Carla Jo / RiverstonePhotog.com
Pros Reveal How to Plan a Memorable Wedding
Ryan Connell and Shui Li pose on the ice road between Bayfield and Madeline Island on their wedding day.
It was an unusual request for a wedding photographer. Shooting a wedding outdoors is one thing, but shoot it in winter, out on the ice road connecting Bayfield to Madeline Island and with about a quarter of an hour for the whole ceremony?
Fortunately, Bayfield, Wisconsin, photographer Carla Jo was up to the task, and another wedding memory was made.
Brides and grooms dream of their wedding day. They pour themselves into the planning, details and preparations giving special shape to their celebration. Often it involves talented professionals who bring their special skills to create that vision.
Week after week, year in and year out, these pros participate in hundreds of weddings. While all of these events are special, only a few become particularly memorable for them. We decided to ask a photographer, a wedding planner, a caterer and a musician to describe one Lake Superior-region event that lingers with them.
Nuptials on Ice
For Carla, of Riverstone Photography, the unique circumstances of shooting the ice road wedding for Ryan Connell and Shui Li in 2015 made it memorable.
Ryan was raised in Bayfield and piloted Madeline Island ferry boats during his summers in college. For him, incorporating Lake Superior into his wedding was critical. Shui came from Beijing, China, but fell in love with the Lake on her first visit to the area.
The two met while attending the University of Minnesota Duluth and both eventually moved to Minneapolis. They had fallen in love and intended a summer wedding.
But plans do change, and the young couple decided to advance the wedding several months.
“I had a week’s notice,” Carla remembers. But she knew it would be on the ice road when she accepted.
On a cold and blustery late afternoon in February, Carla met the couple by the city’s pavilion on the Bayfield waterfront.
“It was close to sunset, but the sun was still up and there was nice lighting,” Carla recalls. She took pictures of the bride and groom, then they all climbed into cars to continue to the ice road and for another good reason: “It was time to warm up the equipment and our bodies.”
The wedding site was set up just off the ice road, about a quarter-mile from shore.
Carla Jo / RiverstonePhotog.com
Pros Reveal How to Plan a Memorable Wedding
Ryan and Shui seal their marriage with a kiss.
“It was nice how they made the most of it,” Carla says. Ryan’s mom, Kristin Connell, had made colored ice luminaries. A garden arch was covered with tiny Christmas lights for the venue. Fifteen family members and friends huddled together for the ceremony officiated by Judge John Anderson.
“He was efficient and brave,” Carla says. “He still had his chambers smock on and no hat. He wanted to be professional, as he would be in any other wedding.”
The temperature hovered around 10° F with a windchill dipping temps to minus 5° F, chilly conditions for photography.
These conditions, though, were nothing new to Carla, who runs her own sled dogs and has done outdoor photography for more than 25 years. “It was similar to the Apostle Islands Sled Dog Races the year it was minus 30°. I was out there for four hours, the only photographer there.” No wonder she was well prepared.
Ryan and Shui’s ceremony would take only 15 minutes. “I was surprised how unaffected the bride and groom looked. Everyone else was really bundled. The bridal couple, not as much,” says Carla. “As the sun set, the temperature dropped rapidly, so we were all glad to scurry to the vehicles for the home reception.”
A few guests viewed the festivities from warmer quarters. Thanks to a friend wielding a smartphone, Shui’s family in China attended the wedding and reception virtually as it was streamed live via Facetime. Carla even managed to include them in the family photos via the phone.
Although it was probably the shortest wedding she has ever covered, it remains unforgettable for Carla. “Any time it’s winter, and I see the ice road, I think of them.”
The wedding suited her own tastes and love for the region. “I love capturing the uniqueness of the area with the beauty of a wedding day.”
Celebration on Water
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William Schumann Photography
Pros Reveal How to Plan a Memorable Wedding
Andrea and Mike Mitsch tied a nautical knot with a reception aboard the Isle Royale Queen III in Marquette. (The Queen now works at Mackinac Island.)
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William Schumann Photography
Pros Reveal How to Plan a Memorable Wedding
Lake Superior served up a different challenge to Joanne Clarke.
A wedding planner since 2006, she runs Two Serve With Love in Marquette, which provides full service wedding consulting and decorating.
Out of all her experiences, the wedding reception on a cruise boat in the harbor immediately springs to her mind as most memorable.
Andrea and Mike Mitsch did not want a traditional wedding or unnecessary frills and expense. It was important to them to keep it small and intimate. They love the outdoors, and growing up in Marquette, Andrea feels a special connection to Lake Superior. So the idea of holding their reception on a cruise boat appealed to the couple.
As a friend of the family, Joanne provided her wedding planning expertise as a wedding gift.
“When they decided to hold the reception on a boat, I thought ‘Great!’ Then, ‘How do we do this?’” she muses. The trick was to transform it from a tour boat to a wedding venue.
William Schumann Photography
Pros Reveal How to Plan a Memorable Wedding
Unlike expansive reception halls, space on board the Isle Royale Queen III, perfectly wonderful for ferrying people and cargo to Isle Royale, was a bit cramped for a wedding celebration.
The logistics had to be carefully planned … and safety rules followed. “There were fixed tables bolted to the floor and attached to the wall,” Joanne says. Tablecloths were impossible to drape over the sides, so she used aisle runners cut to size. To handle the motion of the boat, she designed tall glass centerpieces weighted with sand and Lake Superior rocks, lit with flameless candles.
The actual wedding ceremony took place in a gazebo in Presque Isle Park with immediate family members only. Once on board for the reception, flexibility was key.
It was a beautiful late September day, sunny but fairly windy. Plans to serve the food on the top deck were scuttled in favor of the lower stern deck, and a quick change ensued. A variety of fresh fruit and fruit dip was laid out in the new space. A small wedding cake for the cutting ceremony, and cupcakes for ease of eating were set on the table rather than the tiered cupcake plates originally planned.
Even the tour itinerary was subject to change. They had the option of staying in a calmer section of the harbor, but ultimately decided to go farther afield and signaled the captain to proceed.
“They were able to see views that you could not see without being a fisherman,” Joanne remembers. They cruised past the breakwater and the Superior Dome. They got up close to the ore docks to see the giant chutes. The city of Marquette provided the beautiful backdrop for the champagne toasts on the top deck.
Best of all was seeing the bride and groom relaxed and at ease among the guests.
While she didn’t really relax during the event, Joanne found a special pleasure, too. “For me, working the wedding, it was nice to enjoy being out on the water.”
A Wedding Barnraiser
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Ashley Kibzey / Maria Maria Photography
Pros Reveal How to Plan a Memorable Wedding
Naomi and Josh DeGroot stayed home for their celebration.
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Ashley Kibzey / Maria Maria Photography
Pros Reveal How to Plan a Memorable Wedding
They used the barn on Naomi’s Slate Valley, Ontario, family property.
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Ashley Kibzey / Maria Maria Photography
Pros Reveal How to Plan a Memorable Wedding
The property has a view of the Nor’Wester Mountains.
Setting played a very tangible role in Thunder Bay caterer Rhonda Bill’s favorite wedding.
When Naomi and Josh DeGroot got married, they convinced Naomi’s parents, Alice-Marie and Fritz Veurink, to convert the loft of their barn to a wedding venue.
Fritz threw himself into the project, replacing the old ladder with proper stairs, adding a balcony overlooking the valley, and upgrading the electrical system to handle the catering and lighting needs.
Rhonda was only in her second year of catering weddings, but the family knew her and liked her style of cooking. Her company, A Fine Fit Catering, prides itself on creating dishes from scratch and using locally sourced ingredients.
So Rhonda was thrilled when Alice-Marie told her, “just grab from the garden,” especially because the farm is in the Slate River Valley not far from Thunder Bay.
“This is known as one of the most fertile areas of Thunder Bay,” Rhonda says. “There is a strong farm-to-table culture and a thriving farmers market here.”
The menu she developed was strongly influenced by the contents of the garden and the local producers.
The abundant herbs inspired her to make grilled Greek-style chicken brochettes with fresh lemon and oregano. That was served with tzatziki sauce using mint and dill from the garden. Just-picked greens became mixed greens and Caesar salads. She also used Alice-Marie’s edible flowers in the salad and a blueberry vinaigrette made with locally picked wild blueberries.
Working in a barn presented obstacles for Rhonda. With only a small farmhouse kitchen, she had to find a way to get the food for 186 guests upstairs in the barn. "I had a lot of food to be completed in the kitchen," she recalls. “So I had a 15-year-old boy who was my runner. When I needed something, he ran back and forth.”
Rain prior to the wedding added to the challenge of carrying all that food. “In any farm setting, there is mud. I kept reminding him, ‘Don’t slip in the mud!’”
Being in the family’s own barn, however, made it unique. “Take a space like a farm and a barnyard, then the bride puts her own style on it. Naomi is super artsy and whimsical, and she incorporated that into the space,” Rhonda says. “I felt like I was in on an intimate family wedding. It was really neat to know a lot of people and make it special for them.”
Vows in Elegance
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Rhonda Ratliff / Photographs by Rhonda
Pros Reveal How to Plan a Memorable Wedding
Glensheen Historic Congdon Estate in Duluth became the storybook setting for Allison and Tyler Larson’s wedding.
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Rhonda Ratliff / Photographs by Rhonda
Pros Reveal How to Plan a Memorable Wedding
The wedding was a memorable one for violinist Elaine Bradley (on left in the quartet).
That emphasis on family resonates with Elaine Bradley. It’s what makes Allison and Tyler Larson’s wedding at Glensheen Historic Congdon Estate in Duluth stand out for her.
As a violinist, Elaine has played at weddings for more than 30 years. Five years ago she started Heartstrings, which can provide a string duo, trio or quartet for wedding music. The musicians are mostly family – Elaine’s son and his wife, Ryan and Alisha Bradley, and their “adopted family member” Erik Honkanen.
“We know each other so well, we can read one another when we play,” says Elaine.
Elaine is committed to personalizing the music for each wedding. She holds a planning meeting with each couple to discuss exactly what they want. “I help them find music that sets the atmosphere.” If the right score doesn’t exist, Elaine writes arrangements to accommodate the size group playing. “I have arranged 95 percent of the contemporary music that we play. We now have a huge repertoire.”
Rhonda Ratliff / Photographs by Rhonda
Pros Reveal How to Plan a Memorable Wedding
Allison and Tyler Larson on their memorable wedding day.
Elaine often takes clues for music from the families involved. That was the case with Allison and Tyler’s wedding. “Allison came to the meeting with her mom. I thought that was really sweet.” As it turns out, the wedding was to be held on her parents’ 28th wedding anniversary, and Allison wanted the day to celebrate them, too. Her Great-Aunt Babe served as her Maid of Honor, just as she had done for her mom. Scraps from her mom’s wedding dress were tucked into both of their bouquets.
Allison had only one piece she insisted they play. “Harry in Winter” from the “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” movie was to be her processional.
“I had never heard it before,” Elaine says, “but it was very mystically beautiful and told me something about the kind of music Allison likes.”
The soundscape matched perfectly to the wedding venue, which is why it sticks so with Elaine.
“I liked the way the music complemented the different aspects of the wedding.” The prelude and ceremony, which were outdoors on the porch overlooking Lake Superior, were peaceful and atmospheric. “They exited to the ‘Entrance of the Queen of Sheba,’ which is very lively.”
This set the stage for the social hour in the Rec Room inside. “It was very celebratory, so we kept the music upbeat.” Dinner in the Winter Garden meant quieter background melodies. “These were pieces people could recognize, which kept a mood going.”
Allison wanted a fairytale wedding, and Glensheen fit her vision. With its natural elegance, it didn’t require much decorating. Adding live music was the perfect complement. “They set the tone with everything to be intimate,” says Elaine, “and the importance of family was evident. That was a common thing we shared, and I felt a strong connection to them. This is why it stood out as a special wedding to me.”
As for the bride, Allison says, “It was everything I could ever have wanted.”
Just what the pros want to hear when their work hits the sweet spot for the wedding couple. It’s the ultimate in satisfaction … and quite memorable.
Words of Wedding Wisdom
“This day is only once – live, laugh, love – enjoy it. When the day is over, all that will remain true to the wedding day is the memories captured. Embrace the celebration!” – Carla Jo, Riverstone Photography
“Just take the time to enjoy your special day, let your wedding decorator/planner take care of all the rest." – Joanne Clarke, Two Serve With Love
“One thing people remember about weddings is the food! Be sure it reflects your personality and is something they’ll rave about for years to come!” – Rhonda Bill, A Fine Fit Catering
“On your wedding day, take time to treasure each moment and celebrate your happiness with loved ones.” – Elaine Bradley, Heartstrings
Molly Hoeg is a frequent contributor from Duluth who recently married off the third and last of her children. All three weddings were unique and memorable.