We featured McKenzie + Nic’s Modern Engagement photos last week and this week we get to feature their beautiful wedding! Similar to their engagement photos which have a very urban, sleek and modern feel, their wedding was no different. A minimalists’ dream!
McKenzie says, “I am not a very fussy girl; I’ve never been drawn to frills or pageantry, even as a little girl. I love design, both in home and clothing, but my style has always been more simple, modern and sleek. Black and white fills my closet, has been the theme of my bedroom through my teen years as well as every big milestone celebration. Nic and I both like simplicity… we enjoy bike rides, rock climbing, spending Saturday mornings in airy, industrial coffee shops. In planning our wedding it was important to be true to my personal style as well as the things that reflect us as a couple.
Before we started choosing specific details, we pinpointed that we wanted the whole feel of our wedding celebration to be fun and unique, casually elegant, memorable and simple. We wanted to be able to enjoy all of the guests who had traveled to join us, so a sit down reception dinner was a must. The venue we chose really helped to bring our desires into being. The Pybus Public Market is a refurbished steel mill turned into a market styled after the famous Seattle attraction, Pike Place Market.
The large venue was very simple, with cinderblock walls, cement floors, a roll up garage door and hanging strings of Edison bulbs. Our minimal decorations really made the setting everything we wanted it to be.
Our ceremony decor was comparatively simple. Using a combination of love letters we had written to one another, a very special, patient and exacting friend hand wrote our backdrop/aisle runner – a full 75 feet of it! It was the perfect centerpiece for our ceremony. We hung raw lightbulbs at random lengths on either side of the love letter, and continued the light bulb theme down the aisle, draping them in clear glass cylinders.
It was important for us to have the many little people we loved so much be a part of our special day, and for them to have fun doing so! The many little boys walked up the aisle throwing paper airplanes (with a thank you note written on them) to the guests. The little girls carried HUGE balloons. The children were most definitely the life of the party.
My dress was perfect; I would not have changed one detail. I felt like every bride is supposed to feel on her special day. The dress was a full, high-waisted silk, strapless dress. My amazing mom took almost 60 hours lovingly hand making my beaded crop-top. It was the crop top with its amazing detail that made the dress both sleek, simple and perfectly elegant. My headpiece was also made by my mom (she was very involved and instrumental in most aspects of our day — she knows me well! I love my mama). She used seed pearls, Swarovski crystals and over 50 feet of gold wire and hand twisted each flower that made up its incredible detail.
After the ceremony, while we were taking pictures, we ushered our guests out into the main concourse of the market, where they could snack at an elegant hors d’oeuvres table of cheese, meats, rustic crackers and breads, olives, dried fruits and nuts. They were also free to explore the market, while the room was transformed from wedding setting to reception celebration. It was so fun to hear the responses when the guests were ushered into a totally transformed venue.
We opted for long, family style tables, covered with black and white striped cloths. Hundreds of brass candlesticks that my mom and I accumulated over months of thrift shopping, covered the tables. The candles gave such a festive glow to the evening. Everything was exactly as I had dreamed.
Because neither Nic or I liked cake, and because I LOVE candy, we decided to add a fun black and white candy bar to the traditional cake table. Nic and his dad, both amazing carpenters, made the huge N + M that dressed up the cake area.
From the first detail to the last, our wedding reflected our love for each other, our God, the people that mean the most to us. It was everything I had ever dreamed it to be. I still get butterflies when I look at the pictures of our special day that was now a year and a half ago. I am transported back and get to relive every lovely moment.
Images used with permission and courtesy of Sheenism Studios.