Our wedding turned out better than I could have ever hoped. Despite the chilling 30 degree weather outside and a few snow flurries earlier in the day (in the first week of October, mind you), we had an outdoor wedding in a beautiful, well-heated, tent. The ceremony and reception took place at my parent’s house on a tiny lake in Wisconsin called North Lake. The tent had floor-to-ceiling windows so, while it was still light out, we had tons of natural light inside the tent. And the fall colors decorated the trees beautifully.

Being designers, we decided to design our own wedding invitations, and had them printed at a local letterpress in Minneapolis called Studio On Fire. They loved our invites and posted them on their blog!

It was a smaller wedding of about 65 people, mostly family, and a few close friends. We decided to go with a dressy-casual wedding so people could basically wear what they felt comfortable in, including myself. I wore a knee-length white cotton dress by Nanette Lepore I bought from Bluefly for around $110, a gold sequined knit tie cardigan I found on eBay, a necklace from an antique store in La Crosse, WI, earrings and a cocktail hat from Etsy, and fantastic red vegan heels from Beyond Skin. And my mom’s hairstylist friend, who, because she’s such a sweetheart, did my mom’s and my hair for free.

The ceremony started off with a couple, whom Emory and I are very close friends with, performing “Sea of Love.” It was so beautiful I couldn’t keep from crying.

Immediately following, Emory and I walked down the two aisles on either side of the guests. We each hugged our parents, then took our places in front. A wonderful judge, who is friends with my dad, delivered the ceremony, written by Emory and me:

Today is a day of music and celebration. We are gathering today, not to mark the start of a relationship, but to recognize a bond that already exists. As these two join in marriage, they are sweethearts, lovers, teachers, listeners, critics, and dear friends. They help each other, support each other, laugh together, and
comfort each other.  They have chosen to unite today, not because of cultural or religious expectations, or for the sake of convenience. They are joining today simply because they love each other.

When life seems easy, and especially when it is difficult, this marriage is a promise of companionship. It represents a desire to be together, but also the desire to respect each others’ unique qualities. For these two would not be uniting today if it weren’t for each person’s love of the other as an individual.

READING by Dave

The bride and groom would like to express their vows to one another.
(we wrote our own vows and said them here)

READING by Emily P.

(Judge to BRIDE/GROOM)

Do you, (Emory/Emily), take ——— to be your lawful wedded (husband/wife), promising to honor, respect, love, encourage and inspire (him/her) in sickness and in health, to be true to (him/her) and care for (him/her), from this point forward?

(BRIDE/GROOM) answers, “I do.”)

These wedding rings are a symbol of your dedication, love, and compassion for each other. They represent the hope of a full and content life together, and a determination to help fulfill each others’ wishes and dreams of a blissful life.

Two of our close friends did readings during the ceremony, both amazing. My dear friend Emily read a fantastic poem called “Honey and Salt” by Carl Sandburg (and even veganized it by cutting out the part about ham and eggs. So thoughtful!)

After the ceremony, we walked out on the pier together just to have a moment to soak it all in.

When we got back to the tent, we noticed everyone had gathered outside. They started throwing massive amounts of rice at us, brought from Denmark by my sister’s mother-in-law.

After that, it was party time! I compiled a playlist of around 7.5 hours of lesser known love songs by some of my favorite artists. We drank local beer, and there was wine available (some of which was vegan) and pink and white champagne. Our fantastic caterers, Apron Annie’s, created an all-vegan menu, starting with warm cider, Phyllo Cups with Avocado, Pica De Gallo, and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds, and Cream of Squash Soup. Delicious!

As it got dark out, we lit the scented soy candles in the yellow and copper jelly jars, painted by me. The dinner was a vegan buffet. My dad, a hardcore meat eater, teased us about having an all-vegan buffet, but I’m so glad we did it because we’re still getting compliments about how amazing all the food was. And I could eat anything I wanted, which doesn’t happen very often. And the vegan cheese was so good!

The Menu:
Wisconsin Cranberry Vinaigrette Salad
Assorted Breads with Olive Oil
and Balsamic Vinegar

Sweet Potato Enchiladas served with Curried Rice

Stuffed Portabellas with Spinach, Tomatoes, Caramelized Onions and Vegan Cheese topped with Toasted Panko Bread Crumbs

Roasted Yukon Gold Potatoes
Roasted Vegetable Paninis with Vegan Pesto

Fresh Green Beans, Cherry and Yellow
Tomatoes drizzled with Vinaigrette

and fruit kabobs

And the wedding cake? An entirely vegan carrot cake that tasted entirely amazing. And, since we didn’t want to go with any standard cake toppers, we used wooden Pecan Pals which, coincidentally, matched the cake perfectly! And thankfully, they have removable parts, because we had to remove their legs to keep them balanced.

Several people gave speeches, all of which were wonderful, but one of the more amusing moments was when our friend, Joe, ran in dressed as Kanye and interrupted the father of the groom’s speech to say, “Yo Marty, I’m really happy for you and I’m gonna let you finish, but Emory and Emily had one of the best weddings of all time!” Cheesy cultural reference, but man, was it funny. And, of course, it was all staged. Marty was the one who planned it.

Once the speeches were done, it was time to dance! We put on the dance playlist and danced the night away.

We had hoped for a smaller, non-traditional, less formal, super fun, vegan wedding on the lake. And that’s exactly what we got. It may have been a less traditional wedding, but it fit us perfectly.

Photos by: Erol Reyal, Neka Allen, Marty Allen, Evangeline Allen, and Don Prachthauser