The weather was warm, almost soft feeling, with heavy morning clouds rolling away in the distance. Cassey stood in the upstairs bedroom of her parents home twisting the curls in her hair and adjusting the veil that sat on top of her head. Faint music began to play from somewhere outside, and she peered out the window to see guests hopping off of the tractor, mingling, and laughing as they made their way to the seats made of hay bales for the ceremony. Cassey took a deep breath as the feeling of butterflies lingered inside of her. A knock came at the door, and a letter was handed to her, the simple tiny words on the front read “future bride.” Cassey moved a piece of golden hair away from her eyes as she opened the letter and began to read the words. Fighting back tears she breathed again, this time even deeper, and a sparkling smile formed across her face. This was it, the day she would marry her best friend, and it was nothing short of perfect.

 

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“Heck YES!” Carrie exclaimed to Ben as he was paused in the midst of their mountain biking adventure with ring in hand. Back up to only a short time before that, and the two were making their way to Marquette, Michigan to spend the weekend. These weekend excursions had become a habit, and though they were staying with Carrie’s parents, the two usually ventured out during the days to hang with friends. But this time was different. As Carrie made plans with girlfriends and spent her time around town, Ben decided to hang close to the house and spend time with Carrie’s father. It was then that her mom paused and thought “This is it, he’s going to ask for permission to marry Carrie.” But hours turned into days and as the days rolled over into a new week, Ben and Carrie had packed up their things and made their way back home once again. “He didn’t ask you??” Carrie’s mom asked her father, “I was CERTAIN that’s what he wanted to do!” “Oh hun, he just wanted to hang out with me!” – But Carrie’s mom knew there was more to it, and it wouldn’t be long before their phone would ring and Ben would be on the other line, finally having worked up enough courage to ask that very question.

As Carrie made her way through the church doors and down the aisle, Ben lost it. And of course, everyone else lost it, too. Everything had built to this moment, to this day celebrating with their most treasured friends and family in the most northern point of Michigan. They were married in the sweetest little church, and guests stayed for the weekend in log cabins surrounding the reception venue.

Carrie wore her mothers wedding dress, with just a few alterations made to fit her.

Ben and all of his groomsmen are avid mountain bikers – not to mention mountain biking was involved in the proposal – so as a unique touch to their wedding details, Carrie and Ben added bike cogs to the men’s boutonnieres (I mean, this is amazing).

The gloomy weather held off with just enough time to capture photos around Hunters Point and Brockway Mountain – and just as we made our way into the reception venue, rain began to fall (so perfect!).

Carrie and her bridesmaids made the table centerpieces themselves the night before the wedding – including using greenery they gathered from the forest (which may or may not have been planned, but how INCREDIBLE did they turn out!!?).

Each table arrangement included these amazing Stormy Kromer drink koozies for guests to take home with them as a token of the day.

And fighting for possibly the best moment of the day, Ben and Carrie decided to take ballroom dancing lessons to prepare for their first dance, as they both admitted to not having any idea what to do. “Neither of us really know how to dance, so we figured why not take a few lessons and surprise our guests?” It truly was the sweetest surprise to everyone in the room – and when the MC of the night accidentally stopped their song near the end, he played it cool by saying how much everyone didn’t want it to end, started the song over from the beginning, and had Ben and Carrie dance to the song once again!

Hair: Alexandrea Larson
Makeup: Gisele Ryan
Flowers: Flowers by Sleeman
Ceremony Venue: Bethany Lutheran Church
Reception Venue: Keweenaw Mountain Lodge
Entertainment: Frank An Da Beanz

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It is obvious to whoever spends any moment of time with Josie and Andrew that these two were meant to be. They fell in love young, and had been noticing each other even before then. “He was the boy across the street” Bethany, the maid of honor, noted in her toast. And who ends up with the boy next door? Josie did. You can just feel that it’s the kind of love you read about in novels, the classic “boy get’s girl” tale – but without any of the cheese and all of the swooning moments.

Their love for each other is infectious, but it was clear on their wedding day that their love for their family and friends was also strong. Well over 300 guests (we’re talking maybe touching the 400’s in number) gathered to celebrate their day, and not one person awkwardly hung in the back. Each family member and friend invited was eager to be there, to hug them, to laugh with them, and to cry tears of joy with them.

Josie and Andrew, we count ourselves the most blessed to also have been invited into your day to hug and laugh and cry along! We wish you two the most incredible, hearts full to the brim – cheeks hurt from laughing – wild adventure packed life together for all of your years to come!

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