. For those of you who think you want a big wedding, your head is about to be turned!

11 Years/6 Weeks in the Making

Danny and Carli have an unconventional, yet also traditional love story. They first noticed each other while passing in the hallways of their high school, and even though she was only a Freshman and he a Senior, they soon started dating. The best way I can describe their love for each other is a fierce loyalty. With a relationship starting so young, they’ve been together through many, many ups and downs and life changes, but no matter what has happened, they have remained by each others’ sides.. Fast forward 11 years and 2 kids later and Danny & Carli decided it was time to tie the knot and finally share a last name!

As busy young parents who don’t really love the spotlight, Danny & Carli originally intended a quick, simple courthouse elopement. But as soon as they set a date and started planning with their officiant, they realized they wanted a bit more of a “real wedding” feel. How do you upgrade a courthouse elopement to a micro-wedding? That’s where a wedding planner comes in handy (especially if she also happens to be your sister 😉)! With just 6 weeks to go until the chosen date we found a beautiful park for our venue, ordered floral and rentals to make the bride’s boho vision come to life and locked down a photographer and videographer to capture it all!

What made this union so special is that it was truly a family wedding. Danny & Carli share two young sons together and it was always a part of the plan for them to be present at the elopement. It was a meaningful way to celebrate Carli finally sharing a last name with the rest of her family. But what truly changed this from an elopement to a micro-wedding was the addition of the rest of the family. As they planned this day, the bride & groom quickly realized they couldn’t have their ceremony without their parents and siblings in attendance as well. It was the perfect to marry their preference for privacy with their desire to include their family in this momentous moment.

Low-Budget How-Tos

The best part of elopements or micro-weddings is that they are a perfect option for couples who want to keep their day low-budget! After all, guest count is truly what drives up the cost of a wedding day! Here’s some tips and how-tos to help limit costs for your own day!

Date

September is usually one of the busiest and most expensive months to get married, so how did this couple do it? They chose a Monday evening! Vendors will be more available on weekdays versus weekends, and many vendors offer discounted rates for non-weekend dates!

Floral

There is a way to do real floral for more affordable prices! The best tip for this is just to talk with your florist and ask for their suggestions on how to work within a budget. For this wedding we went with mostly dried floral. Our florist was able to reuse dried floral from past events and we were able to return much of it to her after the elopement to use again.

Park venue

Our ceremony venue for this wedding cost a grand total of $0 and I think it was one of the most beautiful weddings I’ve ever seen. We chose a public park and went ahead of time to scout out locations to set up. In that scouting trip we found the perfect little glen of pine trees that was tucked just off of the path. Now in using a public park for a venue there are a few things to keep in mind. First of all, we were playing Russian roulette with the weather! If you want to make sure you have a covered space as a backup plan, you may need to reserve covered pavilions in the park for a small fee. Secondly, we knew that we were in a public space just off of a walking path, so the bride and groom had to be okay with the fact that there may be strangers meandering by during the ceremony. Lastly, we made sure to take good care of the outdoor space we were using and cleaned up well after ourselves when we left.

Photos & Video

It was very important to this couple to have photos to commemorate this special day! Typical photo and video packages allow for anywhere from 8-12 hours of coverage, but if you’re willing to limit what is captured you can negotiate with your vendors for a more budget-friendly package. For this wedding we limited photos to 90 minutes and video to just 20 minutes! We skipped any “getting ready” shots, and instead focused on a first look, couple photos, portraits, ceremony photos and a few family shots. Of course, the number of photos received was much lower than a typical wedding, but the quality is just as good!

Vendor Dream Team

My favorite part of this micro-wedding was the chance to work with some of my absolute favorite vendors!

Katy of Captured Glory Photography has been our go-to family photographer for many years. She is such a joy to work with and her positive, bubbly energy is so contagious! She has a brilliant way of making everyone feel comfortable in front of the camera and is the ultimate hype-woman. It is so wonderful to have a photographer who is both fun to work with on the day of an event and who’s final product is totally worth the wait!

Mikelle of Fersk Floral Artistry is both my BFF and my go-to gal for all my floral needs. Her arrangements are so stunning and she goes above and beyond for her clients and her friends. It was a no-brainer to go with her florals for this elopement, as I knew they would make Carli’s vision come to life, plus it is always so fun to design with her!

I knew that Leah of The Fond Collective would come through for me when I needed last minute décor for this micro-wedding! She has a beautiful selection of furniture and décor pieces that she is constantly refreshing and updating and she is so great and making recommendations based on your vision. With only 90 minutes for photos, including the ceremony time, it was so fun to have two beautiful set ups: a ceremony space and lounge area, and both were made possible by The Fond Collective!

If you are considering an unconventional wedding, I hope you find this wedding day as inspiring as I did. It was truly a reminder of how the most simple things can be the most beautiful.